KEY QUESTIONS FOR THE FUTURE STATE 1) What is the takt time, based on the available working time of your downstream processes that are closest to the customer? 2) Will you build to a finished goods supermarket from which the customer pulls, or directly to shipping? IThe answer to this question depends on several factors such as customer buying patterns, the reliability of your processes, and the characteristics of your product. Building directly to shipping wi require either a reliable, short-lead-time, order-to-delivery stream, or more safety stock. Fortunately, your order-to-delivery lead time involves only those processes from the pacemaker process downstream to delivery.) 3) Where can you use continuous flow processing? 4) Where will you need to use supermarket pullsystems in order to control production of upstream processes? 5) At what single point in the production chain (the "pacemaker process will you schedule production? (Remember that a material transfers downstream of the pacemaker process need to occur as a flow. 6) How will you level the production mix at the pacemaker process? 7) What increment of work will you consistently release and take away at the pacemaker process? at process improvements will be necessary for the value 8) stream to flow as your future-state design specifies? (This is the place to note any equipment and procedural improvements that will be necessary, such as reducing changeover time or improving machine uptime. We use the kaizen lightning burst icon to indicate these points in the process.) Changeover