WHERE IS THE CONSTRAINT?

by Henry Harel

Do you want to boost your bottom line? This is the first step. A practical Do It Yourself guide to the implementation of the Theory Of Constraints ( TOC ), is brought to you. You can adopt the best operation management practices used by leading industries globally. You will learn how to find the problem in a variety of organizations, using explanations, basic rules and demonstrations. Use the knowledge of the organization you are in, combined with the powerful tools of TOC to embark on a continuous improvement process. You can read and learn about analyzing problems Manufacturing* Design process* Supply chain* Software development* Customer service* Sales Have you ever read a book so captivating that it made you want to be the protagonist or the main character in it? Solving production issues, improving productivity, and increasing profit seem so easy and so sensible!This happened to me when I read The Goal about 25 years ago. It led to a lasting career of consulting and management all over the world. To those who are not familiar, this is the story, and you can read the summary at the appendix of this book.Summarizing the philosophy and practice of the Theory of Constrains (TOC), we can say that the basics are very simple. Every organization has one and only one constraint. That constraint can be either be physical in the form of a bottleneck in production or virtual (yet very real) in the form of a rule. It hinders the company in its efforts to achieve the company’s goals.In order to embark on a continuous improvement process, there are five the constraint.2.Decide how to exploit the constraint.3.Subordinate and synchronize everything else to the above decisions.4.Elevate the performance of the constraint.5.If, in any of the above steps, the constraint has shifted, go back to Step 1.Over the years, I was lucky to realize my ambition of the TOC in numerous industries, from garment production to mining, from services to food distribution, and many others. The companies were spread globally—Israel, China, India, Japan, and Scotland are some of them. Today, while running my own ventures, I find it as a good place to share this knowledge.The one thing I found common is that in every organization, there are several individuals who, even without any formal training in the TOC, are more than capable of producing amazing results. This manual is written for them. It is the first of five, each of which covers one step in the continuous improvement process. To all who read it, I would love to listen to your stories and advice. You can contact me via email at henryharel@gmail.com

43 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 28, 2012

Reviews

[Bob Wallner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short ebook on a very specific topic. This book's title is accurate, it gives you ideas on where to find the constraint in your process. The author successfully tries to give you places to look even in such things as IT.

Although the author clearly states that TOC was found on the shop floor, he provides several examples of non production bottlenecks.

One thing that is missing and I think is very common is bottleneck being in HR or hiring practices. In my experience we have had several positions open for a very long time. We know we need the resources, but finding the "right people" seems to be be a huge bottleneck. After 2-3 interviews a detailed "package" is put together and if accepted 2 weeks later someone is starting. Even hourly employees are scrutinized and interviewed by several parties, if pass, sent for drug tests, if passed made an offer. Even if they could start today our HR process requires they start with next group. Then once in our 90 day retention rate is somewhere around 50%.

All in all a good book with several good ideas.