Constraints (TOC) Is Predicated on

¶ … Constraints (TOC) is predicated on the concept of optimizing throughput while also minimizing operational expense and inventory. In the book The Goal, all three of these constraints are optimized for a fictional manufacturing company. There are many allegorical references to how manufacturing firms operate, often seeking to optimize on one constraint at the expense of others (Goldratt, et.al.).

With the overarching goal the generation of sales and profits, the fictional company UniCo goes through a transformation that is meant as an allegory to the development of effective constraint-based supply chain management, production, quality and logistics systems and practices (Bauland, Bohler, Creignou, Reith, Schnoor, Vollmer, 454). Analysis of the Theory of Constraints With the three major constraints being throughput or production and sales, operational expense and inventory, the most profitable organizations in an industry have found an approach to optimize all three.

Theorists who have studied the TOC have shown that the weakest overall link in the framework of constraints often leads to the entire production workflow and value chain losing momentum and eventually the ability to fulfill requirements (Tibben-Lembke, 1815). When this happens, both the book and the analysis of its findings and their use in industry point to restructuring the organization around five key points.

These points are identifying the constraint, deciding how best to exploit or gain a competitive advantage from the constraint, subordinate all processes to it, elevate the constraint so it can be managed, and finally, to move the constraint and gain greater control over the production workflow (Goldratt, et.al.). This is actually the essence of how TOC works; it seeks to gain greater control over the production system by isolating and managing a specific constraint that impacts the three foundational elements of the system.

When this is done, it is possible to manage the entire production process workflow with greater insight and clarity vs. being managed by exception and emergency as is the case in the book (Tibben-Lembke, 1815). Analysis of the Sub-Shop In the example of the Sub-Shop, there are several constraints in place. First and most significant is the constraint of supplies and the delivery of ingredients.

Second, the queuing of the customers and their specific customization requests including meat, cheese, vegetables, dressings and if they choose to order a complete combo or not. Another constraint is the cash register line and the up-sell and cross-sell of items that occurs at that point. Customers often add cookies, potato chips and other items during this time of the transaction, further adding to delays and time constraints.

The three avenues that the Sub-Shop could rely on for attaining higher levels of profitability include streamlining the throughput and production process, reducing operating expenses, and initiating a just-in-time inventory strategy to minimize inventory carrying costs while increasing freshness of ingredients. When all three constraints are optimized, customer satisfaction often rapidly increases as well. For the Sub-Shop, choosing just one of these three avenues would tend to cause a level of dissatisfaction and potential defection from customers over time.

What is needed is a coordinated approach to unify all three of these elements together into a consistent, synchronized strategy. Profits of the Sub-Shop would increase because customers would be getting higher quality sandwiches, made more accurately to their unique requests, with fresher ingredients. Profits would increase significantly over time as a result. The five focusing steps for the Sub-Shop would begin identifying the constraint of the queue line.

This constraint could be exploited by adding in several queues, each with specific sandwich makers who would work in parallel with each other. This would significantly reduce the bottleneck of the customer queue. By alleviating the dependence on just a single queue, the Sub-Sop would be able to exploit the constraint and create higher levels of customer satisfaction. Third,.