TOC in Production Online Course extract: The 5 Focusing Steps. A Marris Consulting online service.
This course, that we launched one year ago, has been a great success. We continue to add to it continuously by enriching the appendices with more and more recent examples drawn from our unique experience of implementing the Theory Of Constraints in over 350 organisations throughout the world.
We have worked in: cars, bicycles, rockets, planes, trains, buses, medical devices, software development, missiles, chemicals, insurance, oil & gas, batteries, airlines, food & beverages, Swiss watches, auto OEMs, cardboard, aluminum, pharmaceuticals, steel, recycling, dog food, armament, tax services, public transport, e-commerce, industrial equipment, aeronautical MRO, nuclear industry, vacuum pumps, ERP editors and implementors, glass production, ball bearings, air conditioning, global logistics, semiconductors, bank note production, railway MRO, satellites, fast food, mining, armed forces, luxury goods, farming equipment, lampposts, luxury hotels …
Eli Schragenheim explains the “6 questions on the value of technology” of the Theory Of Constraints that guide or frame development of new products or services. He claims that: "These have huge potential. [...] They are as powerful as the Theory Of Constraints 5 focusing steps.[…] They are a goal mine. […] They don’t give you the answers but they give you the right questions."
The six questions are: What is the power of the new technology? What current limitation or barrier does the new technology eliminate or vastly reduce? What policies, norms and behavior patterns are used today to bypass the limitation? What policies, norms and behavior patterns should be used once the new technology is in place? In view of the above, what changes/additions to the new technology should be introduced? How to cause the change?
These questions appeared initially and partially in the book "Necessary but not sufficient" he co-authored with Eli Goldratt and Carol Ptak. The book was published in 2000 but the 6 framing questions are still very pertinent nowadays with regards for instance start-ups, disruptive innovation and "app" development.
In this presentation Etienne Lecerf explains how to apply proven delivery principles from Agile, Lean, and the Theory of Constraints to improve flow, reduce friction, and deliver more consistently — across projects, teams, and functions.
You will understand:
- how to manage bottlenecks in a project portfolio, - how to fix the orga. root causes leading to projects delays, - how to scale Agile without heavyweight frameworks.
Half a million views of Marris Consulting’s videos. Thank you to all our followers. 10 years of hard work. Thank you to all the team. Videos mostly about Theory Of Constraints and Lean. Client testimonials, tutorials, presentations, expert interviews, etc.
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Eliyahu M. Goldratt: “My saga to improve production”, 6 page article, 1996. Full text via the link below. In 1982, I was chairman and a major shareholder of a company ranked by Inc. Magazine as the sixth fastest growing company in the United States. And I was extremely frustrated. Many dozens of clients had bought our production scheduling software and, guided by our associated education, had successfully implemented it. […] I had an idea: to convey my method through a novel about manufacturing. […] I started to work on THE GOAL. […] Fan letters started to arrive […] I started to frantically develop […] Drum-Buffer-Rope and Buffer-Management. […] During that period I verbalized […] five focusing steps […] Our body of knowledge expanded by leaps and bounds. […] We started to call it the Theory Of Constraints (TOC). […] A new devastating problem developed. […] The first layer of resistance: raising […] The fifth layer of resistance: […] it’s not easy to overcome resistance to change. But, it’s possible. […] Production is the heart of industry. Industry is the heart of a nations’ wealth. When I retire, I would like to think that I’ve contributed something to strengthening it.
Philip Marris presents the graphic edition of the international best seller "The Goal". Based on the business novel "The Goal" by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox, this book is a graphic novel. It is an original and pertinent introduction to the Theory of Constraints.
The story is basically unchanged: same story line, sames messages, sames characters, etc.
Authors of original 1984 edition: Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox. Authors of the graphic edition, 2017: Dwight Jon Zimmerman (Editor), Dean Motter (Illustrator)
Date: Thursday 4th of September 2025. 5:00pm to 5:45pm (CEST). Free online conference, in English.
Many project-driven organisations adopt Agile hoping for faster delivery and empowered teams — but often find those benefits elusive in complex environments like R&D, IT, and engineering. The issue isn’t with Agile itself, but with the unchanged system around it: shared resources, overloaded portfolios, and coordination bottlenecks that Agile alone can’t fix. This short webinar cuts through the noise. You’ll learn how to apply proven delivery principles from Agile, Lean, and the Theory of Constraints to improve flow, reduce friction, and deliver more consistently — across projects, teams, and functions.
Organized by TOCICO (Theory Of Constraints' official community management organization). The TOC Innovation Summit 2025 is designed to help you uncover the one constraint that’s holding you back—and give you practical tools and real-world examples to break through. You’ll hear how teams across aerospace, healthcare, manufacturing, and more have applied TOC to remove bottlenecks, improve flow, and deliver results faster—without adding more stress, staff, or spending.
In this video Arrie Van Niekerk describes the 4 types of mines he has identified and the 4 TOC solutions he applies to each type. The 4 types are: - Open cast mining. The "best" bottleneck is probably the processing plant. - Conventional (manual) underground mining. With a constraint either in the shaft or in each of the levels. - Massive hard rock underground mining. The synchronisation of development and stopping (or extraction). - Underground mining with continuous mining machines. The synchronisation of the continuous miner (rotating cutter), the feeder, the shuttle car and the roof support.
Arrie is one of the most experienced people in the world in successfully applying TOC to the mining industry. He has implemented TOC over 90 times in mines all over the world.
Arrie is also the creator of the "Oiled Wheels" metaphor of TOC video that is one of the most popular TOC videos. See: "Theory of Constraints (TOC) 3 Bottle Oiled Wheels Demonstration" on his YouTube channel. See: https://youtu.be/mWh0cSsNmGY
Watch this short clip as Eli Goldratt, Founder of TOC, explains what is TOC. Eli Goldratt published The Goal in 1984 and it went on to become an international best-seller, as well as leading to the creations of one of the top 3 business improvement methodologies used in the world today - the Theory of Constraints (TOC). Corporations like Amazon, Walmart, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Hitachi, General Motors, Boeing, BAE, EuroCryoSpace, Embraer, Delta Airlines, Tata Steel and ...
Sanjeev Gupta explores the critical components of executing a successful 90-day turnaround from identifying optimal timing, defining the leader's role in driving change, and utilizing methods like Ravi Gilani's Cash Score and the 'One Thing' concept to prioritize actions. Sanjeev sites real-world examples with practical strategies for achieving rapid and sustainable results in organizational transformations.
Semiconductors run on compressed schedules, global teams across 3 or more time zones, 12h apart, and the constant pressure of tape-outs and customer milestones. [...] And yet, the Theory of Constraints (TOC) — a methodology built precisely to manage flow, reduce overload, and protect what truly matters — is almost invisible in semiconductor companies.
Why? Not because it doesn’t work, but because often the political cost of implementing TOC is seen as higher than the pain of the current system.
TOCICO offers three levels of professional certification: Level 1 Fundamentals Certification for the basic knowledge, Level 2 Practitioner Certification for more advanced knowledge, and Level 3 Implementer Certification for those who actually apply TOC in their own work. For an overview of our certification marks, watch this webinar.
Level 1 (L1) TOC Fundamentals Certified (TOCFC™) — individuals demonstrate their recognition and understanding of TOC’s basic concepts and terminology, either for TOC overall, or in a specific TOC Solution area by passing any L1 exam.
The Theory Of Constraints Practitioners Alliance 2018 Paris Conference full recordings of all the presentations. A memorable event with a 10 great presentations. Playlist of all 10 presentations.
Test your knowledge of The Theory of Constraints! Do you know the basics of the approach first described in the bestselling the novel "The Goal" by Eliyahu Goldratt? Take the test! 10 questions. With fully explained answers.
9 examples of Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) implementation. A method based on the Theory of Constraints (The Goal / Eli Goldratt) that has enabled thousands of organizations around the world to transform their project management. [...] Textile recycling machines – ETO & MTO [...] ERP & CRM – Accelerating installation and migration [...] R&D of food packaging machines [...] Aeronautics (airplane seats) [...] Aeronautics (valves, solenoids, etc.) [...] International aeronautics – Installation of composite weaving machines (US, FR, Mexico) [...] Production line relocation – a Capex project [...] Cloud computing & open source – Scheduling in an Agile environment [...] Military aircraft maintenance & weapons – Optimizing MRO and combat readiness
David Updegrove, Thorsteinn Siglaugsson and Philip Marris dive deep into one of the key pillars of the Theory of Constraints (TOC): "People are good."
What did Eliyahu Goldratt, the founder of TOC, truly mean by this statement? While it might seem simplistic, the notion that "people are good" can be easily misunderstood.
They clarify that this is not a moral judgment but a perspective on how individuals behave within structured environments, particularly when they are influenced by organizational goals and measurement systems. Through examples and anecdotes ...
An exclusive interview with Jeff Cox, the co-author of best-selling business novel: "The Goal" with dr Eliyahu Goldratt. This famous book is about "The Theory of Constraints". Watch this video to find out how this wonderful book came to life.
In his last months, already aware he was ill, [Eli Goldratt] started to write what he hoped would be his final book. He named it “The Science of Management”. But unfortunately, he succeeded to write only the first three pages. But it is remarkable to note that in these three pages Eli used a totally new verbalization for the essence of TOC regarding human behavior, and for the first time used the term Fear. The core of Eli’s last printed words were –
Our fear of complex systems that drives us to dissect the complex system into sub-systems, diverting management attention to chase local optima which are not in-line with the global objective;Our fear of the unknown, that drives us to finer and finer resolution – diving into more and more details, diverting management attention to optimize within the noise; and, Our fear that conflicts will lead to a tug-of-war, diverting management attention to constantly struggle with unacceptable compromises.
For me these lines were insightful, but many questions stem from them: Why did Eli use the term fear for the first time?
Conference: Annual congress of TOCICO 2015 in Cape Town South Africa. Title: "TOC to boost aeronautical manufacturing performance". Presented by Philip Marris, CEO of Marris Consulting. TOCICO is the Theory Of Constraints International Certification Organization. 3 case studies are presented. It concludes that the Aeronautics industry and the Theory Of Constraints are a match made in heaven.
In this interview, Thorsteinn Siglaugsson sits down with Philip Marris, CEO of Marris Consulting, to discuss his journey with the Logical Thinking Process
The origins of the book "The World of the Theory of Constraints" by the co-author Professor Vicky Mabin. An important reference book that documents results obtained using TOC. [...] the book became a key reference in the TOC world. One of its most recognized features is the improvement graph based on 82 case studies with measurable before-and-after results. They were, on average for the 82 cases: - a reduction of 70% of the lead-times - a reduction of 49% of the WIP inventory (Work In Progress) - an improvement in the due date delivery performance of 44%
Working out how to apply Theory of Constraints in real-world situations can be hard, but there are two simple ways to kickstart it. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. That’s the idea behind the Theory of Constraints. Just a few weak links will limit any system, but you can improve the whole system’s performance by focusing on improving those links.
Whether your system is a software delivery process, a large production line or your household chores, the only way to improve the whole system is to work at the bottlenecks.
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