Theory of Limitations, or TOM, is a management philosophy developed by Industry experts in their 1984 book 'The Goal'. It posits that any system, regardless of its scale, has inherent restrictions that restrict its efficiency. The core idea of TOM is to manage these limitations to maximize productivity.
Key Components of TOM include the process optimization an waste reduction Flow and the Objective of the Operational Efficiency.
The Theory of Constraints is built around five main pillars:
1. Focus on the stakeholder and their needs. Identifying the ultimate goal is key, the customer is truly focused on how a product is used, not the process of manufacturing themselves.
2. Identify the limitation is key. This, as we have already discussed, will be your main barrier in achieving the objective.
3. Maximize productivity by managing the limitation. Focus on where your production is having the most backlog or major issues and fix that issue first.
4. Respect the system, even with fewer stabilizers.
