Theory Of Constraints Case Study

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Eliyahu Goldratt, an Israeli physicist turned business guru, is the founder of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), who developed revolutionary methods for production scheduling in the late 1970s (Balderstone & Mabin, 1998). Goldratt also developed other theories about the methodology of systemic problem structuring and problem solving which are utilized in developing solutions with intuitive power and analytical rigor that, while more refined, are still being utilized today. The TOC stood in direct contrast to other accepted methods of production scheduling at the time, such as Materials Requirements Planning (MRP). MRP is a production planning and inventory control system that integrates data from production schedules, inventory, and the bill …show more content…

TOC was initially a manufacturing method, but evolved and developed into a theory about management in many forums and arenas of business. The TOC philosophy applies to any organization that has a constraint and has been useful in discovering either one constraint or many small constraints that can plague and dominate an entire system. The secret of the TOC’s success lies within managing the constraints that are found in the process or subsystem while managing the entire process to gain the most benefit out of the complete system. Drum-Buffer-Rope scheduling theory, another of Goldratt’s scheduling techniques, is a metaphor to understand the flow of a supply chain by increasing throughput by adjusting buffers by utilizing a rope and controlling the speed of the supply chain by a drum. The metaphor for the Drum-Buffer-Rope could find application with the TOC, where adjustments need to be made anywhere along the process where functions happen too soon or not soon enough in order to keep the process moving at the same pace throughout. Utilization of this theory and identifying the constraints with the TOC are among some of the general principles espoused in Goldratt’s book, The Goal, which has proven useful for successful manufacturing and process management (Balderstone & Mabin,

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