Theory of ConstraintsEvery system has one bottleneck. Improving anything else does nothing.Business & ManagementThe five focusing steps.1Identify the constraintThe step limiting the whole system's output. Usually whereinventory queues.2Exploit itGet the most from it without spending. No idle time, no defectiveinput.3Subordinate everything elseEvery other step runs at the constraint's pace, not its own.4Elevate the constraintNow spend money: more capacity, more people, better equipment.5RepeatThe constraint moves. Go back to step one.SIGNS OF THE CONSTRAINTInventory piles up in front of itEverything downstream waitsIt is never idleExpediting always involves itAn hour lost at the bottleneck is an hour lost for the whole system. Anhour saved anywhere else is a mirage.Theory of Constraintslearnposters.com
Theory of Constraints — printable business wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

Theory of Constraints, step by step

The five focusing steps.

  1. Identify the constraintThe step limiting the whole system's output. Usually where inventory queues.
  2. Exploit itGet the most from it without spending. No idle time, no defective input.
  3. Subordinate everything elseEvery other step runs at the constraint's pace, not its own.
  4. Elevate the constraintNow spend money: more capacity, more people, better equipment.
  5. RepeatThe constraint moves. Go back to step one.

Signs of the constraint

  • Inventory piles up in front of it
  • Everything downstream waits
  • It is never idle
  • Expediting always involves it

An hour lost at the bottleneck is an hour lost for the whole system. An hour saved anywhere else is a mirage.

Questions about the Theory of Constraints poster

What’s on the Theory of Constraints poster?
5 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. The five focusing steps. Identify the constraint — The step limiting the whole system's output. Usually where…; Exploit it — Get the most from it without spending. No idle time, no defective input.; Subordinate everything else — Every other step runs at the constraint's pace, not its…; Elevate the constraint — Now spend money: more capacity, more people, better equipment.; Repeat — The constraint moves. Go back to step one.. An hour lost at the bottleneck is an hour lost for the whole system. An hour saved anywhere else is a mirage.
Who is the Theory of Constraints poster for?
Theory of Constraints belongs to the Business & Management section rather than to a school year, because business is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning operations can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
When should you use the Theory of Constraints poster?
Find the constraint before optimising. Work upstream of a bottleneck just piles up. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Theory of Constraints belongs on the wall where that business work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Theory of Constraints?
Agile & Waterfall, Capacity and Critical Path sit alongside Theory of Constraints in the Business & Management section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Agile & WaterfallCapacityCritical Path
Is the Theory of Constraints poster free to download and print?
Yes. Theory of Constraints downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Business & Management section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Theory of Constraints poster print at?
Theory of Constraints is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Theory of Constraints loses nothing.Printing guide

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