theory of constraints

• improvements made anywhere besides the bottleneck is an illusion
• steps:
  • identify the constraint: by outlining the measuring the system
  • exploit the constraint: use it to full capacity
  • subordinate the constraint
    • drum-buffer-rope: make all other work match max throughput of constraint
  • elevate the constraint
• example: brent is the bottleneck in the book The Phoenix Project .
  • in practice, three lists were made
    • work that needs brent
      • exploit: document or automate the fuck out of it so it doesn’t need brent next time
    • work that increases brent’s throughput
      • prioritise
    • everything else
      • reduce or delegate

resources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints
• https://www.leanproduction.com/theory-of-constraints/
• https://linearb.io/cycle-time/
• https://www.tocinstitute.org/theory-of-constraints.html