Clarke Ching — author of The Bottleneck Detective — joins Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba to unpack why progress stalls, how leaders quietly become constraints, and why fixing the obvious problem often makes things worse.
Most organisations don’t fail because of a lack of effort. They fail because effort is applied in the wrong place. From traffic systems and hospitals to founders, governments and scaling teams, this conversation explores how bottlenecks hide in plain sight — and why seeing them requires a different kind of thinking.
Philip Marris was awarded the TOCICO Lifetime Achievement Award in 2026 during the annual Theory Of Constraints summit in Manchester UK. This is a recording of the awards ceremony.
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.
The TOC Innovation Summit 2026 brings together practitioners and leaders applying the Theory of Constraints to improve flow, focus, and outcomes in real organizations.
AI is arguably one of the biggest paradigm shifts in the digital product development industry ever. Even if it stopped right now with Fable 5, we still would have changed so much that the before feel like a distant past.
Most manufacturing executives recognize that value-based pricing is superior to the standard cost-based approach.
But because cost-based (or cost-plus) pricing is so firmly entrenched in organizational processes (and in executives’ minds), it’s almost impossible to migrate an established organization to this superior pricing approach during any reasonable timeframe.
To address this problem, here’s a carefully designed (and battle-tested) procedure that will enable your organization to transition to value-based pricing in five days flat.
To Never Run Out. Isn’t that “The Objective” everyone wants right now? [...] with Henry Fitzhugh Camp and Jake Lanning for the latest Episode of the Supply UnChained Podcast [...] They are now bringing to life their Material-as-a-Service concept called SupplyStream, which predicts the part demand, but also supplies the physical part at the right time. [...] We spoke about: -How a few $100Ms of pooled aircraft parts can unlock $50 BN+ of value for the airlines and aerospace primes, and cheaper airfares. [...] -How software alone does not solve the parts problem, [...] -How SupplyStream can serve almost any industry in the US -How they are maintaining 99.99% OTIF with their current set up -How tethering an MRP with Demand Forecasts or Consumptions is not enough, [...]
The true architects of wealth operate under a counterintuitive principle: staff acquisition is not a growth tactic; it's a time reclamation strategy. ... as determined by the Theory of Constraints. Observers will note the critical stance on hoarding capital—the directive is to...
For those working in manufacturing, capital projects, shutdowns or complex project environments, this is a chance to hear how TOC was applied in a real industrial setting. Come and hear their story : how they were asked by top management to take over this critical Capex project that everybody was very worried about using a project management approach that they had never heard of before.
I was just reading an article on CNCReport.com titled "Never Enough Magnetic Mounts". The author was calculating how much money you'd save if you invested in
You want to get more things done in life. So you become an early riser, buy a planner, and download a to-do list app. You maintain inbox zero by answering email the minute it lands in your inbox.You stay busy from the second your feet hit the floor until you rest your weary head […]...
MrBeast is the worlds most popular Youtuber. In this video he talks about the book The Goal and how he addresses the question of bottlenecks. Go to 19 mins and 50 seconds "Don’t Be The Bottleneck"
"Kelvyn Youngman has done the organizational world an invaluable – no, indispensable – service with this web site. This is the first comprehensive, truly system-level look at the Theory of Constraints." One of the website's recommendations by H. William Dettmer, recognized Expert in TOC, author of 8 bestselling TOC books.
Kelvyn covers all of the Theory Of Constraints. The name "dbrmfg" is historical (he started it focused on TOC in production). The website is for example strong in the Thinking Processes and Logical Thinking Process among many other TOC topics.
This website is unfortunately not "responsive" so you will have difficulty viewing it on a smartphone. But the content is exceptional. I recommend you take the time to visit Kelvyn Youngman's website using a computer.
The Theory Of Constraints applied to process industries. Presented by Philip Marris and Etienne Lecerf. Recording of the question & answer session at the end of the webinar. The recording of the webinar is here: https://youtu.be/cDXnQDq6RyM
The best-seller “The Goal” by Eliyahu Goldratt described in the form of a novel how the Theory Of Constraints (TOC) could save a factory by quickly boosting its performance. But how exactly should one implement TOC (combined with Lean) in production? Philip Marris [...] presents the guiding principles: the 5 focusing steps. He presents 2 difference examples: one in the automotive industry and another in the aeronautics industry.
Philip Marris presented an overview of Critical Chain Project Management during the 38th TOCPA International conference in Paris. Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) is the component of the Theory Of Constraints (TOC) that deals with project management; both single projects and project portfolios.
A brief 5 minute summary of how one applies the Theory of Constraints in a production environment. It covers: the axiom of the unbalanced plant, the existence of bottlenecks, the Drum – Buffer – Rope flow control mechanism and the improvement strategy (the 5 focusing steps). Philip Marris has been applying the Theory of Constraints and Lean in production for over 35 years (since 1986), over 400 times in over 35 countries.
I once spent quite some time optimizing a database query that was bringing our API to its knees. We... Tagged with programming, architecture, performance.
The Theory Of Constraints applied to process industries. Presented by Philip Marris and Etienne Lecerf.
In sectors such as metallurgy, steel-making, foundries, plastics processing, and chemicals, industrial flows are often based on a V-shaped model: a limited number of raw materials at the input stage and a wide diversity of finished products at the output stage.
In these highly capital-intensive environments, where capacity decisions are costly and resources are relatively inflexible, flow management becomes particularly complex, especially [...] MRP quickly show their limitations. [...] This rigidity often leads companies to produce in large batches, generating excess inventory, reduced agility, and operational tensions. [...] Drawing on Marris Consulting's experience of process industries, this presentation shares practical insights for better managing and optimizing flows in V-shaped plants ...
Clarke Ching — author of The Bottleneck Detective — joins Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba to unpack why progress stalls, how leaders quietly become constraints, and why fixing the obvious problem often makes things worse.
Most organisations don’t fail because of a lack of effort. They fail because effort is applied in the wrong place. From traffic systems and hospitals to founders, governments and scaling teams, this conversation explores how bottlenecks hide in plain sight — and why seeing them requires a different kind of thinking.
A quick manufacturing riddle that reframes how you should think about scaling any business. Theory of constraints, business strategy, AI, entrepreneurship, systems thinking.
This is an extract from the 6-hour online course by Bill Dettmer on the Logical Thinking Process (of the Theory Of Constraints).
Stemming from the Theory of Constraints, the Logical Thinking Process consists of a structured way of reasoning and a set of tools or processes to help executives and system managers to design their organizational strategy, to plan its deployment, to evaluate its effectiveness, and to make corrections as needed in the shortest possible time.
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