Why synchronized manufacturing is key to short lead times

Synchronized manufacturing means that all machines in a process run at (almost) same speed. A disbalance, bottle neck or damage will be noticed immediately and due to its influence on the whole chain : be fixed.
Most bottle necks remain unseen due to the fact that heaps of inventory / buffers are covering up any malfunction.

To achieve shorter lead times:
– eliminate all buffers step by step
– slow down (!) the faster machinery
– implement preventive maintenance
– implement visual management
– implement a KaiZen process