Theory of constraints

The theory of constraints (TOC) is a management essary condition for pursuing the goal. Whether it is the
paradigm that views any manageable system as being lim- goal or a necessary condition, understanding how to make
ited in achieving more of its goals by a very small number sound financial decisions based on throughput, inventory,
of constraints. There is always at least one constraint, and and operating expense is a critical requirement.[3]
TOC uses a focusing process to identify the constraint and
restructure the rest of the organization around it.
1.2 The five focusing steps
TOC adopts the common idiom “a chain is no stronger
than its weakest link.” This means that processes, organi- Theory of constraints is based on the premise that the rate
zations, etc., are vulnerable because the weakest person of goal achievement by a goal-oriented system (i.e., the
or part can always damage or break them or at least ad- system’s throughput) is limited by at least one constraint.
versely affect the outcome.
The argument by reductio ad absurdum is as follows: If
there was nothing preventing a system from achieving
higher throughput (i.e., more goal units in a unit of time),
1 History its throughput would be infinite — which is impossible in
a real-life system.
The theory of constraints (TOC) is an overall
management philosophy introduced by Eliyahu M. Only by increasing flow through [1]
the constraint can overall
Goldratt in his 1984 book titled The Goal, that is geared throughput be increased.
to help organizations continually achieve their goals.[1] Assuming the goal of a system has been articulated and
Goldratt adapted the concept to project management its measurements defined, the steps are:
with his book Critical Chain, published 1997.
An earlier propagator of the concept was Wolfgang 1. Identify the system’s constraint(s).
Mewes[2] in Germany with publications on power-
2. Decide how to exploit the system’s constraint(s).
oriented management theory (Machtorientierte Führungs-
theorie, 1963) and following with his Energo-Kybernetic 3. Subordinate everything else to the above decision(s).
System (EKS, 1971), later renamed Engpasskonzentrierte
Strategie as a more advanced theory of bottlenecks. The 4. Elevate the system’s constraint(s).
publications of Wolfgang Mewes are marketed through 5. Warning! If in the previous steps a constraint has
the FAZ Verlag, publishing house of the German news- been broken, go back to step 1, but do not allow
paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. However, the inertia to cause a system’s constraint.[4]
paradigm Theory of constraints was first used by Goldratt.
The goal of a commercial organization is: “Make more
1.1 Key assumption money now and in the future”,[5] and its measurements
are given by throughput accounting as: throughput,
The underlying premise of theory of constraints is that or- inventory, and operating expenses.
ganizations can be measured and controlled by variations The five focusing steps aim to ensure ongoing improve-
on three measures: throughput, operational expense, and ment efforts are centered on the organization’s con-
inventory. Inventory is all the money that the system has straint(s). In the TOC literature, this is referred to as the
invested in purchasing things which it intends to sell. Op- process of ongoing improvement (POOGI).
erational expense is all the money the system spends in or-
der to turn inventory into throughput. Throughput is the These focusing steps are the key steps to developing the
rate at which the system generates money through sales. specific applications mentioned below.
[3]

Before the goal itself can be reached, necessary condi- 1.3 Constraints
tions must first be met. These typically include safety,
quality, legal obligations, etc. For most businesses, the A constraint is anything that prevents the system from
goal itself is to make money. However, for many organi- achieving its goal. There are many ways that constraints
zations and non-profit businesses, making money is a nec- can show up, but a core principle within TOC is that there

1
2 1 HISTORY

are not tens or hundreds of constraints. There is at least constraint’s output. Buffers used in this way protect the
one but at most only a few in any given system. Con- constraint from variations in the rest of the system and
straints can be internal or external to the system. An in- should allow for normal variation of processing time and
ternal constraint is in evidence when the market demands the occasional upset (Murphy) before and behind the con-
more from the system than it can deliver. If this is the straint.
case, then the focus of the organization should be on dis- Buffers can be a bank of physical objects before a work
covering that constraint and following the five focusing center, waiting to be processed by that work center.
steps to open it up (and potentially remove it). An exter- Buffers ultimately buy you time, as in the time before
nal constraint exists when the system can produce more
work reaches the constraint and are often verbalized as
than the market will bear. If this is the case, then the time buffers. There should always be enough (but not ex-
organization should focus on mechanisms to create more
cessive) work in the time queue before the constraint and
demand for its products or services. adequate offloading space behind the constraint.
Types of (internal) constraints Buffers are not the small queue of work that sits before
every work center in a Kanban system although it is sim-
• Equipment: The way equipment is currently used ilar if you regard the assembly line as the governing con-
limits the ability of the system to produce more sal- straint. A prerequisite in the theory is that with one con-
able goods/services. straint in the system, all other parts of the system must
• People: Lack of skilled people limits the system. have sufficient capacity to keep up with the work at the
Mental models held by people can cause behaviour constraint and to catch up if time was lost. In a balanced
that becomes a constraint. line, as espoused by Kanban, when one work center goes
down for a period longer than the buffer allows, then the
• Policy: A written or unwritten policy prevents the entire system must wait until that work center is restored.
system from making more. In a TOC system, the only situation where work is in dan-
ger is if the constraint is unable to process (either due to
The concept of the constraint in Theory of Constraints malfunction, sickness or a “hole” in the buffer – if some-
is analogous to but differs from the constraint that shows thing goes wrong that the time buffer can not protect).
up in mathematical optimization. In TOC, the constraint
is used as a focusing mechanism for management of the Buffer management, therefore, represents a crucial at-
system. In optimization, the constraint is written into the tribute of the theory of constraints. There are many ways
mathematical expressions to limit the scope of the solu- to apply buffers, but the most often used is a visual system
tion (X can be no greater than 5). of designating the buffer in three colors: green (okay),
yellow (caution) and red (action required). Creating this
Please note: organizations have many problems with kind of visibility enables the system as a whole to align
equipment, people, policies, etc. (A breakdown is just and thus subordinate to the need of the constraint in a
that – a breakdown – and is not a constraint in the true holistic manner. This can also be done daily in a central
sense of the TOC concept) The constraint is the limiting operations room that is accessible to everybody.
factor that is preventing the organization from getting
more throughput (typically, revenue through sales) even
when nothing goes wrong. 1.6 Plant types
There are four primary types of plants in the TOC lexi-
1.4 Breaking a constraint con. Draw the flow of material from the bottom of a page
to the top, and you get the four types. They specify the
If a constraint’s throughput capacity is elevated to the general flow of materials through a system, and they pro-
point where it is no longer the system’s limiting factor, vide some hints about where to look for typical problems.
this is said to “break” the constraint. The limiting factor The four types can be combined in many ways in larger
is now some other part of the system, or may be external facilities.
to the system (an external constraint). This is not to be
confused with a breakdown. • I-plant: Material flows in a sequence, such as in
an assembly line. The primary work is done in a
straight sequence of events (one-to-one). The con-
1.5 Buffers straint is the slowest operation.
Buffers are used throughout the theory of constraints. • A-plant: The general flow of material is many-to-
They often result as part of the exploit and subordinate one, such as in a plant where many sub-assemblies
steps of the five focusing steps. Buffers are placed before converge for a final assembly. The primary problem
the governing constraint, thus ensuring that the constraint in A-plants is in synchronizing the converging lines
is never starved. Buffers are also placed behind the con- so that each supplies the final assembly point at the
straint to prevent downstream failure from blocking the right time.
2.2 High-speed automated production lines 3

• V-plant: The general flow of material is one-to- measure, rather than quantity of material. This makes the
many, such as a plant that takes one raw material and priority system operate strictly based on the time an order
can make many final products. Classic examples are is expected to be at the drum. Traditional DBR usually
meat rendering plants or a steel manufacturer. The calls for buffers at several points in the system: the con-
primary problem in V-plants is “robbing” where one straint, synchronization points and at shipping. S-DBR
operation (A) immediately after a diverging point has a buffer at shipping and manages the flow of work
“steals” materials meant for the other operation (B). across the drum through a load planning mechanism.
Once the material has been processed by A, it cannot The rope is the work release mechanism for the plant.
come back and be run through B without significant
Orders are released to the shop floor at one “buffer time”
rework. before they are due. In other words, if the buffer is 5
• T-plant: The general flow is that of an I-plant (or has days, the order is released 5 days before it is due at the
multiple lines), which then splits into many assem- constraint. Putting work into the system earlier than this
blies (many-to-many). Most manufactured parts are buffer time is likely to generate too-high work-in-process
used in multiple assemblies and nearly all assem- and slow down the entire system.
blies use multiple parts. Customized devices, such
as computers, are good examples. T-plants suf-
fer from both synchronization problems of A-plants
2.2 High-speed automated production
(parts aren't all available for an assembly) and the lines
robbing problems of V-plants (one assembly steals
parts that could have been used in another). Automated production lines that are used for filling con-
tainers such as the beverage industry usually have several
machines that enable the whole process to be complete
For non-material systems, one can draw the flow of work from filling primary containers to secondary packaging
or the flow of processes and arrive at similar basic struc- and palletisation. These machines operate at different
tures. A project, for example is an A-shaped sequence of speeds and capacities and have varying efficiency levels.
work, culminating in a delivered project.
To be able to maximize the throughput, the production
line usually has a designed constraint. This constraint is
typically the slowest and usually the most expensive ma-
2 Applications chine on the line. The overall throughput of the line is
determined by this machine. All other machines can op-
The focusing steps, this process of ongoing improve- erate faster and are connected by conveyors.
ment, have been applied to manufacturing, project man-
The conveyors usually have the ability to buffer product.
agement, supply chain/distribution generated specific so-
In the event of a stoppage at a machine other than the
lutions. Other tools (mainly the “thinking process”) also
constraint, the conveyor can buffer the product enabling
led to TOC applications in the fields of marketing and
the constraint machine to keep on running.
sales, and finance. The solution as applied to each of these
areas are listed below. A typical line setup is such that in normal operation the
upstream conveyors from the constraint machine are al-
ways run full to prevent starvation at the constraint and the
2.1 Operations downstream conveyors are run empty to prevent a back
up at the constraint. The overall aim is to prevent minor
Within manufacturing operations and operations man- stoppages at the machines from impacting the constraint.
agement, the solution seeks to pull materials through the
For this reason as the machines get further from the con-
system, rather than push them into the system. The
straint, they have the ability to run faster than the previous
primary methodology use is drum-buffer-rope (DBR)[6]
machine and this creates a V curve.
and a variation called simplified drum-buffer-rope (S-
DBR).[7]
Drum-buffer-rope is a manufacturing execution method- 2.3 Supply chain / logistics
ology, named for its three components. The drum is the
physical constraint of the plant: the work center or ma- In general, the solution for supply chains is to create flow
chine or operation that limits the ability of the entire sys- of inventory so as to ensure greater availability and to
tem to produce more. The rest of the plant follows the eliminate surpluses.
beat of the drum. They make sure the drum has work The TOC distribution solution is effective when used to
and that anything the drum has processed does not get address a single link in the supply chain and more so
wasted. across the entire system, even if that system comprises
The buffer protects the drum, so that it always has work many different companies. The purpose of the TOC dis-
flowing to it. Buffers in DBR have time as their unit of tribution solution is to establish a decisive competitive
4 2 APPLICATIONS

edge based on extraordinary availability by dramatically increased by one third (and don’t forget rule 4). The
reducing the damages caused when the flow of goods is definition of “too long” may be changed depend-
interrupted by shortages and surpluses. ing on required service levels, however, a general
This approach uses several new rules to protect availabil- rule of thumb is 20% of the RT. Moving buffers up
ity with less inventory than is conventionally required. more readily than down is supported by the usually
Before explaining these new rules, the term Replenish- greater damage caused by shortages as compared to
ment Time must be defined. Replenishment Time (RT) the damage caused by surpluses.
is the sum of the delay, after the first consumption fol-
lowing a delivery, before an order is placed plus the delay
after the order is placed until the ordered goods arrive at Once inventory is managed as described above, contin-
the ordering location. uous efforts should be undertaken to reduce RT, late
deliveries, supplier minimum order quantities (both per
SKU and per order) and customer order batching. Any
1. Inventory is held at an aggregation point(s) as close improvements in these areas will automatically improve
as possible to the source. This approach ensures both availability and inventory turns, thanks to the adap-
smoothed demand at the aggregation point, requir- tive nature of Buffer Management.
ing proportionally less inventory. The distribution
centers holding the aggregated stock are able to A stocking location that manages inventory according to
ship goods downstream to the next link in the sup- the TOC should help a non-TOC customer (downstream
ply chain much more quickly than a make-to-order link in a supply chain, whether internal or external) man-
manufacturer can. age their inventory according to the TOC process. This
type of help can take the form of a vendor managed in-
2. Following this rule may result in a make-to-order ventory (VMI). The TOC distribution link simply extends
manufacturer converting to make-to-stock. The in- its buffer sizing and management techniques to its cus-
ventory added at the aggregation point is signifi- tomers’ inventories. Doing so has the effect of smoothing
cantly less than the inventory reduction downstream. the demand from the customer and reducing order sizes
per SKU. VMI results in better availability and inventory
3. In all stocking locations, initial inventory buffers are turns for both supplier and customer. More than that, the
set which effectively create an upper limit of the in- benefits to the non-TOC customers are sufficient to meet
ventory at that location. The buffer size is equal to the purpose of capitalizing on the decisive competitive
the maximum expected consumption within the av- edge by giving the customer a powerful reason to be more
erage RT, plus additional stock to protect in case a loyal and give more business to the upstream link. When
delivery is late. In other words, there is no advan- the end consumers buy more the whole supply chain sells
tage in holding more inventory in a location than the more.
amount that might be consumed before more could
be ordered and received. Typically, the sum of the One caveat should be considered. Initially and only tem-
on hand value of such buffers are 25–75% less than porarily, the supply chain or a specific link may sell less
currently observed average inventory levels. as the surplus inventory in the system is sold. However,
the immediate sales lift due to improved availability is a
4. Once buffers have been established, no replenish- countervailing factor. The current levels of surpluses and
ment orders are placed as long as the quantity in- shortages make each case different.
bound (already ordered but not yet received) plus
the quantity on hand are equal to or greater than the
buffer size. Following this rule causes surplus inven-
tory to be bled off as it is consumed. 2.4 Finance and accounting
5. For any reason, when on hand plus inbound inven- The solution for finance and accounting is to apply holis-
tory is less than the buffer, orders are placed as soon tic thinking to the finance application. This has been
as practical to increase the inbound inventory so termed throughput accounting.[8] Throughput account-
that the relationship On Hand + Inbound = Buffer ing suggests that one examine the impact of investments
is maintained. and operational changes in terms of the impact on the
6. To ensure buffers remain correctly sized even with throughput of the business. It is an alternative to cost ac-
changes in the rates of demand and replenishment, counting.
a simple recursive algorithm called Buffer Manage- The primary measures for a TOC view of finance and ac-
ment is used. When the on hand inventory level is in counting are: throughput, operating expense and invest-
the upper third of the buffer for a full RT, the buffer ment. Throughput is calculated from sales minus “totally
is reduced by one third (and don’t forget rule 3). Al- variable cost”, where totally variable cost is usually cal-
ternatively, when the on hand inventory is in the bot- culated as the cost of raw materials that go into creating
tom one third of the buffer for too long, the buffer is the item sold.[9](pp13–14)
 5

2.5 Project management guide continuous improvement and change in organiza-

tions (Dettmer H. , 1998).
Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) are utilized
The process of change requires the identification and ac-
in this area.[10] CCPM is based on the idea that all projects
ceptance of core issues; the goal and the means to the
look like A-plants: all activities converge to a final deliv-
goal. This comprehensive set of logical tools can be used
erable. As such, to protect the project, there must be in-
for exploration, solution development and solution imple-
ternal buffers to protect synchronization points and a final
mentation for individuals, groups or organizations. Each
project buffer to protect the overall project.
tool has a purpose and nearly all tools can be used inde-
pendently (Cox & Spencer, 1998). Since these thinking
2.6 Marketing and sales tools are designed to address successive “layers of resis-
tance” and enable communication, it expedites securing
While originally focused on manufacturing and logistics, “buy in” of groups. While CRT (current reality tree) rep-
TOC has expanded lately into sales management and mar- resents the undesirable effects of the current situation,
keting. Its role is explicitly acknowledged in the field of the FRT (the future reality tree), NBR (negative branch)
sales process engineering.[11] For effective sales manage- help people plan and understand the possible results of
ment one can apply Drum Buffer Rope to the sales pro- their actions. The PRT (Perquisite tree) and TRT (tran-
cess similar to the way it is applied to operations (see sition tree) are designed to build collective buy in and aid
Reengineering the Sales Process book reference below). in the Implementation phase. The logical constructs of
This technique is appropriate when your constraint is in these tools or diagrams are the necessary condition logic,
the sales process itself or you just want an effective sales the sufficient cause logic and the strict logic rules that are
management technique and includes the topics of funnel used to validate cause-effect relationships which are mod-
management and conversion rates. elled with these tools (Dettmer W. , 2006).
A summary of these tools, the questions they help answer
and the associated logical constructs used is presented in
3 The TOC thinking processes the table below.
TOC Thinking Process Tools: Use of these tools are
Main article: Thinking processes (theory of constraints) based on the fundamental beliefs of TOC that organiza-
tions a) are inherently simple (interdependencies exist in
organizations) b) desire inherent harmony (win – win so-
The thinking processes are a set of tools to help managers
lutions are possible) c) are inherently good (people are
walk through the steps of initiating and implementing a
good) and have inherent potential (people and organiza-
project. When used in a logical flow, the Thinking Pro-
tions have potential to do better) (Goldratt E. , 2009).
cesses help walk through a buy-in process:
In the book “Through the clouds to solutions” Jelena Fe-
durko (Fedurko, 2013) states that the major areas for ap-
1. Gain agreement on the problem plication of TP tools as:
2. Gain agreement on the direction for a solution
3. Gain agreement that the solution solves the problem • To create and enhance thinking and learning skills

4. Agree to overcome any potential negative ramifica- • To make better decisions

tions
5. Agree to overcome any obstacles to implementation • To develop responsibility for one’s own actions
through understanding their consequences
TOC practitioners sometimes refer to these in the nega-
tive as working through layers of resistance to a change. • To handle conflicts with more confidence and win-
win outcomes
Recently, the current reality tree (CRT) and future reality
tree (FRT) have been applied to an argumentative aca-
demic paper.[12] • To correct behavior with undesirable consequences

Despite its origins as a manufacturing approach (Goldratt

• Assist in evaluating conditions for achieving a de-
& Cox, The Goal: A process of Ongoing Improvement,
sired outcome
1992), Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints (TOC) method-
ology is now regarded as a systems methodology with
strong foundations in the hard sciences (Mabin, 1999). • To assist in peer mediation
Through its tools for convergent thinking and synthesis,
the “Thinking processes”, which underpin the entire TOC • To assist in relationship between subordinates and
methodology, help identify and manage constraints and bosses[13]
6 7 SEE ALSO

4 Development and practice denigrate other methodologies as inferior to TOC.

Goldratt has been criticized on lack of openness in his
TOC was initiated by Goldratt, who until his recent death theories, an example being him not releasing the algo-
was still the main driving force behind the development rithm he used for the Optimum Performance Training
and practice of TOC. There is a network of individu- system.[20] Some view him as unscientific with many of
als and small companies loosely coupled as practitioners his theories, tools and techniques not being a part of the
around the world. TOC is sometimes referred to as “con- public domain, rather a part of his own framework of
straint management”. TOC is a large body of knowledge profiting on his ideas. According to Gupta and Snyder
with a strong guiding philosophy of growth. (2009), despite being recognized as a genuine manage-
ment philosophy nowadays, TOC has yet failed to demon-
strate its effectiveness in the academic literature and as
5 Criticism such cannot be considered academically worthy enough
to be called a widely recognized theory. TOC needs more
case studies that prove a connection between implementa-
Criticisms that have been leveled against TOC include: tion and improved financial performance.[21] Nave (2002)
argues that TOC does not take employees into account
and fails to empower them in the production process. He
5.1 Claimed suboptimality of drum- also states that TOC fails to address unsuccessful policies
buffer-rope as constraints.[22] In contrast, Mukherjee and Chatterjee
(2007) state that much of the criticism of Goldratt’s work
While TOC has been compared favorably to linear pro- has been focused on the lack of rigour in his work, but
gramming techniques,[14] D. Trietsch from University not of the bottleneck approach, which are two different
of Auckland argues that DBR methodology is inferior aspects of the issue.[23]
to competing methodologies.[15][16] Linhares, from the
Getulio Vargas Foundation, has shown that the TOC ap-
proach to establishing an optimal product mix is unlikely
to yield optimum results, as it would imply that P=NP.[17] 6 Certification and education

The Theory of Constraints International Certification

5.2 Unacknowledged debt Organization[24] (TOCICO) is an independent not-for-
profit incorporated society that sets exams to ensure a
Duncan (as cited by Steyn)[18] says that TOC borrows consistent standard of competence. It is overseen by a
heavily from systems dynamics developed by Forrester in board[25] of academic and industrial experts. It also hosts
the 1950s and from statistical process control which dates an annual international conference. The work presented
back to World War II. And Noreen Smith and Mackey, in at these conferences constitutes a core repository of the
their independent report on TOC, point out that several current knowledge.
key concepts in TOC “have been topics in management
accounting textbooks for decades.”[9](p149)
People claim Goldratt’s books fail to acknowledge that
TOC borrows from more than 40 years of previous man- 7 See also
agement science research and practice, particularly from
program evaluation and review technique/critical path • Linear programming
method (PERT/CPM) and the just in time strategy. A
rebuttal to these criticisms is offered in Goldratt’s “What • List of Theory of Constraints topics
is the Theory of Constraints and How Should it be Imple-
mented?", and in his audio program, “Beyond The Goal”.
• Systems thinking — Critical systems thinking —
In these, Goldratt discusses the history of disciplinary
Joint decision traps
sciences, compares the strengths and weaknesses of the
various disciplines, and acknowledges the sources of in-
• Twelve leverage points by Donella Meadows
formation and inspiration for the thinking processes and
critical chain methodologies. Articles published in the
now-defunct Journal of Theory of Constraints referenced • Constraint (disambiguation)
foundational materials. Goldratt published an article and
gave talks[19] with the title “Standing on the Shoulders • Thinklets
of Giants” in which he gives credit for many of the core
ideas of Theory of Constraints. Goldratt has sought many • Throughput
times to show the correlation between various improve-
ment methods. However, many Goldratt adherents often • Rate-determining step
 7

8 References [18] Steyn, Herman (2000). “An Investigation Into the Funda-
mentals of Critical Chain Project Scheduling.”. Interna-
[1] Cox, Jeff; Goldratt, Eliyahu M. (1986). The goal: a pro- tional Journal of Project Management (19): 363–369.
cess of ongoing improvement. [Croton-on-Hudson, NY]:
[19] Eliyahu Goldratt. Standing on the Shoulders of Giants.
North River Press. ISBN 0-88427-061-0.

[2] CV Wolfgang Mewes [20] Rahman, Shams-ur. “Theory of constraints: a review of

the philosophy and its applications.” International Jour-
[3] Goldratt, Eliyahu M. Essays on the Theory of Constraints. nal of Operations & Production Management 18.4 (1998):
[Great Barrington, MA]: North River Press. ISBN 0- 336-355.
88427-159-5.
[21] Gupta, Mahesh, and Doug Snyder. “Comparing TOC
[4] Eliyahu M. Goldratt. 2004. _The Goal: A Process of with MRP and JIT: a literature review.” International
Ongoing Improvement, ISBN 978-0-88427-178-9. Journal of Production Research 47.13 (2009): 3705-3739
[5] Theory of Constraints Handbook, ISBN 978-0-07- [22] Nave, Dave. “How to compare six sigma, lean and the
166554-4, p. 8 theory of constraints.” Quality Progress 35.3 (2002): 73-
[6] Goldratt, Eliyahu; Fox, Robert (1986). The Race. 80.
[Croton-on-Hudson, NY]: North River Press. p. 179.
[23] Mukherjee, S.M. and Chatterjee, A.K. (2007). The con-
ISBN 978-0-88427-062-1.
cept of bottleneck. Working Paper No. 2006-05-01, IIM
[7] Eli Schragenheim and H. William Dettmer (2000). Ahmedabad
“Simplified Drum-Buffer-Rope: A Whole System Ap-
proach to High Velocity Manufacturing” (PDF). Re- [24] TOCICO
trieved 2007-12-08.
[25]
[8] Corbett, Thomas (1998). Throughput Accounting. North
River Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-88427-158-1.

[9] Eric Noreen; Debra Smith; James T. Mackey (1995). The 9 Further reading
Theory of Constraints and its implications for Manage-
ment Accounting. North River Press. ISBN 0-88427-116- • Cox, Jeff; Goldratt, Eliyahu M. (1986). The goal: a
1. process of ongoing improvement. [Great Barrington,
[10] Goldratt, Eliyahu M. (1997). Critical Chain. Great Bar- MA]: North River Press. ISBN 0-88427-061-0.
rington, MA: North River Press. ISBN 0-88427-153-6.
• Dettmer, H. William. (2003). Strategic Navigation:
[11] Paul H. Selden (1997). Sales Process Engineering: A Per- A Systems Approach to Business Strategy. [Milwau-
sonal Workshop. Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Quality Press. pp. kee, WI]: ASQ Quality Press. p. 302. ISBN 0-
33–35, 264–268. ISBN 0-87389-418-9. 87389-603-3.
[12] See the annex of: Vidal, C. 2008.The Future of Scientific
Simulations: from Artificial Life to Artificial Cosmoge-
• Dettmer, H. William. (2007). The Logical Thinking
nesis. In Death And Anti-Death , ed. Charles Tandy, 6: Process: A Systems Approach to Complex Problem
Thirty Years After Kurt Gödel (1906–1978) pp. 285-318. Solving. [Milwaukee, WI]: ASQ Quality Press. p.
Ria University Press.) 413. ISBN 978-0-87389-723-5.
[13] “Theory Of Constraints and the Thinking Process”. Vec- • Goldratt, Eliyahu M. (1994). It’s not luck. [Great
tor Consulting. Barrington, MA]: North River Press. ISBN 0-
[14] Qui, Mabel; Fredendall, Lawrence; Zhu, Zhiwei (2002). 88427-115-3.
“TOC or LP? [production control]". Manufacturing En-
• Goldratt, Eliyahu M. (1997). Critical chain. [Great
gineer 81 (4): 190–195. doi:10.1049/me:20020411.
Barrington, MA]: North River Press. ISBN 0-
[15] Trietsch, D. (2005). “From Management by Constraints 88427-153-6.
(MBC) to Management By Criticalities (MBC II)" (PDF).
Human Systems Management 24: 105–115. • Carol A. Ptak; Goldratt, Eliyahu M.; Eli Schragen-
heim. Necessary But Not Sufficient. [Great Barring-
[16] http://ac.aua.am/trietsch/web/WorkingPaper281.pdf D.
ton, MA]: North River Press. ISBN 0-88427-170-6.
Trietsch, From the Flawed “Theory of Constraints” to Hi-
erarchically Balancing Criticalities (HBC), Department of • Goldratt, Eliyahu M. Essays on the Theory of Con-
Information Systems and Operations Management, Uni-
straints. [Great Barrington, MA]: North River
versity of Auckland, Working Paper No. 281, May 2004.
Press. ISBN 0-88427-159-5.
[17] Linhares, Alexandre (2009). “Theory of constraints and
the combinatorial complexity of the product-mix deci- • Goldratt, Eliyahu M. Theory of Constraints. [Great
sion”. International Journal of Production Economics 121 Barrington, MA]: North River Press. ISBN 0-
(1): 121–129. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2009.04.023. 88427-166-8.
8 10 EXTERNAL LINKS

• Goldratt, Eliyahu M. Beyond the Goal : Eliyahu 10 External links

Goldratt Speaks on the Theory of Constraints (Your
Coach in a Box). Coach Series. ISBN 1-59659-023- • A Guide to Implementing the Theory of Constraints
8.

• Dr Lisa Lang. Achieving a Viable Vision: The The-

ory of Constraints Strategic Approach to Rapid Sus-
tainable Growth. Throughput Publishing, Inc. ISBN
0-9777604-1-3.

• Goldratt, Eliyahu M. (1990). The haystack syn-

drome: sifting information out of the data ocean.
[Great Barrington, MA]: North River Press. ISBN
0-88427-089-0.

• Fox, Robert; Goldratt, Eliyahu M. (1986). The race.

[Great Barrington, MA]: North River Press. ISBN
0-88427-062-9.

• Schragenheim, Eli. (1999). Management dilemmas.

[Boca Raton, FL]: St. Lucie Press. p. 209. ISBN
1-57444-222-8.

• Schragenheim, Eli, and Dettmer, H. William.

(2000). Manufacturing at warp speed: optimizing
supply chain financial performance. [Boca Raton,
FL]: St. Lucie Press. p. 342. ISBN 1-57444-293-
7.

• Schragenheim, Eli, Dettmer, H. William, and Pat-

terson, J. Wayne. (2009). Supply chain management
at warp speed: integrating the system from end to
end. [Boca Raton, FL]: CRC Press. p. 220. ISBN
1-42007-335-4.

• John Tripp TOC Executive Challenge A Goal

Game. ISBN 0-88427-186-2

• Goldratt, Eliyahu M. Production the TOC Way with

Simulator. North River Press, Great Barrington,
MA. ISBN 0-88427-175-7.

• Stein, Robert E. Re-Engineering The Manufacturing

System. Marcel Dekker. ISBN 0-8247-4265-6.

• Stein, Robert E. The Theory Of Constraints. Marcel

Dekker. ISBN 0-8247-0064-3.

• Jacob, Dee; Bergland, Suzan; Cox, Jeff. Velocity:

Combining Lean, Six Sigma and the Theory of Con-
straints to Achieve Breakthrough Performance. Free
Pre. p. 320. ISBN 978-1439158920.

• Raton, Boca. The TOC handbook. FL: St. Lucie

press.

• Dettmer, H (1998). Constraint Theory A Logic-

Based Approach to System Improvement (PDF).

• Fedurko, J. Through Clouds to Solutions: Working

with UDEs and UDE clouds. Estonia: Ou Vali Press.
 9

11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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