Theory of constraints

Theory of constraints is a management philosophy introduced and described in the book The Goal, Eliyahu M. Goldratt, 1984. Part of the theory is a step-by-step guide to find and eliminate bottlenecks to get an improved total flow.

Using elements from the theory of constraints in combination with the notion of limits taken from Kanban, we will show you how to optimize flow throughout an organization.

Step 1 – identify the bottleneck

Identify the system's constraint or bottleneck. Bottlenecks are easy to find; they are directly after a queue of work. If you don't believe that, just think about it the next time you are in a queue yourself. It could be in traffic or in line waiting to enter an event. After a long time in the queue, you pass the bottleneck and the queue is gone and the speed increases. You actually enter a part of the system where there is slack, that is, over capacity, or in the case of a road, some room between you and the other cars.

To visualize what we...