What-If and Scope

Honest Little's Law Scope

Little's Law is exact arithmetic for a stable snapshot, not a queueing forecast.

highlighted = computed this step

Deterministic Snapshot

This snapshot assumes a stable throughput and fixed flow times.

base WIP=36what-if WIP=24\text{base WIP} = 36\quad\text{what-if WIP} = 24
WIP and flow timeThe chart compares base WIP with the shorter-flow-time what-if.Little's Law WIP and flow timethroughput 12 jobs/hour; flow time 3 hours; WIP 36 jobscasethroughputflow timeWIPchangebase12336baselinewhat-if12224reduction 12basebase WIP 3612 x 3what-ifwhat-if WIP 2412 x 2what-if WIP 24; reduction 12deterministic Little's Law arithmetic only

Honesty Note

This is deterministic Little's Law arithmetic for a stable snapshot. It does not model variability, queueing shape, arrival bursts, bottleneck causes, staffing, prioritization, or a future guarantee.

Little’s Law arithmetic is not a queueing forecast\text{Little's Law arithmetic is not a queueing forecast}
WIP and flow timeThe chart compares base WIP with the shorter-flow-time what-if.Little's Law WIP and flow timethroughput 12 jobs/hour; flow time 3 hours; WIP 36 jobscasethroughputflow timeWIPchangebase12336baselinewhat-if12224reduction 12basebase WIP 3612 x 3what-ifwhat-if WIP 2412 x 2what-if WIP 24; reduction 12deterministic Little's Law arithmetic only