Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [784]
2Used by permission of Eliyahu M. Goldratt © Eliyahu M. Goldratt.
3The TOCICO Dictionary (Sullivan et al., 2007, 41) defines relay runner as “The process of applying a focused effort to complete a task and hand it off immediately to a resource waiting and prepared to take the hand-off in critical chain project management.”
Usage: Some people use relay runner interchangeably with road runner in an operations environment.” (© TOCICO 2007, used by permission all rights reserved.)
4The APICS Dictionary (Blackstone, 2008, 93) defines order point system as “The inventory method that places an order for a lot whenever the quantity on hand is reduced to a predetermined level known as the order point.” Two order point systems are used: the min-max system and economic order quantity system (EOQ). The min-max system (83) is ” A type of order point replenishment system where the “min” (minimum) is the order point, and the “max” (maximum) is the “order up to” inventory level. The order quantity is variable and is the result of the max minus available and on-order inventory. An order is recommended when the sum of the available and on-order inventory is at or below the min.” The EOQ (43) system is defined as “A type of fixed order quantity model that determines the amount of an item to be purchased or manufactured at one time.” (© APICS 2008, used by permission, all rights reserved.)
1This particular case study was the topic of an Industry Week Webinar, which they later claimed was their highest attended ever.
2Recall that Jonah is a character in The Goal (written by Eli Goldratt) that Socratically leads a person to discover the answer to a problem.
1Some of the materials in this chapter are drawn from Cox, Blackstone, and Schleier (2003, Chapter 17).
2One of the authors started teaching the TP to his college students based on personal productivity and time management dilemmas. His thinking was that it was easier to teach a new methodology if the student was familiar with the subject matter on which the methodology would be used. This approach proved to be of significant value to a large number of students. The story of one such student is provided later in this chapter.
3The TOCICO Dictionary (Sullivan et al., 2007, 11) defines a chronic conflict as: “A contentious situation that has continued to exist for a prolonged period of time. Opposing sides have been justifying their perspective through selective requirements and prerequisites for so long that both sides become entrenched in their own beliefs to the point that neither side can see how to break the conflict without suffering a significant loss.
Usage: Breaking a chronic conflict requires understanding the opposing perspectives. This understanding can lead to the surfacing of hidden assumptions underlying entity relationships that are often the key to creating a breakthrough solution. The solution to a chronic conflict requires one side to offer up a problematic (from their perspective) injection and the other side to somehow eliminate any of the undesirable aspects of the proposed injection using negative branch reservations (NBRs).” (© TOCICO 2007, used by permission, all rights reserved.)
4After a few iterations of this cloud, my son realized that I was concerned with his security. Therefore, he would seek out answers to the anticipated questions before we started our dialog. Occasionally, I would have a question where his response was, “Good question! Let me find out what the answer is and get back to you.”
5This problem was studied by a number of different MBAs over the past decade; for a detailed analysis of this problem and to see a different way of building a future reality tree see: Cox, Mabin, and Davies (2005).
6In Chapter 16, Barnard and Immelman use Ackoff’s terminology of Errors of Commission (doing what you shouldn’t do) and Errors of Omission (not doing what you should do) as causes of