theory+of+constraints category archives

There's a potential conflict between Getting Things Done and Just Do It. Here are some thoughts on the topic.

I had lunch the other day with Johanna Rothman and the topic of planning research work came up. It is difficult to plan research work because the very nature of research is one of iteration and uncertainty. You don't know if your experiment is going to work, so how can you build a formal plan of everything you plan to do?

The TOC ICO has awarded Boeing with its award for achievement this year.

Mark Foster has an interesting entry, "Acting in One's Own Best Interests." Essentially he suggests that the highest form of achievement comes when people act in their own best interests.

I came across a new blog recently by Dr. Ron Lasky of Indium Corporation, named simply Dr. Lasky's Blog. While his expertise and background is in the electronics and electronic materials area, he also has an interest in Theory of Constraints.

"Supply Chain Management at Warp Speed" is another book in the growing supply of Theory of Constraints books. For people the know the oeurve, this book is an extension and update to Schragenheim & Dettmer's Manufacturing at Warp Speed. TOC experts will find this informative, but I am not sure those outside this circle will.

Art Murray has extended his suggested transformations in An opportunity for real change, part 2, where he continues the idea of stepping back from the day-to-day to think about how the organization should work in the future.

I've been attempting to clean up the Theory of Constraints entry on Wikipedia. One element of that has been to hunt down references and clear up the "critcism" section to be readable. Part of the reference hunt took me to YouTube, and that of course led to more YouTube. Here are four videos I dove into and my thoughts about them.

In general, operations management circles have grown to understand the hazards of push systems and the benefits of pull systems when managing work on the shop floor or the engineering department or the supply chain.

Mark Woeppel will be doing a Critical Chain Project Management Webinar on 29 April.

My comments on Essays on the Theory of Constraints. Short form: interesting material, but don't buy it if you are new to TOC.

Discovered a "TOC in Action" article by Pascal Van Cauwenberghe.

There are plenty of things I do individually and that I see in business that make things better. But there seem to be just as many, if not more, that are merely a change without any obvious benefit.

Henrik Martensson gave himself an interesting challenge: apply Theory of Constraints to Primus Vicus, a medieval recreation village in Halmstad, Sweden.

Eli Goldratt is pretty sure the manufacturing sector (barring cars / real estate) should spring back within a month or two.