Archive for Theory-of-Constraints
The best Marketing in the world has failed, NOW WHAT!
Posted by: | CommentsWhat happens when you have the best marketing system in the world, the best marketing plan,the best advertising, the best referrals, the best public relations and you still lack sales! Find out why you may not need any of these things and how changing one simple thing could bring you a flood of new customers.
This Video has been removed, it was out of date.
Related Posts:
Theory of Constraints and Lean Six Sigma co-exist
Posted by: | CommentsBob Sproull was my guest on the Business901 podcast. Bob is an experienced manufacturing executive with a distinguished track record of achieving improvement goals in Manufacturing, MRO, Quality, Product Development, and Engineering. His experience base ranges from low-volume custom products (truck bodies) to process industries (tires) to service industries (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul). He is a nationally known speaker and author on problem-solving and statistical techniques, as well as his latest book on implementing an integrated Lean, Six Sigma and the Theory of Constraints.
Our discussion centered around The Ultimate Improvement Cycle: Maximizing Profits through the Integration of Lean, Six Sigma, and the Theory of Constraints show you how to draw the best from Lean and Six Sigma by employing principles drawn from the Theory of Constraints. This approach will ensure that your effort is focused in the right place, at the right time, using the right tools, and the right amount of resources. This multi-pronged approach addresses cost accounting, variation, waste, and performance measurements. But most importantly, it focuses your organization on the right areas to optimize.
I enjoyed many of his thoughts, especially on Value Stream Mapping and his description of focusing on the matter at hand, the constraint.
Related Blog Posts:
Theory of Constraints + Lean + Six Sigma = Ultimate Improvement Cycle
Improve throughput, cut your customers in half!
Theory of Constraints + Lean + Six Sigma = Ultimate Improvement Cycle
Posted by: | CommentsI was getting to write a blog and was visiting several books I had just completed for some background information. I was distracted and saw that I had a couple of LinkedIn invitations and decided to review them instead. One of the invitations was from Bob Sproull. I stopped a second and looked over at the 2 books on the library table. Yep, I was correct Bob Sproull, author of The Ultimate Improvement Cycle was not only on my library table, but in me inbox as well. Being a marketing guy, I wondered, was this an up-sell! Has the world just gotten this small that as virtual strangers, there can be a connection of interest?
I found Bob’s book looking for the latest material on how the Theory of Constraints was developing. I am sure Bob found me because of my recent blogs on the subject. The likely hood of this development and this connection is highly unlikely, may be as recently as 12 months ago.
What caught my interest in Bob’s book The Ultimate Improvement Cycle is that recently there has been an added push from TOC disciples to bring TOC on an equal playing field as Lean and Six Sigma. I find it interesting because bottlenecks and constraints are an integral part of Lean and Six Sigma training but TOC has never seemed to be on an equal platform.
I had Mark Woeppel of Pinnacle Strategies recently, and he has a whitepaper on this subject. It is available for download on his site. He calls the process TLS, Theory of constraints- Lean-Six Sigma. You can listen to Mark on the Business901 podcast discuss some of the background on his paper. Bob’s book is the first book I have read that specifically addresses the same subject. They take different approaches with similar outcomes. I enjoyed the material in both and encourage you to read them.
The Ultimate Improvement Cycle or UIC makes the contention that without all 3 processes, you will significantly reduce your desired outcomes. Most specifically he addresses the need to work on one constraint at a time and using Lean or Six Sigma to correct the constraint. In theory, I have to agree with him that the constraint must be addresses and am a devout believer of that. He is absolutely right because the weakness of TOC may be in the development of the tools to use to do it. Bob also gives a short primer on each disciple. If you are not knowledgeable in one of the three areas or all of them, I believe it would not be a wasted book. It is not a lean or a six sigma book. It heavily leans, sorry for the pun, towards TOC.
The book is well written, giving you tools, charts and formulas to improve your business without breaking up the flow of the written material. I believe that it will take me several months to fully digest the book. Not that I have to re-read it, but using and putting into practice some of the examples that I will incorporate in my philosophy going forward. I will cite these examples in my blog in the upcoming weeks.
