Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [582]
What Students Should Know
Obviously, students need to know about TOC principles and applications. The more hands-on their education is, the more likely they are to retain what they learn. For instance, simulation games require students to assume roles and play out scenarios based on TOC.
Simulation games are a staple of TOC education, but there’s really no substitute for seeing TOC in practice. Plant tours, industry speakers, thesis projects, and internships are well worth considering. Some schools have students work with local firms and conduct a Thinking Process (TP) project to identify what to change, what to change to, and how to cause the change. They then present their recommendations to the manager of the firm.
Students also need to know about the TOC buy-in process because students equipped only with a toolkit of TOC principles and applications will run headlong into opposition outside the classroom. Indeed, some enterprises have a latent pool of untapped TOC knowledge because recent graduates in management programs have almost certainly been exposed to TOC during their education. After graduation, however, they wind up in jobs where no one in their management chain is aware of TOC, let alone comprehends it.
Although many graduates have been exposed to TOCG, few have yet been exposed to TOCS. That is changing, however. Service Science, Management, Engineering, and Design (SSMED) is an academic initiative that involves a broad community spanning academia and services enterprises. SSMED helps academic institutions with curricula and other resources.
FIGURE 29-1 TOC vignettes.
Summary
The appeal of TOC comes from its sound management principles, plus applications that embody those principles. Here are some examples.
Drum-Buffer-Rope is based on the Weakest Link Principle, which says a system can only produce as much as its constraint will allow.
Replenishment is based on the Aggregation Principle, which says inventory or resources are best buffered centrally because that’s where consumption varies least.
Critical Chain is based on the Relay Race Principle, which says work rules (execution) determine on-time project completion far more than the project plan does.
Throughput Accounting is based on the Measurement Principle, which says you have to measure the right things to steer an enterprise toward its goal.
All these applications are based on the Pull Principle, which says the most effective management systems pull work through naturally.
TOCG and TOCS are based on the same fundamental TOC principles. Therefore, they are complementary. Figure 29-1 shows TOC vignettes.
RG manages inventory that rarely returns once shipped.
RS manages resources that regularly return for reassignment.
CCG manages projects when the enterprise constraint is internal.
CCS manages projects when the enterprise constraint is external.
DBRG manages operations when capacity is relatively fixed.
DBRS manages operations when capacity is relatively flexible.
TAG provides measures when inventory is abundant.
TAS provides measures when there is no inventory.
PSTS is the services sector most different from manufacturing and distribution where TOC began. Because TOC works in PSTS, where the conditions are extreme, there’s a good chance TOC will work in any services business.
References
Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute. 2008. The Theory of Constraints and Its Thinking Process. New Haven, CT.
Corbett, T. 1998. Throughput Accounting. Great Barrington, MA: North River Press.
Goldratt, E. 1999. Goldratt Satellite Program Session 6: Achieving Buy-in and Sales. Broadcast from Brummen, The Netherlands: Goldratt Satellite Program.
Goldratt, E. and Cox, J. 1992. The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement. 2nd. rev. ed. Great Barrington, MA: North