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Does the word ‘Constraint’ evoke a positive or a negative feeling in you?
'Constraint' has been one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted words. Many supply chain teams want to get rid of it. They mention that in an ideal state, the entire system will have no constraints.
What does this enigmatic word ‘Constraint’ really mean? As Dr. Goldratt said, it prevents us from reaching more of our goal. For example, if the goal of our company is to make more money now as well as in the future, system constraint will prevent us from making more money. In a scenario without constraints, we would be making infinite amount of money now as well as in the future. The fact that we aren’t doing that, there must be something that comes in the way. Our job is to find out what it is and how to ease it.
Since every system has a constraint, it just can’t be negative. In fact, it is the key to the goldmine that we are unable to get to. If we manage the constraint well, it will take us closer to the goal much faster.
TOC helps in identifying where the constraint is and how to leverage it to get more of the goal units faster.