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Utilizing the Theory of Constraints in Product Innovation Ebook

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:47:00 +0000

In the three part podcast I had with Mike Dalton the founder of Guided Innovation Group, we discussed utilizing the Theory of Constraints in Innovation, the Customer Value Lens and Alliances in great detail. This is a transcription of the entire 3-part series.

Theory of Constraints in Innovation

In Mikes recent book, Simplifying Innovation: Doubling speed to market and new product profits – with your existing resources, he discussed the Guided Innovation’s unique TOC-based approach to rapid innovation improvement is helping companies slash time to market in half and nearly double new product profits. Whether you are struggling to get more sales impact from your new product and innovation investment or are growing strongly but still interested in taking your innovation performance to the next level. Customer Value Lens and much more. The book was just released in January and has received some good reviews.

Deliver in the NOW Moment

admin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

If you want to be successful in today’s market consider using this tag line. What reminded me of this is discussions I have had with Jeff Slater of Sonoco on the Supply Chain, Bob Sproull, author of The Ultimate Improvement Cycle and this recent video on the American Express Open Forum, Delivering What the Customer Wants.

Customers are demanding shorter Supply Chains and more customization. Their trade-off is that they are willing to wait for a very short-on-time delivery and the faith not that the product or service will be perfect, but that it will be supported and corrected if there is a problem. The Internet has made people accustomed to buying things sight unseen if they have trust in the people and organizations behind the product. Does anyone mind when the product says Beta on it?

However, how can a company make money with customization and supply chains being the 2 biggest drawbacks to efficiencies? The first thing I would let go of is the word efficiencies. That seems to me an out-dated word still being used by cost accountants. The Theory of Constraints utilizes measurements using the term of Throughput which I believe has a lot more bearing on the health of a company. Most companies also fail to realize that the “asset” of inventory actually penalizes you in your supply chain and typically reduces your time to market.

Delivering in the Immediate Moment is typically not about production time, it is about policy constraints and having a supporting system in place to support that goal. Building a Value Stream Map can clarify many of these issues. However, first things first, remove the word efficiency and add the word throughput to your vocabulary.

Theory of Constraints + Lean + Six Sigma = Ultimate Improvement Cycle

Lean Six Sigma applied to Supply Chain

Application of Lean Six Sigma to the Supply Chain

Technorati : Efficiencies, TOC, Theory of constraints, Throughput, Value Stream Mapping

The Eagles always understood!

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:00:00 +0000

I think John Jantsch’s description in his post yesterday on the Duct Tape Marketing Hourglass was very thought provoking and is one of things that he had written about in his book that not only has proven the test of time but have proven very correct in practically any kind of media, online and offline. It is a post that I recommend printing out and pinning on your wall.

John says, “The top half indeed resembles the funnel concept, but the expanding bottom half, to my way of thinking, adds the necessary focus on the total customer experience that ultimately leads to referrals and marketing momentum.”

As I was reading The Duct Tape Marketing Blog, I remembered another blog post John had recently written, Is selling Becoming More Like Marketing? Maybe, it should be turned around in that is Marketing becoming more like Selling? Marketing has always been judged on how many leads we dump into the top of the funnel. The salespeople take over and develop the relationships, build the credibility and make the presentations. After the sale, they maintained the relationships. The Eagles understood the bottom of the hourglass better than any other rperson in the organization. I am saying practically the same thing John did in his blog, but that really is the secret sauce that can make your organization successful today.

The important part of sale sand marketing is the work that takes place in both halves of the Hourglass. That is where the ball usually gets dropped and a prime example is the refusal of many industries to participate in the new wave of marketing. It is just too expensive to nurture, develop repeat and referral business all in person. Don’t get me wrong, you still need that human touch, but you have limited resources and limited Eagles(good salespeople) to go around. Developing effective and efficient communication in these parts of the hourglass is one of the most important things you can do to increase sales.

What does hold you back? Looking for that one thing or constraint that is holding you back is seldom found in the middle of your hourglass, the close. It occurs elsewhere and not having a structure in place to walk people through the 7 stages is imperative. That is why I encourage people to use the Lean tool of Value Stream Mapping and map these seven stages and put some measurements to them. Why? The obvious is that “people perform based on how they are measured” -Eliyahu Goldratt, Theory of Constraints. However, a word of caution as Marketing becomes more like selling, it still is people thing.

Applying the Marketing Hourglass: The Pillars of the Lean Marketing House

Related E-books:

Ideal Client

Mirror Marketing

Technorati : , Duct-Tape-Marketing, Marketing-Hourglass, TOC, Theory of Constraints

Can Theory of Constraints and Lean Six Sigma co-exist

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:47:00 +0000

Bob Sproull was my guest on the Business901 podcast. Bob is an experienced manufacturing executive with a distinguished track record of achieving improvement goals in Manufacturing, MRO, Quality, Product Development, and Engineering. His experience base ranges from low-volume custom products (truck bodies) to process industries (tires) to service industries (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul). He is a nationally known speaker and author on problem-solving and statistical techniques, as well as his latest book on implementing an integrated Lean, Six Sigma and the Theory of Constraints.

Our discussion centered around The Ultimate Improvement Cycle: Maximizing Profits through the Integration of Lean, Six Sigma, and the Theory of Constraints show you how to draw the best from Lean and Six Sigma by employing principles drawn from the Theory of Constraints. This approach will ensure that your effort is focused in the right place, at the right time, using the right tools, and the right amount of resources. This multi-pronged approach addresses cost accounting, variation, waste, and performance measurements. But most importantly, it focuses your organization on the right areas to optimize.

I enjoyed many of his thoughts, especially on Value Stream Mapping and his description of focusing on the matter at hand, the constraint.

Combining the Theory of Constraints and Lean Six Sigma

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:15:00 +0000

Mark Woeppel is the president of Pinnacle Strategies a Dallas based consulting firm. Marke is a recognized expert in the Theory of Constraints, Supply Chain Management, Project Management, and Continuous Improvement. He has earned the founder’s implementer certification from the TOC-ICO. This E-book is a transcription of the podcast we had and is free to download distribute and enjoy! Just keep the contact and links intact, please.

TLS – Theory of Cosntraints & LSS

Podcast: TLS – Theory of Constraints, Lean, Six Sigma Integration

Can Theory of Constraints and Lean Six Sigma co-exist

Theory of Constraints + Lean + Six Sigma = Ultimate Improvement Cycle

Technorati : LSS, Lean, Six Sigma, TLS, TOC, Theory of Constraints

Exploiting and Subordinating your Marketing Constraint

admin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:37:00 +0000

A continuation of my blog posts of Using the Theory of Constraints with your Marketing HourGlass. We are concentrating optimizing the Throughput of the Marketing Hourglass utilizing the Five Steps of Continuous Improvement, Steps 2 and 3.

Step 2. Exploit the system’s constraint

This simply means; Getting the most out of the weakest link or phase. This is a great time to use the Lean tool of Kaizen. Getting rid of all waste associated with the systems constraint is the first step I would take. One of the things that TOC and Lean both encourage is to observe the process with people very familiar with it. They may tell you that this always happens or maybe an obvious statements such as we don’t have enough people. Looking at the waste you will readily identify some crucial changes.

Put a cost to the constraint. If this is your weakest link, improvement in this area will maximize the entire process. Understanding the cost of the constraint is imperative in moving forward. Once you have a cost assigned to the constraint, you start looking at improvement slightly differently. Observe how things move through a constraint. Hiring that one extra person, holding additional events, dedicating a phone line or a live operator could make significant differences. Using an tip from Rapid Product Development, you may want to parallel this process. This allows simultaneous actions versus many of the different types of time constraints detailed in or list of definitions.

Step 3. Subordinate everything else to the above decision.

Increase output through the constraint(phase) increase output for the entire system. I sometime use the analogy when a salesman senses an order. He puts everything else on hold and dedicates all his resources to getting that order. It is also very similar to the Lean method of Kanban. Kanban is a method of only releasing parts as needed through the process. A card must be given to the preceding event before that phase can start.

Interesting thought may be as you manage marketing campaigns or events that you only release calls, direct mail based on responses from your prospects. A proactive drip management program may solicit certain key actions before additional material is released automatically.

In manufacturing, I have seen a quality station placed in front of the constraint before allowing parts to move through the process. In marketing, you may add a qualifying step so the constraint or process only receives a more qualified prospect.

The next post will be steps 3 and 4.