Thomas Doyle  MSc.


Milestone schedules setting plan vs actual lead-times.
1) Project Milestone Schedule summary metric:
RED LIGHT  “Behind Schedule”YELLOW LIGHT  “On-time”, GREEN LIGHT  “Ahead of Schedule".
2) Project management* peer review Milestone schedule summaries on weekly basis.
3) Projects with Red and Yellow light are prioritized during peer review meetings.                                                                           

*Transparent access to all levels of operations , especially factory floor.

Cycle Time: global, mobile, ditigal paradigm.

"Is is not about working harder to safely shorten cycle-times, it is about learning faster"  

"​Cycle Time and Trust have become the most relevant factors in sustainable global business"     TD

Internal Clock: aka  Internal Business Operation clock relates to the cycle time to process customer orders.

Market Clock: external clock relates to the cycle time  to meet immediate consumer demand for a product.

Mission critical* Cycle-Time comparson by Industry labor: investment competitive advantage analysis 


1) Quick Service Restaurant (QSR's): low labor risk, low regulatory risk.

2) (QSR) Kid's meal licensed custom toys**:  high labor risk, high regulatory risk, high risk client paid 3P QA/QC protocols interventions: cost of keeping business.

3) Automobile OEM: high labor risk, high regulatory risk, favorable regulatory capture: cost of doing business.

4) Aircraft OEM: high labor risk, high regulatory risk, favorable regulatory capture: cost of doing business.

5) Fast-Fashion: no labor risk, low regulatory risk, favorable regulatory capture: cost of doing business.

6) Ultra-Fast-Fashion: no labor risk, low regulatory risk, favorable regulatory capture: cost of doing business.


*Mission Critical: Growth at  "any cost"  ramp up production to chase orders without tested production capacity (i.e. rapid produrtion scaling).

**QSR Kid's meal licensed custom toys: external clock set by movie release date of licensed characters, order qty and target price, the cycle time challenge is with new product development process to meet/exceed target design approvals from all stakeholders (i.e. licensor, client, 3P testing/inspection.etc).

      Internal Clock                                 vs.                      Market Clock     

Enterprise failure to meet/beat the market clock may be exposed to fraudulent practices that short-cut regulatory requirements and related laws.

Cycle Time: Is the actual time it takes to complete a process or produce a part

Takt Time: is the rate to work to meet consumer demand.

Lead Time: is the  time between the initiation of a process or product and the completion of the process or part.



Minimum Viable Product:  cycle time short cuts when product lauches before debugging all quality and safety defects. The term was coined and defined in 2001 with software/tech industry which also coined the term "move fast and break things".


Cycle Time  and    Trust have become the most relevant factors in sustainable global business.

Cycle Time