There are, today, many good books on the Theory of Constraints, or "TOC". These books, however, generally focus on explaining the details of TOC. But subject matter knowledge alone is not enough, if you want to actually use TOC in business. You must also have a valid roadmap for implementing it. This book provides it. Throughout the book, you have the concrete and actionable voice of a successful TOC consultant leading you to understand how to implement TOC in a manufacturing organization. The book also provides examples of various charts, forms and procedures that you can use as patterns for the materials you will need in your implementations.
Alex Rogo is a harried plant manager working ever more desperately to try and improve performance. His factory is rapidly heading for disaster. So is his marriage. He has ninety days to save his plant - or it will be closed by corporate HQ, with hundreds of job losses. It takes a chance meeting with a colleague from student days - Jonah - to help him break out of conventional ways of thinking to see what needs to be done. Described by Fortune as a 'guru to industry' and by Businessweek as a 'genius', Eliyahu M. Goldratt was an internationally recognized leader in the development of new business management concepts and systems. This 20th anniversary edition includes a series of detailed case study interviews by David Whitford, Editor at Large, Fortune Small Business, which explore how organizations around the world have been transformed by Eli Goldratt's ideas. The story of Alex's fight to save his plant contains a serious message for all managers in industry and explains the ideas which underline the Theory of Constraints (TOC) developed by Eli Goldratt. Written in a fast-paced thriller style, The Goal is the gripping novel which is transforming management thinking throughout the Western world. It is a book to recommend to your friends in industry - even to your bosses - but not to your competitors!
The definitive guide to the theory of constraints In this authoritative volume, the world's top Theory of Constraints (TOC) experts reveal how to implement the ground-breaking management and improvement methodology developed by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt. Theory of Constraints Handbook offers an in-depth examination of this revolutionary concept of bringing about global organization performance improvement by focusing on a few leverage points of the system. Clear explanations supplemented by examples and case studies define how the theory works, why it works, what issues are resolved, and what benefits accrue, and demonstrate how TOC can be applied to different industries and situations. Theory of Constraints Handbook covers: Critical Chain Project Management for realizing major improvements in delivering projects on time, to specification, and within budget Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR), Buffer Management, and distribution for maximizing throughput and minimizing flow time Performance measures for applying Throughput Accounting to improve organizational performance Strategy, marketing, and sales techniques designed to increase sales closing rates and Throughput Thinking Processes for simple and complex environments TOC methods to ensure that services actions support escalating demand for services while retaining financial viability Integrating the TOC Thinking Processes, the Strategy and Tactic Tree, TOC measurements, the Five Focusing Steps of TOC, and Six Sigma as a system of tools for sustainable improvement
This book is written in the attempt to deal with two major questions: what are the thinking processes that enable people to invent simple solutions to seemingly complicated situations? and, the question of how to use the psychological aspects to assist rather impair, the implementation of those solutions in a mode of an ongoing process.
Introducing an important new expression of management science called the Theory of Constraints (TOC), this book helps busy executives and professionals quickly learn and implement TOC principles. Introduction to the Theory of Constraints (TOC) Management System organizes several proven TOC principles, processes, and solutions into a TOC management system that has been successfully applied to everything from manufacturing industries to health care. The Theory of Constraints is based on the scientific method that has been developed and refined for nearly three decades by Dr. Eli Goldratt. The TOC management system offers management techniques that are sound, practical, and can be applied to nearly every company, project, or personal endeavor imaginable. It has created fundamentally new ways of managing, and has dramatically improved the ability of hundreds of thousands of individuals to make smart decisions on a daily basis. If you've read Eli Goldratt's bestselling books and wondered how to put his ideas to work, Introduction to the Theory of Constraints (TOC) Management System tells what TOC is, where it came from, who uses it, and how to get started with it.
Manufacturing systems don't exist in a vacuum, isolated from the rest of the company, but they are often managed that way. A truly effective, highly competitive manufacturing company integrates its manufacturing, marketing, sales, purchasing, and financial functions into a well-coordinated whole. Manufacturing at Warp Speed: Optimizing Supply Chain Financial Performance explains in detail how to coordinate all these functions to maximize sales revenue while controlling inventory and overhead costs. Ultimately, the effects of applying the new Simplified-Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR II) introduced by the authors include dramatically faster manufacturing cycle times, shorter order-to-delivery lead times, higher on-time delivery reliability, and better customer satisfaction. The book gives you everything a typical production professional needs to implement this new DBR approach. A supplemental feature - the Management Interactive Case Study Simulator (MICSS) - is included with the book. Available for download via the CRC Press website, the simulator sets up a virtual company where you can test and practice the processes you learn in the book before implementing them in your organization. The book and software together constitute the complete package for learning how to streamline manufacturing operations. The first book available on second generation Drum-Buffer-Rope, Manufacturing at Warp Speed: Optimizing Supply Chain Financial Performance describes the simplest, most efficient methods for reducing manufacturing cycle time and increasing the speed of manufacturing yet devised. Fully illustrated, with numerous examples, case studies, and manufacturing scenarios, the book is so easy to read that even the novice can understand it. Correct use of this new method practically assures that your company has the competitive advantage.
This book introduces the Look Forward approach to continuous improvement (CI). Look Forward is a management approach to CI that fosters an environment that infuses CI into the very fabric of the organisation. As a result, improvement is not an initiative or a project but rather a naturally occurring event that is anticipated, expected and prevalent. Look Forward is not a substitute for Six Sigma, Lean or Theory of Constraints (TOC), but rather is a necessary complement to each of these in order to assure self-perpetuating improvement that is ingrained in the corporate culture. Any business serious about improvement is going to consider these methodologies in the overall scope of their operations and the unique benefits they bring to the table. This book shows that for unbeatable sustained improvement they need to be intertwined with the Look Forward methodology.
'A major rewrite of Dettmer's classic Goldratt's Theory of Constraints, this new edition presents a whole new approach to building and applying logic trees. The logical thinking process referred to in the title is nothing less than a broadly applicable, systems-level approach to policy analysis. Dettmer has streamlined the process of constructing the logic trees while simultaneously ensuring that the results are more logically sound and closer representations of reality than ever before. He explains an easier, more logically sound way to integrate Current Reality Trees with Evaporating Clouds. His new version of the thinking process "retires" the Transition Tree in favor of the marriage of a more detailed Prerequisite Tree and critical chain project management. This book contains new examples of logic trees from a variety of real-world applications. Most of the diagrams and illustrations are new and improved. Explanations and procedures for constructing the logic trees are considerably simplified.
A new approach to improving the production of goods and services, Constraints Management (CM), recognizes the powerful role of the constraint (the limiting resource) in determining the output of the entire production system. By learning about and mastering CM concepts, managers can improve their companies' present output and plan for future growth as well.
Today's managers encounter tremendous resistance in getting others to buy-in to change. The ongoing rounds of downsizing and upheaval have taken their toll, leaving a legacy of skepticism. Therefore, managers must not only have ideas, but must be experts at "selling" the correct answers, information, and measurements to address issues of change. Securing the Future uses the Theory of Constraints, a breakthrough improvement methodology, to provide solutions to today's management problems. It documents the step-by-step approach to achieving a strategic vision of long-term competitive advantage, employment security, and customer satisfaction. Using a combination of parable, methodology, and case studies, this book presents an in-depth management road map to exponential improvement in any organization. If you are looking for concrete ideas on how to build the intellectual capital your organization will need in order to thrive in years to come, Securing the Future will show you the way.
