Industries
The Same Method, Six Different Kinds of Constraint
Rate-based simulation applies wherever material moves as flow rather than as a queue of parts — but what actually binds throughput differs sharply by sector. A cereal plant is limited by shelf life, a pharmaceutical line by quality release, a launch site by assembly fixtures. Each page below covers what tends to be binding in that industry and the work we have published there.
Food & Beverage
Bulk flow, changeovers, sanitation windows, shelf life and seasonal supply.
Read more → Unilever · Estée Lauder · Rich Products · Hewlett-PackardPackaging & CPG
Five machines at 85% OEE in series give a line near 44%. Surge sizing, SKU changeovers, micro-stops and reblend.
Read more → Rohm & Haas · ICI Paints · Glidden · Elf AtoChemChemicals, Oil & Gas
No parts, only material moving at a rate. Intermediate storage, campaign scheduling, shared vessels.
Read more → Eli Lilly · Genentech · Glaxo Wellcome · PfizerPharma & Life Sciences
The constraint is usually a wait, not a machine: quality release, validated cleaning, batch integrity.
Read more → Delphi · Ericsson · Lucent · Bosch · JTEKTElectronics & Automotive
Takted lines with minimal inventory, where every stoppage propagates immediately in both directions.
Read more → Boeing · Lockheed Martin · Raytheon · NASA · SandiaAerospace & Defence
Low volume, long horizon. Constrained by fixtures, bays and qualified people rather than machine rates.
Read more →Not on this list?
The method cares about structure rather than product. If your operation has stages that must run in step, storage between them, changeovers, and failures that arrive unpredictably, it is the same problem in different clothing — which is why the same buffer arithmetic sizes a surge tank in a chemical plant and an assembly fixture at a launch site.
The browser sandbox runs a line with no download and no sign-up, and the guides cover the arguments without reference to any particular industry.
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