Vector Consulting Group partnered with X-Ops of the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) and conducted a one-day workshop on “Theory of Constraints (ToC)” on October 20.
Vector Consulting Group director Shailesh Ranjan provided valuable insights on how TOC implementation is undertaken in operation, manufacturing and supply chain management in various business environments to create a greater business impact. The would-be managers were informed about it which can help clients rebuild their future, appraise their business from another perspective and develop a method to further their growth.
Shailesh Ranjan, an alumnus of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, was excited to revisit his alma mater and interact with the eager students. He began the workshop interactively by putting forth a question ‘What is the definition of Theory of Constraint’ and he received myriad of answers. He went on to baffle the audience by stating a one word definition coined by Dr Eli Goldratt, the physicist who first proposed the fundamentals of Theory of Constraints, “Focus”.
Focus according to him is doing what is required to be done and at the same time not doing what is not required to be done. He challenged the conventional beliefs prevalent in the current scenario and refuted them with the Theory of Constraints. According to him no matter how complex systems appear to be, in reality they are inherently simple and there are very few constraint(s) in the system.
The constraint(s) must be carefully identified with respect to the overall goal of the organisation. Every conflict that an organization faces can be removed and that there is always a possibility of win-win situations. He further emphasized that with constraint based analysis and by following the ‘Five focusing steps’, substantial improvement can be achieved without any major capital investment. Finally, he stressed that people around the world, contrary to popular belief, are inherently good and many people related problems arise in the organization due to conflicting rules or metrics.
He corroborated his statements by providing with two real life case studies from production and distribution function in two industries, wherein the TOC concepts were implemented to find the “bottlenecks” and leverage it not only to maximize profitability but also to build a sustainable growth model. These case studies were an eye opener for the students who were accustomed to conventional operational managerial techniques for problem solving.
The session ended with Prof Arun Kumar Paul, Area Coordinator for Operations Management and Decision Sciences area of XIM, Bhubaneswar, addressing the participants and delivering the vote of thanks.