Throughput time reduction: Taking one's medicine

Managing throughout time and its relation to work-in-process (WIP) inventor y and customer service is the focus of this paper. This research combines t heory, simulation results, and the analysis of corporate data in an effort to address the issues associated with how one company (Eli Lilly) managed a reduction in their throughput times and an improvement in their delivery r eliability. The results for this company suggest that production control de cisions-expediting and de-expediting--can lead to a vicious circle of deici sions, which in turn can lead to increased levels of WIP inventory and high er and more unpredictable throughput times.