🐢 You are reading The Long Start — Module 2 of 10
This module covers everything you can use without creating an account or paying a cent. Missed Module 1?
Wait, There's Free Stuff?
Yes. A lot of it. And not "free with an asterisk" free — genuinely, no-login, no-credit-card, no-14-day-trial-that-auto-charges-you free. Here's everything you get for $0:
- The Process Modeler — a visual drag-and-drop tool to map your factory processes
- 14 Manufacturing Calculators — OEE, takt time, cycle time, throughput, and 10 more
- 10 Interactive Templates — 5 Whys, Fishbone, A3, FMEA, Kaizen Charter, and more
- 80+ Glossary Terms — every manufacturing buzzword explained in plain English
- 111 Learning Guides — (covered in Module 9, but yes, also free)
Let's go through every single one. Slowly. Thoroughly. Like we promised.
The Process Modeler
Where to find it: symplprocess.com/process-modeler
What it is in one sentence: A visual map of your factory's processes that you build by dragging and dropping boxes on a screen.
But What Does "Model Your Processes" Actually Mean?
Imagine your factory floor. There are different areas — maybe "Receiving" where trucks unload, "Assembly" where things get put together, and "Shipping" where finished products go out the door. Inside each area, there are specific steps — "unload truck," "scan items," "put items on shelf."
The Process Modeler lets you draw all of that on a screen. You create boxes for each step, organize them into streams (big areas), and the tool figures out things like:
- Which step is the slowest (your bottleneck)?
- Which steps depend on other steps finishing first?
- If you have 20 people, where should they go to get the most output?
- What's the critical path (the longest chain of dependent steps that determines your total lead time)?
Why This Matters (The Money Version)
Without a process model, you're guessing where to put people. Most supervisors copy yesterday's plan. But yesterday's plan was also a guess. Research shows that unbalanced staffing wastes 15-30% of labor capacity. If you have 50 people making $20/hour, that's $150,000-$300,000 per year being wasted because people are standing in the wrong spots. The process modeler shows you the right spots.
Every Feature Inside the Process Modeler
| Feature | What It Does (Thorough Version) | When You'd Use It |
|---|---|---|
| Streams | A stream is a big section of your operation. Think "Receiving," "Assembly," "Shipping." You create one stream per major area. Each stream contains process steps. You can have as many streams as you need. | When you first set up — create one stream per major area of your operation |
| Process Steps | Each step is one specific task inside a stream — "Unload truck," "Scan barcodes," "Quality check." You give each step a name, a cycle time (how long it takes per unit), and how many people normally work it. | For every task your team does — break your work into individual steps |
| Cycle Time Entry | For each step, you enter how many seconds/minutes it takes to process one unit. This is the number the math uses to figure out staffing. If it takes 30 seconds to scan one item, you enter 30. | When setting up each step — use a stopwatch if you're not sure |
| Cross-Stream Dependencies | Sometimes one stream can't start until another finishes. Assembly can't start until Receiving puts materials on the shelf. You draw a line between streams to mark this dependency. The system uses this for critical path math. | When your areas depend on each other — most do |
| Critical Path Analysis | The system looks at all your streams, steps, and dependencies, and highlights the longest chain. This chain is your critical path — it determines your total lead time. Everything else could be faster and it wouldn't matter because this chain is the bottleneck. | Automatically calculated — just look at the highlighted path |
| Bottleneck Detection | The system flags the single step that limits your entire throughput. It glows red. This is the step that, if you made it faster (or put more people on it), your whole operation speeds up. | Automatically detected — look for the red flag |
| Shift Activation | Not every step runs on every shift. Maybe 3rd shift only does Receiving, not Assembly. You toggle which steps are active on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shift. The staffing math adjusts per shift. | When different shifts do different work |
| Roster / Headcount | You enter how many people are available per shift. The system uses this number to distribute people across steps optimally. | Enter your typical headcount — adjust daily for callouts |
| Auto-Assign Staff | One button. The algorithm reads your cycle times, finds your bottleneck, and distributes your available headcount to maximize throughput. It uses Theory of Constraints math (explained in Module 5). | Every day — tap it after entering today's headcount |
The 14 Manufacturing Calculators
Where to find them: symplprocess.com/tools
What they are: Type in your numbers, get instant answers. No formulas to remember. No Excel. No mistakes. Every calculator includes an explanation of what it's calculating and why it matters.
Every Single Calculator, Explained
1. OEE Calculator (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
What it calculates: A score from 0% to 100% that tells you how effectively your equipment is being used.
The formula: OEE = Availability x Performance x Quality
In human words: "Of all the time the machine could have been running, how much time was it actually running (availability)? Of the time it was running, was it running at full speed (performance)? Of the units it produced, how many were good (quality)?" Multiply those three percentages together and you get OEE.
Example: Machine could run 480 minutes. It was available for 420 minutes (87.5% availability). It should produce 60 units/hour but made 50 (83.3% performance). Of 350 units, 340 were good (97.1% quality). OEE = 87.5% x 83.3% x 97.1% = 70.8%.
What's "good"? World-class is 85%+. Most factories are 60-65%. If you're below 50%, there's a lot of easy improvement available.
2. Takt Time Calculator
What it calculates: How often you need to produce one unit to meet customer demand.
The formula: Takt Time = Available Production Time / Customer Demand
In human words: "If customers want 480 units per shift, and your shift is 480 minutes, you need to produce one unit every 1 minute." That 1-minute rhythm is your takt time — the heartbeat of your line.
Why it matters: If any step takes longer than takt time, you'll miss your target. If every step is way faster than takt time, you might be overstaffed.
Try the Takt Time Calculator →
3. Cycle Time Calculator
What it calculates: How long it takes to complete one unit at a specific process step.
In human words: You stand at a workstation with a stopwatch. An item arrives. You start the timer. The operator does their thing. The item moves on. You stop the timer. That's the cycle time. This calculator helps you track and average multiple observations.
Try the Cycle Time Calculator →
4. First Pass Yield Calculator
What it calculates: The percentage of units that pass quality inspection the first time — no rework, no scrap.
In human words: "Out of 100 widgets, 94 were good the first time. First Pass Yield = 94%." The other 6 either got reworked (extra cost) or scrapped (total loss).
Try the First Pass Yield Calculator →
5. Throughput Calculator
What it calculates: How many units your system produces per unit of time, using Little's Law.
Little's Law: Throughput = WIP / Lead Time. If you have 50 units in process (WIP) and each takes 5 hours to complete (lead time), your throughput is 10 units per hour.
Try the Throughput Calculator →
6. DPMO & Sigma Level Calculator
What it calculates: Defects Per Million Opportunities and the corresponding Six Sigma level.
In human words: If you make 1,000 items and find 5 defects, that's a rate. Scale it to a million and you get DPMO. A Six Sigma process has only 3.4 defects per million — that's 99.99966% perfect.
7. Line Efficiency Calculator
What it calculates: How well-balanced your production line is — are all stations equally loaded, or is one person idle while another is drowning?
Try the Line Efficiency Calculator →
8. Downtime Cost Calculator
What it calculates: How much money unplanned stops cost you — per hour, per incident, per month.
In human words: "The machine was down for 3 hours. During that time, we weren't producing. What's the dollar cost of those lost units, plus the idle labor, plus the opportunity cost?" This calculator does that math. It's usually a bigger number than people expect. That's the point.
Try the Downtime Cost Calculator →
9. Labor Productivity Calculator
What it calculates: Output per labor hour — how productive is your workforce?
Try the Labor Productivity Calculator →
10. Safety Stock Calculator
What it calculates: How much extra inventory you should keep to avoid running out when demand spikes or supply is late.
In human words: It's like keeping extra milk in the fridge because sometimes you run out faster than expected, and sometimes the store is out of stock. Safety stock is the "extra milk" for your factory.
Try the Safety Stock Calculator →
11. WIP Calculator (Little's Law)
What it calculates: Work-In-Process — how many units are inside your system at any given moment.
Little's Law: WIP = Throughput x Lead Time. If you're finishing 20 units/hour and each takes 3 hours to flow through, you have 60 units in process right now.
12. Capacity Utilization Calculator
What it calculates: What percentage of your maximum possible output you're actually using.
In human words: "We could produce 1,000 units/day. We're producing 700. That's 70% capacity utilization." This matters because at 90%+, you have no buffer for surges. At 50%, you're paying for a lot of idle capacity.
Try the Capacity Utilization Calculator →
13. Changeover / SMED Calculator
What it calculates: How much time (and money) you spend switching between products, and how much you'd save by reducing changeover time.
In human words: Every time you switch from making Product A to Product B, you stop production to adjust machines, swap tools, load new materials. That dead time is changeover. SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Die) is a method to make it faster. This calculator quantifies the savings.
Try the Changeover Calculator →
14. Optimal Batch Size Calculator
What it calculates: The ideal number of units to produce in one run before switching to the next product.
In human words: Too small a batch = too many changeovers = wasted time. Too large a batch = too much inventory sitting around = wasted money. This calculator finds the sweet spot.
Try the Batch Size Calculator →
The 10 Interactive Templates
Where to find them: symplprocess.com/templates
What they are: Fillable worksheets for common lean manufacturing exercises. You fill them out in your browser, export them as PDF, and use them in meetings, Kaizen events, or improvement projects.
Every Template, Explained
| Template | What It's For | How Long It Takes | When You'd Use It |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Whys Worksheet | Finding the root cause of a problem by asking "why?" five times in a row. Example: "Why did the machine stop?" "Because the fuse blew." "Why did the fuse blow?" ... keeps going until you hit the real cause. | 15-30 min | After any incident, defect, or recurring problem |
| Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagram | Brainstorming all possible causes of a problem, organized into 6 categories: Man, Machine, Method, Material, Measurement, Mother Nature (environment). Looks like a fish skeleton — causes are the bones, the problem is the head. | 30-45 min | Team brainstorming sessions for complex problems |
| A3 Problem Solving Report | Toyota's famous one-page problem-solving format. Seven sections: Background, Current Condition, Goal, Root Cause Analysis, Countermeasures, Implementation Plan, Follow-Up. Everything fits on one page (A3-sized paper, hence the name). | 2-5 days | Formal improvement projects that need structured thinking |
| Process Step Elimination | Going through every step in your process and asking "why do we do this? What happens if we stop?" Forces you to justify every step's existence. Steps that can't be justified get eliminated. | 45-90 min | Process simplification — cut the fat from bloated workflows |
| Kaizen Event Charter | A planning document for a Kaizen improvement event: what's the scope, what's the goal, who's on the team, what's the timeline, what resources are needed? | 1-2 hours | Before launching any Kaizen or improvement event |
| PDCA Cycle Worksheet | Plan-Do-Check-Act — the scientific method for factory improvement. Plan what you'll change, do the change, check if it worked, act on the results (standardize or try again). | 1-4 weeks per cycle | Any improvement initiative — this is the universal framework |
| SMED Changeover Worksheet | Analyzing your changeover process step-by-step: what can be done while the machine is still running (external)? What must be done while it's stopped (internal)? Convert as much as possible from internal to external. | 60-90 min | Reducing changeover time on any machine or process |
| Gemba Walk Checklist | A structured observation form for walking the factory floor. "Gemba" means "the real place" in Japanese. The checklist guides what to look for: safety hazards, visual management, standard work adherence, 5S condition. | 20-30 min | Daily or weekly leadership walkthroughs |
| 5S Audit Scorecard | Scoring your workplace on the 5S criteria: Sort (remove what's not needed), Set in Order (organize what's left), Shine (clean it), Standardize (make it repeatable), Sustain (keep it going). Each area gets scored 1-5. | 15-20 min | Weekly or monthly workplace organization audits |
| FMEA Worksheet | Failure Mode & Effects Analysis — list everything that could go wrong, rate each failure's severity, likelihood, and detectability. Multiply to get a Risk Priority Number (RPN). Fix the highest RPNs first. | 2-4 hours | New product/process launches or after major failures |
The Glossary (80+ Terms)
Where to find it: symplprocess.com/glossary
What it is: Every manufacturing and lean term you'll ever encounter, defined in plain English. No circular definitions. No "OEE is defined as the Overall Equipment Effectiveness metric" nonsense. Each definition actually explains what the word means and why you should care.
How to use it: Bookmark it. When someone says a word you don't recognize in a meeting, look it up. You can search by keyword or scroll alphabetically. Each entry links to a deeper learning guide if you want more detail.
Why We Made All of This Free
Two reasons. First: manufacturers deserve free access to good tools and education. Most lean training costs $2,000-5,000 per person. That's insane. These concepts shouldn't be locked behind a paywall. Second: if you use the free tools and they help, you might try the paid features. That's the business model. No tricks. Use the free stuff forever if that's all you need. We mean it.
What's Next?
You've now seen everything you can use for free. In Module 3, we get into the features that make up your daily routine as a supervisor: My Day, Shift Reports, and Action Items. This is where SymplProcess stops being a "cool tool" and starts being "the way you run your shift."
Continue to Module 3: Your Daily Routine →
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Model your process flow, optimize staffing with Theory of Constraints, and track every shift — all in one platform. Set up in under 5 minutes.