© washington state university-20101 intro to the theory of constraints (an introduction to the...

© Washington State University-2010 1

Intro to the Theory of Constraints

(An introduction to the Thinking Process side of the Theory of Constraints.)

Constraints Management

[email protected]://www.engrmgt.wsu.edu/

James R. Holt, Ph.D., PEProfessor

Engineering & Technology Management


Welcome to the TOC!

• TOC IS: A set of Proven Solutions

• DBR, CCPM, Replenishment, Sales/Marketing, Human Behavior, Measurements, Strategy

An Approach to Problems• Five Steps of Continuous Improvement

Tools for Discovery of New Solutions• What to Change • What to Change to • How to Cause the Change (The TP)


Larger ProcessInput Output

Input Process Output Input Process OutputInput Process Output

Process Theory

Input Process Output


Systems Concepts

• Organizations / Systems exist for a purpose

• That purpose is better achieved by cooperation of multiple, independent elements linked together

• Each Inter-linked event depends in some detail upon the other links.

• The system owner determines purpose


There is a “Weakest Link”

• Different link capabilities, normal variation and changing workload make it impossible to balance everything.

• One element of the system is more limited than another.

• When the whole system is dependent upon the cooperation of all elements, the weakest link determines the strength of the chain.

100


Non-Production Constraints

• What-if you don’t manufacture anything?

• What-if you don’t move physical things?

• What-if your world is: service, knowledge, procedures, policies, behavior, paperwork, strategy, relationships or understandings?

• What-if your constraint is: schedule, statistics, cooperation, apathy, politics?

• What-if your problem is not a simple flow line?


More Systems Study

•Some Systems are complicated, complex or even chaotic

•We can manage any system using TOC Concepts

• Let’s look at a non-production constraints in the next section


You Have Intuition!

• Goal: Lower the Ball yet keep it attached.

Minimize: Y subject to: (X-1)^2+(Y-8)^2<=24(X-3)^2+(Y-8)^2<=14(X-5)^2+(Y-8)^2<=2(X-7)^2+(Y-8)^2<=22(X-9)^2+(Y-8)^2<=26

X->Y

->


The Real World

My View ofmy World


Thinking Time

• We think!

• It’s what we do!

• Our minds are like CPUs. They keep on running and running and running …

• We feel uncomfortable if we don’t have thoughts in our head. That’s why there are magazines in Doctor’s

offices! That’s why junk TV still survives.


Thinking Experiment

• Get out a pencil and paper.

• Wait for the starting signal.

• Work really hard at not thinking!

GO!


QUICK!

• Write down every thought you had in the last minute!

• Just a word to catch the thought you had

• Capture as many as possible.


How Many Thoughts did you have in 1 Minute?

0 3 6 9 12 15 18

How many of those thoughts have you had before? 40%, 60%, 80%?

Pro

babl

e #

Number of thoughts

In the production world, we would call recurring thoughts RE-WORK!


Improving our Mental Throughput

• We need to increase our mental effectiveness

• We need to tie together the stray pieces so we don’t have to deal with individual thoughts

• We need to get the whole picture, solve it, and move on.


What is this?


Jonathan’s Family


There a System to Thinking!

• We will learn a systemic process of Thinking.

• There are rules that cause us to be logical

• There are simple methods to test our logic.

• There is discipline to practice

• Thinking, as it turns out, is hard work!

• You will need to practice and have someone scrutinize you!


To Learn to Think more Effectively/Efficiently...

• We will extrapolate from the hard sciences The Science of Discovery CAUSE AND EFFECT!

• We will simplify but Include all the Necessary parts Be sufficient as well (We can benefit from history without having to

relive it!)


Let’s look at an Overview

• First we have a lot of problems

• We need to find a common cause


Verify

• We need to then confirm that our suspected cause is indeed the one!


Find an Answer

• If we can solve the Core Conflict that causes this, we could have a great future!


If we can overcome the obstacles

• There are plenty of rocks and hills in the road. But if we can get past them… Great things are possible


We can do the things we need to do to get there!


Since you will want to do a project...

• Let’s show an example from the beginning to end and see how this unfolds.

• Yet, let’s pick something tough enough to merit our efforts.

• Let’s pick an example that is common (to other people, not you as an individual--but you

probably know someone in this fix)

• How about Marital Strife!


First the Approach: The Thinking Process

What to Change?

Let’s get rid ofthe UnDesireableEffects (UDEs).

Do that by Eliminating the Core Problem.

UDEs

UDEsUDEs

UDEsUDEs

UDEs

UDEs

UDEs

Core Problem


Find What’s Blocking the Solution

Key Injection that invalidates the assumption

Goal

Necessary Condition

Necessary Condition

Prerequisite

Prerequisite

What to Change To? (Why couldn’t we solve this before?)

The assumption that makes this condition logical.


What to Change To?

Take actions thatcreate theDesired Effects (DEs) DE DE

DE DEDE

DEDE

DE

Key Injection

Key Injection

Key Injection

See the Future


How to Cause the Change?

Overcome the Obstaclesto your Injections

Key Injection

Key Injection

Plan a Path Around Obstacles

Intermediate Objective

Obstacle


Obstacle


Obstacle


Obstacle

Obstacle


How to Cause the Change?

Detail Steps to the IntermediateObjective


Key Action

Go Step-by-Step to “Success”

Current Reality

New Reality

Facts in Reality

NeedLogic of Action

Facts in Reality

Need

Key ActionLogic of

Action


Scrutiny! Always Thinking!

• The Categories of Legitimate Reservation are simple methods to check logic.

• They are very powerful when applied in a systematic way. They are the tools to discover the underlying assumptions.

• Using the CLRs Power Thinking!

• A corollary, “Without the CLRs, you just have ‘Wishful Thinking!’”


Categories of Legitimate Reservation

1. Clarity

Level I

Reservation

2. Entity Existence

3. Causality

Level IIReservations

Always Start Here!

6. Predicted Effect

4. Insufficiency 5. Additional Cause

7. Cause Reversal

Level III Reservations

8. Tautology


1. Clarity on Words(Level I)

Clarity on the “Girl’s School”? What is that?GirlsSchool

Clarity on the “pretty”? A school for Pretty Girls? A Pretty School? Is it Pretty Little? Are there boys there too? Is the apostrophe missing? Does the building look nice? What is the enrollment?

This is a pretty little girls school

This is a very small school for

girls

Much Improved!


2. Entity Existence (Level II)

Entity Existence Reservation: If any of these entities don’t exist in your own world, ask, “Do any of these things really exist in your world?”

Operating costs are of little concern

There is free maintenance for 100,000 miles

The exterior appearance of the car doesn’t matter

A brand new Lexus costs $15,000


Causality

Causality: Show me how the parts in the effect (point) come from the cause (tail).

I open an account at the credit union

I receive 20% interest

I want to be different

I need pants like Joe’s

My roommate has a car

I need a car

I buy stock

I become a millionaire

There are problems here with each one.


Insufficiency(Level III)

Insufficiency Reservation: You also need to complete a good individual project to get excellent grades

Our Group Project goes well

I get excellent grades in Constraints Management Class

I turn-in good homework

My Project goes well


Additional Cause

I don’t understand the class material

This class progresses too

quickly

Additional Cause Reservation:

I didn’t read the course

material

Additional Cause Reservation:

I don’t use help (ask for clarity from the instructor, peers, Student Assistants or email discussion groups)


Predicted Effect

Our Incomeis too low

We don’t have enough

money to pay our

bills

Predicted Effect Reservation: If our income is too low, I would expect to see most people with the same income (or less) unable to pay their bills. Yet, I see lots of people with less income than we have who are paying their bills just fine.

Many others with the same or less income do pay

their bills

Others with same or less income

would not be able to pay their bills

We buy too many things we really

don’t need

Actually, you don’t need to provide a substitute possible cause for the effect when you make a Predicted Effect Reservation. But, if you see one and can provide it without offending the presenter, you may (or should). It could help the presenter in the search for the missing ‘Cause’.


Cause Reversal

Cause Reversal Reservation: The smoke did not cause the fire.The house is

on fire

I see smoke coming from

the house

There is a fire truck in front of the

house

There is a fire truck in front of the

house

The house is on fire

Someone called the

alarm

I see smoke coming from

the house


Tautology

Tautology Reservation: The logic is circular. Add other entities

I bought over valued

stock

I gain little return from my

investments

There are many better opportunities

I paid a lot for little return

I bought over valued

stock

I gain little return from my

investments


10. There is a

Chicken

20. There is an Egg

Too Tight a Logic Loop

Tautology ReservationTautology ReservationA Too Tight a Logical Loop

A Longer Logical LoopResolves the Age Old Question

20. There is a fertile Egg

16. There is a Female Chicken

14. There is a Male Chicken

OR

11. A Male and Female Chicken can produce a

fertile Egg

But, maybe there were two eggs first!


How Do Tautologies Happen?How Do Tautologies Happen?

I tell them I tell them what to dowhat to do

They don’t They don’t do itdo it

I push themI push them

They still They still don’t do itdon’t do it

I push them I push them harderharder

They are They are obstinateobstinate

I tell them I tell them what to dowhat to do

They are They are obstinateobstinate

Do we ever stop to Do we ever stop to think why? think why? Why don’t people Why don’t people do what they are do what they are told?told?Hum?Hum?


Marital Strife

• How many Problems are there with Marital Strife?

• Tons! Many UnDesirable Effects!

• Let’s just pick a few that should be enough to guide our discovery process.


Marital Strife UnDesirable Effects

Lack of Affection

Lack of Trust One Carries

Excessive Load

Unequal Workload

InfidelityFrequent Disagreements

Little Support

Lack of Compassion Difference of

Opinion


Story - Trust

1. My spouse doesn’t come home when I expect him (her). This is happening more and more. The stories seem to be weaker and weaker. I want to trust my spouse. But I don’t want to be hurt.

I feel good about my marriage

My spouse feels free from my bondage

I don’t get hurt

I trust my spouse at all times

I don’t trust my spouse


Story - Support

2. My spouse is deeply involved in ______. He/she expects me to support him/her by taking care of __________ while he/she is gone. I don’t mind doing it, but it leaves me little time for my own hobbies.

We use our time well

My spouse can do his/her own thing

I have time for myself

Give lots of support

Give little support


Story-Workload

3. My spouse is in a stressful job and at a critical point in his/her career. It seems like this “critical point” is getting longer and longer. In the mean time, I have to do my job and hold down the domestic duties too!

We both Achieve

I survive my Job

My spouse gets ahead

We balance our domestic workload

We have unequal workload


Generic Conflict

Happy Marriage

My Spouse is Happy

I am Happy

My spouse does what he/she wants

My spouse doesn’t get what he/she wants

1. Feel Good2. Use Time Effective3. Achieve

1. Spouse freedom2. Spouse does own thing3. Spouse gets ahead

1. I’m not hurt2. Time for me3. I Survive

1. Trust2. Support3. Unequal work

1. Lack of Trust2. Lack of Support3. Balanced work


Core Conflict

We want a Happy Marriage

My Spouse needs to be happy

I need to be happy

There is pressure to give my spouse does what he/she wants

There is pressure not to give what he/she wants

My personal feelings are important

I not happy unless my spouse is happy

I have real needs

The things my spouse wants are important to our marriage

Our wants are different

We have different goals

I am often slightedOften, my spouse takes second place


Results of the Core Conflict

We have different goals

Excessive burdens

Different Opinions

Frequent arguments

Loss of trust

Lack of support

Lack of Affection

Infidelity

Lack of Compassion

Unequal workload

Things need to be done

Different people have different levels of importance

Time continues


A Potential Future

We have a close relationship

We have complete confidence We share our

burdens

We share the workload Committed to

each other

We rarely disagree on important matters

We support each other Caring

Relationship

We really understand each other


Starting Injection

My spouse and I share common goals, objectives and direction in the important aspects of our lives.


Start of the Future

We want a Happy Marriage

My Spouse needs to be Happy I need to

be Happy

My personal feelings are importantI not happy unless my

spouse is happy

We have common goals, objectives

and direction in the important aspects

of our lives.

We both work

towards our spouse’s

goals

I work toward

my goals

Each spouse is working to our common goals

I’m working to our common goals

We are working towards our common goals/direction


More Actions Needed


We have complete confidence

We have a close relationshipWe share our

burdens

We rarely disagree We really understand

each other We have a Caring Relationship

We support each other

We share the workload

? ? ? ? ?


A Possible Nice Future


We have complete confidence in each other

We have a close relationship

We share our burdens

We rarely disagreeWe really understand each other

We have good communication

Caring Relationship

We support each otherWe share the workload

We realize we need each other to reach our common goalsWe make it a point

to communicate (good & bad)

We share a common set of moral virtues



Obstacles Preventing

Intermediate Objectives

It’s a gray world (can’t tell right from wrong)

We don’t want to change

Values change according to the circumstances

We have different backgrounds

Our desires differ

We both enjoy some moral indiscretions



Obstacles Preventing

Intermediate Objectives

We agree on common virtues

We are willing to work on this

We agree on a common virtues

We really know each other

We share a set of common goals

We live our set of virtues in all cases

It’s a gray world (can’t tell right from wrong)

We don’t want to change

Values change according to the circumstances

We have different backgrounds

Our desires differ

We both enjoy some moral indiscretions



Sequencing the solution

We don’t want to admit error

Our desires differ

Its hard to tell right from wrong

We enjoy our indiscretions

We don’t talk much

We have different backgrounds We don’t know

each other

We don’t want to Change

We subordinate ourselves to each other

We live our set of virtues in all cases

We recognize our own frailties

We really communicate

We really know each other

We share a set of common goals

We agree on a common virtues

We are willing to work on this


Detailed Action Plan

We subordinate ourselves to each other

I am busy with my stuff

My spouse is busy with his/her stuff

We are busy working on our stuff

We are very busy

We reserve at least one hour each day

for each other (Dinner Time)

We are together for an hour dailyOne of us talks

more than the other

One could consume all the time

We each state 3 Good Things that happened and 3

Bad Things (to improve).

We share our daily time wisely

(There are other independent additional causes)


New Strategy & Tactic TreeS. Marital Bliss

T. Love Each Other

S. Get Along

T. Accept Each Other

S. Focus on the Other

T. Have Common Goals

S. Trust Each Other

T. Share Moral Code

S. Spouse Loves Me

T. Cause Spouse to Love Me

S. Communicate Clearly

T. Communicate Daily

S. Forgive Each Other

T. Apologize Often

S. Share Responsibility

T. Know Responsibility

S. Work at our Marriage

T. Set-apart Time for Duties

S. Fidelity with Each Other

T. Live up to Commitments

S. Subordinate ourselves

T. Treat other as more important


1. Marital Bliss S&T Tree

Necessary Assumption

The purpose of life includes raising children in a proper atmosphere

Strategy We want Marital Bliss.

Parallel Assumption

Cooperation in the family is much easier when we are doing things for those we deeply love.It is difficult to tolerate the many differences without mutual love.

TacticWe love one another to the point that I am very happy in marriage and my spouse is also very happy in marriage.

Sufficiency Assumption

To make this work, we will need to work together to help each other obtain our mutual goals and our individual goals.

Level: 1 Having a Happy Marriage

nextbefore

Ab

ove

Be

low

Navigation


2.1 Getting Along

Necessary Assumption

Men and women are different (isn’t it wonderful!). We have different goals, needs, energy and expectations

Strategy We enjoy being together.

Parallel Assumption

We are involved in many different activities that involve our time and talents.Individuals control who they are and how they act (we dont’).

Tactic We each accept the other as they are.

Sufficiency Assumption

There will be mistakes, conflicts, inconveniences and intrusions on both sides. We must be able to communicate and adjust.

Level: 2.1 Getting Along

nextbefore

Ab

ove

Be

low

Navigation


Theory of Constraints Thinking Process

The Thinking Process is a Discovery Process.

Discover the Cause of Problems

Discover Breakthrough Solutions

Discover the Future

Discover Errors in Thinking

Discover Better Understanding

The Results are Powerful Solutions!


Washington State University’sEngineering Management Program

http://www.engrmgt.wsu.edu/

Keep Thinking!

Dr Holt

Students completing EM 526 Constraints Management can receive a Certificate of Recognition from www.TOCICO.org.

Interactive Live Lectures.Over the Internet in the evenings.Pacific Time Zone. See you there!

http://www.wsu.edu/~engrmgmt/holt/em526/

© washington state university-20101 intro to the theory of constraints (an introduction to the...

Documents

washington state university

purpose slide

tp slide

thinking process

theory of constraints

constraints management

nonproduction constraints

toc concepts