The Acton Experience

I haven't been posting my work in a while.  Not because I haven't been working, I assure you.  The load is really starting to ratchet up.  Each week's assignment is taking me about 10 - 15 hours to complete.  On top of a full work load.  Ouch.  Here's a sample from Week 4:

The Goal 
Here's a novel idea: take a cutting edge economic concept called The Theory of Constraints and write a novel about it.  It's just crazy enough that it works.  A manager turns his factory around, saves his marriage and home life and throws out a bunch of management dogma in the process.  It's a quick read and the fact that it's written as a novel makes it far more interesting than a typical b-school textbook.  Virtually any process that creates a product could benefit from Eliyahu Goldratt's ideas.
   
Processes 101: Introduction
This is the first wave in introducing the ideas behind processes, essentially a discrete set of activities that can be both illustrated and quantified.

Processes 101: Variability, Quality and Process Types
This note introduces statistical variability and the different process types.  Far more interesting than you might think.

Operations Problem Set
Finally, we get a chance to cut our teeth on a few simple processes.  The assignment is to diagram and optimize the following: table manufacturing, running a dishwashing operation and an assembly line for baking cookies.