Theory of Constraints

Esta tesis desarrolla el modelo de un sistema para la toma de decisiones y mejora continua que toda organización o industria debería de poseer; tomando como punto crítico la gestión cuantitativa de información. En este trabajo monográfico el modelo propuesto se implementa en las granjas de porcicultura, ubicadas en Nicaragua, de la compañia AGANORSA. La tesis incluye como base los conocimientos desarrollados por Russell Ackoff, Edwards Deming, y Eliyahu Goldratt. Además de utilizar métodos cuantitativos como el cálculo de capacidad instalada, la modelación y simulación de procesos, análisis de factibilidad de escenarios, y otros.

The goal of the firm is to maximize shareholder value. While most firms devote their main efforts to exploit financial value drivers such as mergers and ac- quisitions, not enough attention is being paid to managerial value drivers like re- ducing time to market, increasing throughput, or improving logistics, operations and supply chain management, although these managerial drivers have a

A team was assembled to examine the
change approval process using the theory of
constraints (TOC). The premise of the theory of
constraints is that the performance of a system, in this
case the change approval process, is constrained in
the ability to achieve throughput at key points in the
process. It was perceived that improvements could be
made in the change approval process, the main
characteristic of which was an excessive time from
the documentation of an idea to project approval. The
team identified many areas for improvement and
concluded that a fundamental shift was required from
a focus on a time-consuming effort to minimize the
uncertainty in the project before approval to authorize
development funds to new criteria which would justify
the project's effort in a shorter time. The resulting
actions to modify the process, called the new approval
process (NAP), suggest key aspects of system
engineering (SE).

In its brief 20-year history, Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (TOC) methodology has evolved into a systems methodology that links elements of both soft and hard systems methods. The major component of TOC that underpins all the other parts of the methodology is the TOC Thinking Processes, a suite of logic trees that provide a roadmap for change. They guide the user through the decision making process of problem structuring, problem identification, solution building, identification of barriers to be overcome, and implementation of the solution. Tree-builders make recourse to a set of logic rules, which provide the analytical rigour usually associated with hard scientific approaches. This is combined with the ability to capture softer information and complexity provided by soft OR approaches. This paper briefly outlines the TOC methodology, and discusses the similarities and differences between TOC and other systems methods, particularly the Rational Model of decision-making.

Este conteúdo está protegido pela lei de direitos autorais. É permitida a reprodução, desde que indicada afonte como "Conteúdo da Revista Digital de Direito Administrativo".A RDDA constitui periódico científico da FDRP/USP, cuja função édivulgar gratuitamente pesquisa na área de direito administrativo. Editor responsável: Professor Associado Thiago Marrara. REVISTA DIGITAL DE DIREITO ADMINISTRATIVO FACULDADE DE DIREITO DE RIBEIRÃO PRETO-FDRP UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO-USP Seção: Artigos Científicos Acessibilidade nos shopping centers: uma análise sobre a intervenção estatal na propriedade privada Accessibility in Shopping Malls: an analysis of State intervention in private property Nathália Silva e Santos Resumo: O presente artigo pretende analisar a aplicação das normas de acessibilidade nos shopping centers. Para tanto, realiza-se a pesquisa com enfoque no direito administrativo, analisando-se as modalidades de restrição estatal sobre a propriedade privada, mais precisamente, as limitações administrativas. De modo geral, objetiva-se examinar:(i) o conceito do termo "pessoa com deficiência";(ii) a atuação da Administração Pública na efetivação dos direitos fundamentais desse grupo social; (iii) a contextualização dos shopping centers no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro. A metodologia utilizada constitui-se em um estudo descritivo-analítico, desenvolvido por meio de análise bibliográfica, legislativa e jurisprudencial. Palavras-chave: shopping center; acessibilidade; pessoas com deficiência; direito administrativo; limitações administrativas. Abstract: This article aims to analyze the application of accessibility standards in shopping malls. For this reason, the research is conducted with a focus on administrative law, by analyzing the modalities of State restriction on private property, more precisely, the administrative limitations. In general, the objective is to examine: (i) the concept of the term "person with disabilities"; (ii) the performance of Public Administration in the realization of the fundamental rights of this social group; (iii) the contextualization of shopping centers in the Brazilian legal system. The methodology used is a descriptive-analytical study, developed through bibliographical, legislative and jurisprudential analysis.

Understanding what are your most critical production losses and where they are occurring within the most constrained part of your mining process can help focus your time, effort and resources on generating incremental or step-change improvements to eliminate these losses and improve your operations overall productive output. In this paper, I illustrate how Theory Of Constraints in combination with Asset Utilisation as a unified model can identify the area of greatest underproduction and allow measurement of that area to quantify the nature and value of production losses. From there, continuous improvement methods, techniques and tools can be applied to deliver the necessary production performance improvements.

Access control policies are used to restrict access to sensitive records for authorized users only. One approach for specifying policies is using role based access control (RBAC) where authorization is given to roles instead of users. Users are assigned to roles such that each user can access all the records that are allowed to his/her role. RBAC has a great interest because of its flexibility. One issue in RBAC is dealing with constraints. Usually, policies should satisfy pre-defined constraints as for example separation of duty (SOD) which states that users are not allowed to play two conflicting roles. Verifying the satisfiability of constraints based on policies is time consuming and may lead to errors. Therefore, an automated verification is essential. In this paper, we propose a theory for specifying policies and constraints in first order logic. Furthermore, we present a comprehensive list of constraints. We identity constraints based on the relation between users and roles, between roles and permission on records, between users and permission on records, and between users, roles, and permission on records. Then, we use a general purpose theorem prover tool called Prover9 for proving the satisfaction of constraints.

Over the past 30 years, Dr. Eli Goldratt, the creator of Theory of Constraints (TOC), together with an increasing pool of TOC practitioners, implementers and academics have created a vast body of knowledge of how to apply TOC's Five Focusing Steps (5FS) to different types of organizations from different industries and to different parts of the organization (operations, finance, supply chain, projects, sales, marketing and managing people). The TOC body of knowledge also includes a holistic decision support framework (Throughput Accounting) and a set of logical Thinking Processes that can be applied when organizations are stuck on one or more of the five steps.

What is less well known is how the 5 focusing steps can be applied to developing a profitable growth strategy for a business.

In this paper, Dr. Alan Barnard, CEO of Goldratt Research Labs, show how TOC can be applied to design, validate, plan, execute and audit a profitable growth strategy for any company or organization.

A study was conducted into the tourism patterns and experiences of people with physical disabilities in Australia.  The research provides the basis for the first comprehensive quantitative study of the tourism patterns and experiences of people with physical disabilities in Australia.  The methodology was a questionnaire based self completed postal survey conducted with the cooperation, input and design of people with physical disabilities and organisations who represent people with physical disabilities.  The questionnaire was mailed to 8500 members of these organisations with over 2700 completed questionnaires returned.  The questionnaire sought information about: domestic, overseas and day trip patterns; satisfaction with current level of travel; constraints and specific requirements for travel; reasons for travel and non travel; and demographic information.  The report provides a comprehensive examination of the findings and suggest recommendations to improve the travel experiences of people with disabilities in Australia.

The constant increase of the capital needed for a semiconductor facility has brought a huge interest in two methodologies: Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) which have been shown to be adequate in optimizing the return on capital equipment. This article shows that both methodologies are convergent. The appropriate use of both together can make it possible to maintain productivity improvement rates in the semiconductor business. The Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) measurements are the driver metrics for an effective TPM program. OEE measurements are easy to obtain, nevertheless, the analysis of these parameters requires a large amount of accurate data that are difficult to obtain in a production environment. In addition, it needs the dedication of a considerable amount of effort and human resources to improve in all the organizations (production, maintenance, engineering, etc.). It is widely accepted that bottlenecks should be entered in a TPM program, but for non-bottlenecks, it is not easy to determine which machines should enter the program, their target and their impact on the global fab efficiency. In this study we present a systematic method of approaching this problem

After presenting a broad picture of Petrobras’s expenditures with Research, Development and Innovation (R&D&I) in recent years, the present work examines the 30-year growth of technological innovativeness in Brazil and in Petrobras, in comparison with the ones of a selection of countries and companies operating in the oil and gas industry, using as an indicator of innovativeness the number of patent applications filed worldwide annually by each country and company since 1984, as provided by the Espacenet search engine.
It then charts the results to suggest that while a correlation between innovativeness growth and variability seems evident, some countries and companies present distinctive and sustainable innovativeness growth, compared to their peers. In the sequence, it tries to analyse these findings by identifying commonalities between these best performers.
As Brazil and Petrobras are found to be out of the group of good performers, a discussion about the reasons leading to the disappointing performance follows, trying to use a systems approach and presenting suggestions on what should be the components and width of a National System of Innovation (NIS) designed with the ultimate goal of putting Brazil among the most innovative countries in the world. A tentative Intermediate Objective Map (IO Map) to meet the goal is proposed, along with its critical success factors (CSF) and necessary conditions (NC). The dissemination and use of the Logical Thinking Processes of the Theory of Constraints among public policymakers are suggested as a resource to identify root causes, bottlenecks and undesirable effects in the current reality, as well as to propose conflict solutions, necessary injections and specific actions needed to change the system to its future reality.
In the last part of the work we provide evidence suggesting that the comparatively low innovation capability of Petrobras is mainly an undesirable effect of two formal constraints imposed by the institutional structure under which it operates, originally devised to address the principal-agent problem in the public sector. Acting on these constraints is certainly out of the company’s span of control (one is imposed by Law, the other by the Brazilian Constitution), but given that the company is state-controlled, not necessarily out of its sphere of influence.

In this case study, the Theory of Constraints and Risk Assessment are applied to the turnaround process of an IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) plant. Turnaround project has been analysed as it had always been implemented up to 2006, identifying any related problems and inconsistencies, and then to describe the reengineering of this process, assessing and emphasizing the changes involved

This case study is conducted within the context of the Theory of Constraints. The field research reported in this document contains information specific to the telecommunications industry. An examination of the history, organization design, problems and solutions for one telecommunications company are undertaken from the perspective of academic work in the Theory of Constraints. The information included in this document was developed through interviews with four senior managers including the President, the Chief Technology Officer, a Vice President and a department manager. Their responses were the basis of identifying problems and undesirable effects. The undesirable effects were diagramed in six UDE clouds dealing with the following issues: 1- unclear vision from management to employees; 2- supplier; 3- market; 4- the price and regulation environment; 5- production; and 6- bureaucracy. These undesirable effects were logically examined until a single cloud depicting the core confli...

The evolution of manufacturing methodologies is explored based on a historic analysis of the automobile industry. The objective of this paper is to contribute to a clearer understanding of the evolution of these manufacturing methodologies. The inherent historic driver and social needs are presented and the existence of a 'paradigm shift' from Fordism to Toyotism is discussed. The authors believe that sustainability and its inherent axiom of gentle and prudent usage of our remaining resources as the dominant constraint will coin the future role of operations research and management.

The purpose of this study is to present a complete overview of continuous improvement and justify its supreme importance to present-day organizations. A case is made why organizations should strive to improve continuously. By analyzing the history and evolution of quality and of continuous improvement in specific, it becomes clearer how its concept developed and how today's most popular paradigms and methodologies came to be. Times of economic crisis triggered revolutions in this field and many organizations recovered and rose to the top thanks to their continuous improvement efforts. These paradigms and methodologies — namely Lean, Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints and Lean Six Sigma — are then dissected in order to understand what they consist of, their methods and tools, and their strengths and weaknesses. Through the comparison of the first three methodologies mentioned above, it is shown that neither can be classified as the best. All are effective, but it is up to the organization to find which better suits its strategy and needs. Lean Six Sigma, on the other hand, integrates two methodologies and thus has the potential to provide greater benefits for organizations, although it must still develop further toward an effective integration model. In similar fashion, other hybrid methodologies show signs of potential and therefore are believed to be the future of continuous improvement. A secondary purpose of this dissertation is to identify universal principles common to all continuous improvement paradigms and methodologies. These are rules or "commandments" that hold true for every organization and must be followed if a continuous improvement initiative is to be successful.

Makalah ini membahas tentang  teori kendala yang dihadapi oleh KPP dalam menerapkan layanan pendaftaran NPWP dan PKP. Keterbatasan sumber daya manusia dan wilayah kerja yang luar menjadi salah satu faktor penyebab layanan ini tidak dapat berjalan dengan baik. Makalah ini mencoba menjelaskan upaya yang telah dilakukan untuk mengatasi hal tersebut sehingga layanan unggulan tadi dapat berjalan sebgaimana mestinya.

Today, more than ever, change is inevitable in healthcare organizations to satisfying ever increasing expectations.
Consumers expect higher service quality than the price they’re willing to pay to acquire those products and services. More than ever, employees expect job security. Shareholders expect that today’s investments will yield a higher rate of return over a shorter timeframe. Management is constantly pressured to keep costs under control. In the coming decade, we are likely to see a lot of focus directed towards applying management principles to solutions of complex social issues such as environmental sustainability, energy security,
access to healthcare etc. This will also underline the need for increased interdisciplinary interaction and influence on business management. In light of today’s competitive pressures and a rapidly changing environment, to not change is to give way to one’s competitors. To improve means to change. We know that to improve means we must: provide services that solve customers’ problems, release services consistent with market demand, reduce variability in our processes, have measurements that indicate success relative to achieving our goal and reward people for their contribution to change. Many organizations have concluded that a process of on-going improvement is an absolute necessity. Theory of Constraints (TOC) brings a new dimension to management philosophy and provides an interesting challenge to the traditional ways of looking at an organization’s profitability. Adopted within a wide variety of organizations and settings, it appears that organizations using TOC have determined that it can help them achieve a number of management objectives, including continuous improvement. Using TOC should be guided by the purpose or requirements it is necessary to meet. The goal of every organization is the same; optimize profitability by meeting customer requirements better than the competition. The TOC is both descriptive and prescriptive in nature that describes the cause of system constraints and provides guidance on how to resolve them.
TOC provides a set of holistic processes and rules, all based on a systems approach that exploits the inherent simplicity within complex systems through focusing on the few "leverage points” as a way to synchronize the parts to achieve ongoing improvement in the performance of the system as a whole. This paper will clarify the concepts on the TOC and will facilitate its successful implementation in organisations with special reference to healthcare institutions.

ABSTRACT
The small and medium-sized enterprises are very import elements for the growth and sustainability of the Brazilian economy. The retail companies have some challenge in common that they must overcome to remain competitive in the market. Thus the main objective of this paper is to evaluate potential contributions of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) to small and medium-sized enterprises supply chain, more specifically inside retailer franchising cluster, acting on the following issues: difficulty on forecasting demand with accuracy; long periods for supplying; wrong amount of stored products; low stock turnover and low inventory coverage for products with high outputs. The case study was applied in just one company, which belongs to one of many possible retailer cluster and therefore it may be considered as an unique case. The results indicate that the organization significantly improved its indicators by applying the Theory of Constraint Fundamentals which globally contributed  for the company’s competitivity. Thus, the research has a big pioneering potential as other academic papers have not been found on the franchising retailers matter. However the results cannot be generalized as the research has been applied in a single organization.  Therefore,  it is proposed to carry out and implement future research in other retail companies, but in a variety of branches so that there can be a validation of the presented proposals and the achieved goals. Additionally, as a result of the research, this work can support studies on the themes of TOC and SCM, as well as assist entrepreneurs that are seeking for changes in their organizations and aiming for relevant competitive differentials.
Key Words: Theory of Constraints. Supply Chain. Retail. Franchise. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.

IT enabled organizations strive for overall improvement in performance with the use of tools capable of forecasting the stability and growth as well as failure. This paper contributes by introducing a technique and a model in Business process reengineering with Theory of constraints using dynamic workflow system enhanced with artificial intelligent 'agents' to observe the impact of flexibility on the performance of the organization. The paper also presents a model that has been verified by a developed tool which majorly deals with runtime change management capable of dealing with flexibility by change in workflow system in the domain of Human resource management.

A strategy for adaptive control and energetic optimization of aerobic fermentors was implemented, with both air flow and agitation speed as manipulated variables. This strategy is separable in its components: control, optimization, estimation. We optimized parameter’s estimation (from the usual KLa correlation) using sinusoidal excitation of air flow and agitation speed. We have implemented parameter’s estimation trough recursive least squares algorithm with forgetting factor. We carried separate essays on control, optimization and estimation algorithms. We carried our essays using an original computational simulation environment, with noise and delay generating facilities for data sampling and filtering.

Our results show the convergence and robustness of the estimation algorithm used, improved with use of both forgetting factor and KLa dead-band facilities. Control algorithm used in our work compares favorably with PID using the integrated area criteria for deviation between oxygen molarity and critical molarity (set point). Optimization algorithm clearly reduces energetic consumption, respecting critical molarity. Integration of control, optimization and adaptive algorithms was implemented, but future work is needed for stability. Methods were defined and implemented for stability improvement. We have implemented data acquisition and computer manipulation of air flow and agitation speed for actual fermentors.

In any construction project there are certain hindrances which affect the duration of project and obviously on the total cost. The constraints in any project limit their achievement of high performance. The aim and scope of this study is to identify the major constraints and their level of impact on the construction projects. For this purpose a proper set of questionnaire is sent to different government bodies as well as private contractors. These questionnaires were also sent to individual involved in any project from top to bottom level. The responses from everyone is recorded and used as a major tool of this study. From the responses it was observed that there are five types of constraints viz. legal constraint, social constraints, technical constraint, environmental constraint and economic constraint. Each constraint may occur individually or they may work as a series of problems. It was observed that at every stage there may be some constraint which may affect the total duration as well as total cost of the project. The management should be adaptive and alert for any situation to encounter the constraints.

A review-essay which considers three recent books about or inspired by the neo-avant-garde group Oulipo: Daniel Levin Becker’s _Many Subtle Channels: In Praise of Potential Literature_ (Harvard UP, 2012), Lauren Elkin and Scott Esposito’s _The End of Oulipo? An Attempt to Exhaust a Movement_ (Zero Books, 2013), and Louis Bury’s _Exercises in Criticism: The Theory and Practice of Literary Constraint_ (Dalkey Archive, 2014).