This month I was invited by TOCICO, Theory of Constraints International Certification Organization, to do a live webinar for their members about Excellence 360º. The invitation was originated by an article that I wrote in 2004 - which you can read below. In it, I wrote about the advantages of integrating TOC (Theory of Constraints), Lean Production System, Six Sigma and BMP (Business Management by Processes). For those of you who aren't familiar with TOCICO, they're a global not-for-profit certification organization for TOC practitioners, consultants and academics to develop and administer certification standards, and facilitate the exchange of latest developments.

Click here to download the Slides of this Webinar

Keywords: TRIZ, TOC, Theory of Constraints, ARIZ, Current Reality Tree (CRT), Conflict Resolution Diagram (CRD), Ideal Final Result, Physical Contradiction, problem formulation.

Abstract

This article shows how some of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) logical trees, namely the Current Reality Tree (CRT) and the Conflict Resolution Diagram (CRD) can be useful for graphically describing the inventive situation and identifying / selecting the core problem to be tackled via ARIZ or other TRIZ methods, as well as to more easily identify the contradictions involved in the problem.

After the influence of ISO9000, today most companies have standardized processes in place. But they actually continue to be impacted by failures from a department-based management approach: there is poor communication between areas, conflicting objectives, mistakes, rework and the chronic last-minute fire-fighting. Why do such issues continue to occur if the “process vision” has already been implemented, including international certifications?