Abstract

To achieve quality, companies must understand the impact of local actions on the whole system. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) fosters this understanding by focusing on the elements of a system that limit the system's improvement. TOC was introduced in Eliyahu M. Goldratt's novel, The Goal. In TOC, a system with perfect components is a less than optimum system. In a chain of interrelated components, the system's weakest component is its constraint. To implement TOC: identify the system's weakest link; decide how to make the weak link work as effectively as possible; obey this decision faithfully, even if it forces other system components to be less than perfect; take rigorous action to improve the constraint; return to the first step so that this is a continuous improvement process. TOC measures the effect of local decisions on the whole system by examining their effects on throughput, inventory, and operating expense.