Tag Archives: Theory of Constraints

Management Improvement Carnival #134

Posted on June 20, 2011 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat Management Improvement Carnival has been published since 2006. We find great management blog posts and share them with you. We hope you find these post interesting and find some new blogs to start reading. You may submitted a post to the management subreddit to have it considered for the next carnival. See more photos from North Cascade National Park, Washington, USA. To Change Culture, Change the System by David Joyce – “Deming learned it’s not a problem … Continue reading →

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Management Improvement Carnival #34

Posted on May 1, 2008 by John Hunter

Please submit your favorite management posts to the carnival. Read the previous management carnivals. Introduction to Factorial Designs by Jonathan Mendez – “I like the idea of velocity in marketing — test, learn, test, learn, test. Instead of one large test I prefer focusing attention on certain areas or elements to achieve deeper understanding.” MIT’s Message about Lean Enterprise Transformation by Mark Edmondson- “1. Market leaders are good at embracing enterprise change; 2. Enterprise change requires a holistic approach that … Continue reading →

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Systems Improvement Example

Posted on January 22, 2007 by John Hunter

Interesting paper – The Dynamics of Crowd Disasters: An Empirical Study [the broken link was removed] (see other interesting material on the website). Systems thinking allowed the engineers to design a solution that wasn’t about enforcing the existing rules more but changing the system so that the causes of the most serious problems are eliminated. analysis of unique recordings of the Muslim pilgrimage in Mina/Makkah, Saudi Arabia. It suggests that high-density flows can turn “turbulent” and cause people to fall. … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Systems thinking | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Fun Camping Drum-Buffer-Rope Example

Posted on July 3, 2006 by John Hunter

Shmula Goes Camping: Drum-Buffer-Rope Managing the Constraint is mostly about managing the non-bottleneck systems and making them “aware” how fast they should work — when they should slow down, when they should stop, or when they should increase pace and by how much. The Drum-Buffer-Rope system allows for a systems-wide awareness. The Drum The Bottleneck or Constraint, acts as a Drum — it sets the rhythm that the whole system should follow. In Lean Manufacturing, this is also called “Takt … Continue reading →

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Lean and Theory of Constraints

Posted on March 22, 2006 by John Hunter

David Anderson’s post, Lean vs. TOC – No Conflict [the broken link was removed], is an excellent addition to the previous post here: Lean Thinking and Management. I demonstrated these ideas recently by taking an updated version of my XIT Sustained Engineering paper from the TOCICO in Barcelona [the broken link was removed] to the Lean Design and Development conference and recasting all the exploitation and subordination steps as waste reduction instead. David refers to a post, looking for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Software Development, Theory of Constraints | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Flow

Posted on March 22, 2006 by John Hunter

“Flow” and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi [the broken link was removed] by David Farmer: How does it feel to be in “the flow”? 1. Completely involved, focused, concentrating – with this either due to innate curiosity or as the result of training 2. Sense of ecstasy – of being outside everyday reality 3. Great inner clarity – knowing what needs to be done and how well it is going 4. Knowing the activity is doable – that the skills are adequate, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Management, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

ToC Conference Recap

Posted on November 25, 2005 by John Hunter

Thoughts on TOCICO [the broken link was removed] by David Anderson: “Subordination happens first!” In the 5 focusing steps, the third step is to subordinate the rest of the system to the decision made in step 2 to fully exploit the capacity constrained resource. I had observed in my work with the XIT Sustained Engineering group (the subject of my paper for the conference), that the subordination actions always had to happen first before the constraint could be fully exploited. … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles, Software Development, Theory of Constraints | Tagged ,

Management Science for Software Engineering

Posted on November 19, 2005 by John Hunter

Management Science for Software Engineering [the broken link was removed]: using the Theory of Constraints 5 focusing steps and the drum-buffer-rope solution for production flow problems, it was possible to increase the productivity of a sustained engineering department by more than 200%. In the final, quarter of the study period, a 25% increase (elevation) of the capacity constrained resource, produces a 25% increase in overall system throughput – just as the theory and model would predict. Read the full paper … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management Articles, Software Development, Theory of Constraints | Tagged , | 3 Comments

ToC in UK Surgery

Posted on November 9, 2005 by John Hunter

UK surgeon uses TOC approach to double capacity and eliminate waiting lists [the broken link was removed] by Clarke Ching via Carnival of Lean Leadership II [the broken link was removed] First, he has identified himself – or surgeons in general – as the current system constraint: … Second, he’s figured out how to exploit himself as the constraint – i.e. how to make him as efficient as possible: … Third, he’s subordinated the other resources in the process to … Continue reading →

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Measures of Success

Posted on August 25, 2005 by John Hunter

Measures of Success [the broken link was removed] interview of Alex Knight by Michaela Rebbeck. The interview discusses a model of measurement based on Theory of Constraints ideas. The fundamental difference with my proposition is the shift in the mental model we have about measures. I believe in replacing the ‘stick and carrot’ mentality with commitment to a culture where measures are used to help identify key opportunities for improvement and contribute to a ‘no-blame’ measurement mindset. … In a … Continue reading →

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