The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a management philosophy developed by Dr. Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt. According to Goldratt the strength of any chain, process, or system is dependent upon its weakest link. TOC is systemic and strives to identify constraints to system success and to effect the changes necessary to remove them. Dr. Goldratt and the TOC became widely known with the 1984 publication of Goldratt's novel The Goal.

History

In early 1979 Goldratt introduced a software-based manufacturing scheduling program known as Optimized Production Timetables (OPT), changed in 1982 to Optimized Production Technology. With the publication of The Goal, Goldratt used his Socratic teaching style to educate the world about managing bottlenecks (constraints) and his new ideas about performance. The Goal, is a love story set in the manufacturing industry (thrice revised) detailing the tribulations of a plant manager named Alex Rogo. Rogo is faced with the...