Theory of Constraints

In the early 1980s, a novel was published which has subsequently been read all over the world by many executives, production planners and shop floor workers. The Goal sets out Eli Goldratt's ideas on how production should be planned (Goldratt and Cox 2004). The ideas were developed in the production planning system OPT (Optimized Production Technology) which was marketed by Creative Technology, Inc. (Rand 1990). These ideas were later broadened to encompass other areas such as marketing, distribution and project management in two further novels, It's Not Luck (Goldratt 1994) and Critical Chain (Goldratt 1997), and the theory widened to become the Theory of Constraints. In the novel, Necessary but Not Sufficient (Goldratt et al. 2000), set in the computer software industry, it is argued that although new technology may be necessary for major improvements, it is not sufficient. The theory has been applied to retailing through two further books, first by means of a conversation between...