{"id":6181,"date":"2017-12-05T10:50:57","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T18:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog-prod.qad.com\/blog\/?p=6181"},"modified":"2018-10-04T10:01:04","modified_gmt":"2018-10-04T17:01:04","slug":"eliyahu-goldratt-hero-toc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qad.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/eliyahu-goldratt-hero-toc","title":{"rendered":"Eliyahu Goldratt: Hero of the TOC"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6220″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Through many of our articles we focus on the future of manufacturing<\/a>, such as upcoming trends and keeping up with new technology, but how did we get here? It\u2019s important to take some time to think about the history of manufacturing and those visionaries whose contributions are still appreciated and felt today \u2014 whether you know about them or not. Let\u2019s take some time to put the spotlight on Eliyahu Goldratt and the major contributions he made to manufacturing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Goldratt\u2019s <\/span>The Goal<\/span><\/i>: More than Just a Great Story<\/span><\/h2>\n

Almost everybody in manufacturing has heard of Eliyahu Goldratt\u2019s groundbreaking book <\/span>The Goal<\/span><\/i><\/a>. First published in 1984, <\/span>The Goal<\/span><\/i> has been translated into 32 languages and gone through multiple updates. As of this writing, it still ranks extremely high in sales, coming in at No. 1 on Amazon in the \u201corganizational change\u201d category.<\/span><\/p>\n

Goldratt\u2019s book taught generations of manufacturing professionals his <\/span>Theory of Constraints (TOC)<\/span><\/a> through an entertaining story that demonstrated the underlying principles and benefits of applying TOC to typical manufacturing problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

The main character in the book is a harried plant manager, Alex Rogo. Alex is under pressure from all sides. Management is threatening to shut down his plant and his wife is threatening to leave him because he works such long hours. He bumps into an old professor who wisely uses TOC principles to guide Alex to solutions to his problems. This professor\u2019s name is Jonah, which became the name for the highest-level TOC credential. <\/span><\/p>\n

Applying the Theory of Constraints in the Real World<\/span><\/h2>\n

Goldratt based his theories on the assumption that businesses could be measured and managed using only three levers: business expense, throughput and inventory. Throughput is defined in this case as the rate at which an organization generates money through sales.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the real world, there are limits on how much throughput an organization can generate because of operational constraints. TOC\u2019s primary message is that all other resources in an organization should be subordinated to the constraint to maximize throughput. In simple terms, if a machine can produce a maximum of 10 units a day, all other aspects of the organization should be focused on ensuring that nothing gets in the way of those 10 units. Otherwise, the company\u2019s revenue is adversely affected. The organization should also look at ways to increase output through the constraint if it hopes to increase revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Simple but Sophisticated Management Focus<\/span><\/h2>\n

Constraints in the real world now become the management focus:<\/span><\/p>\n