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1 About the Theory of Constraints ?Eli Goldratt39。s Theory of Constraints is being used by thousands of corporations, and is taught in over 200 colleges, universities and business schools. ?His books have sold over 3 million copies and have been translated into 23 languages. 2 The Theory of Constraints ? The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is an overall philosophy developed by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt, usually applied to running and improving an anization. ? TOC consists of Problem Solving and Management/DecisionMaking Tools called the Thinking Processes (TP). ? TOC is applied to logically and systematically answer these three questions essential to any process of ongoing improvement: ?改進什么? What to change? ?改成什么樣子? What to change to? ?如何使改進得以實現(xiàn)? How to cause the change? 3 The Theory of Constraints ? More specific uses of the Thinking Processes can be used to significantly enhance vital management skills, such as: ? winwin conflict resolution ? effective munication ? team building skills ? delegation ? empowerment 4 The Theory of Constraints ? Famous for spectacular results, the use of TOC has resulted in Proven Solutions created by applying the Thinking Processes (TP) in specific functional areas such as Sales, Marketing, Logistics, Finance, Accounting, Engineering and Project Management. ? Many of these solutions are discussed in detail in the books : The Goal, The Race, It39。s Not Luck and Critical Chain. 5 The Theory of Constraints ? TOC recognizes that the output of any system that consists of multiple steps where the output of one step depends on the output of one or more previous steps will be limited (or constrained) by the least productive steps. ? In other words, as paraphrased in The Goal, the strength of any chain is dependant upon its weakest link. 6 The Theory of Constraints ? Where manufacturing is concerned, TOC postulates that the goal is to make (more) money. It describes three avenues to this goal: ? Increase Throughput ? Reduce Inventory ? Reduce Operating Expense ? As Dr. Goldratt notes, the opportunities to make more money through reductions in inventory and operating expense are limited by zero. ? The opportunities to make more money by increasing Throughput, on the other hand, are unlimited. 7 The Theory of Cons