Weekly Cross-Functional Bottleneck Alignment (TOC): Improving Throughput & Dispatch Density

A Monday cross-functional alignment routine grounded in Theory of Constraints: identify the week’s constraint, assign actions, track visually, and improve flow and dispatch density.

Weekly Stakeholder Alignment Sessions to Tackle Bottlenecks

Even as quality improved, production bottlenecks were slowing throughput and leaving dispatch trucks partially empty. This case shows how a structured weekly two-hour cross-functional session—grounded in Theory of Constraints (TOC)— helped identify the “constraint of the week,” assign actions, and improve flow.

  • YOJ Pack-Kraft (2016–2022)
  • Weekly cycle (Monday, 2 hours)
  • Cross-functional: Production • Quality • Maintenance • Dispatch
  • TOC + Kaizen + Visual management
Confidentiality-safe publishing: Avoid sensitive part codes and raw output figures. Show evidence as anonymized dashboards, templates, and index-based trends (baseline=100).

The challenge

As quality improved, we still faced persistent production bottlenecks that slowed throughput and reduced dispatch density. Trucks were leaving partially empty because constraints were shifting across machines and sections—often unnoticed until the week was already lost.

The intervention

I implemented a weekly two-hour cross-functional stakeholder alignment session every Monday. Supervisors and key team leads from Production, Quality, Maintenance, and Dispatch met with one goal: identify and alleviate the week’s main production constraint.

How the constraint was identified

We used prior-week data—machine downtime reports, WIP inventory buildup, and delayed shipments—to pinpoint the “weakest link.” Sometimes a cutting machine became the throughput limiter due to maintenance issues. Other times, scheduling mismatches between corrugation and printing created idle time and uneven flow.

Equipment constraintDowntime or recurring faults reduce effective capacity.
Scheduling mismatchSection handoffs create idle time despite available labor.
Material/WIP buildInventory piles up before a step that can’t keep up.

What happened inside the session

Once the constraint was agreed, the group brainstormed solutions, assigned clear responsibilities, and set a follow-up plan—within the same meeting. The session acted as a “learning moment” in systems thinking: team members started seeing the manufacturing process end-to-end rather than only their silo.

Facilitation approach (L&D at the organizational level)

I facilitated with continuous improvement and Kaizen techniques, encouraging open discussion without blame. Visual management—simple dashboards and Gantt-style action tracking—kept commitments visible and closure-oriented. Management buy-in and early quick wins helped this become a sustainable rhythm rather than a one-off meeting.