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Theory of constraintsAn improvement methodology

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What is it?

...is a management philosophy that is based around the idea that the throughput of all systems is limited by at least one constraint: a bottleneck that slows production.

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...another definition

...is a methodology for identifying the most important limiting factor (i.e. constraint) that stands in the way of achieving a goal and then systematically improving that constraint until it is no longer the limiting factor.

In manufacturing, the constraint is often referred to as a bottleneck.

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Presence of bottlenecks

...slows production…

...slows the whole system...

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...throughput is instant and infinite...

Absence of bottlenecks

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Discovering bottlenecks- work piling up- new work cannot be taken on due to WIP limit- idle time - nothing to do - waiting on work- slowness in production / releases

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Fixing bottlenecks - the traditional way

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Fixing bottlenecks- Adding more people- Adding more machines- More training- Better tools- Better technologies- Increase capacity at bottlenecks

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Fixing bottlenecks - the lean way

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Exploiting bottlenecks- Bottleneck resource always have work to do- Build in quality to minimize the workload ??- Remove or at least limit interruptions- Remove impediments that hinder them in their work or

leave them waiting- The bottleneck resource’s always work on the most

important tasks- Let them work at a steady pace by evening out the

arrival rate of work

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Managing bottlenecks

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The Five Focusing Steps - E. M. Goldratt in The Goal

- Identify the constraint of the system- Exploit the constraint to get most out of it- Subordinate other work to support the exploitation- Elevate the constraint - share workload- Rinse and repeat

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Resource

Tame the Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Management by Steve Tendon and Wolfram Muller (Leanpub, 2013, https://leanpub.com/tame-the-flow)

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