Differentiate between a flow-blocking delay and lack-of-work delay. How can each be reduced?

Answer 1

Flow-blocking delay occurs when a work center completes a unit but cannot release it because the in-process storage at the next stage is full. The worker must remain idle until storage space becomes available. Lack-of-work delay occurs whenever one stage completes work and no units from the previous stage are awaiting processing.

Attempting to balance the process by designing the appropriate level of capacity at each workstation can minimize these sources of delay. This is often done by adding additional workstations in parallel. Product layouts might have workstations in series, in parallel, or in a combination of both.