Reflections on Lean Philosophy and the Theory of Constraints
P.J. Jakovljevic - February 22, 2006

Lean Manufacturing and the Theory of Constraints

Lean manufacturing and the theory of constraints (TOC) may well go hand in hand. Lean manufacturing makes value flow through the factory, for instance, by trying to separate value streams so that they use dedicated resources sized to the same capacity (even if kanbans do not optimize the constraints). TOC takes this idea further by recognizing critical bottlenecks, which are the most overloaded resources that determine the maximum flow rate of production, and making value flow through these bottlenecks. It does this by allowing manufacturers to optimize production through their critical bottleneck in order to meet market demand...