
110 ◾ Lean Production Simplified, Third Edition
valleys. If we set our capacity for our valleys, our people, equipment, and sup-
pliers will experience strain during peak demand.
Responding to Changes in Customer Demand
How do we adjust to ever-changing customer demand? We have three
options (in order of preference):
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◾ Absorb day-to-day demand changes with a finished goods store.
◾ Run a little overtime each shift or the occasional Saturday.
◾ Adjust our takt time, as required, and toggle the number of operators.
The first two options can be used daily with little difficulty. Adjusting our
takt time as we toggle operators is difficult because we m ...