HOW DO I

LEARN TOC
ON MY OWN?

Rajeev Athavale
 But I don’t
know how to
go about it
And how
expensive
will it be
I want to learn
TOC on my
own. But…
Let me
check with
Rajeev
 TOC is a new Management
Philosophy. It has a vast
knowledge base. Though it
is simple to understand, it
Hey Rajeev, tell requires a lot of effort to
me something digest, internalize and
about TOC institutionalize it
 Well, I did not start with “I want to learn
TOC”! I accidentally came across TOC. I
happened to read the book “The Goal”
and it changed my life. Then I read all the
books written by Dr. Goldratt and then
by some others. I researched on the net,
and studied many articles, blogs, games,
Tell me Rajeev, websites, simulations etc. I had a chance
how did you to work with Goldratt Consulting. I was
go about trained by Goldratt Schools. It took
learning TOC? several years to learn. I am still learning!
 I would not recommend you to spend
so much time. I would rather suggest
you the exact sequence and point to
the material that I created for this
purpose. That way, your learning will
be faster, easier and enjoyable. You
Tell me Rajeev, will also be able to implement it.
how should I go And all that you need to spend is
about learning something less than $100.
TOC on my own? Sounds good?
 Alright. I will guide you and tell you
about the material that I have
created for the purpose of learning
TOC. But I have not yet created
Yes, Rajeev. material on all aspects of TOC. So I
Please guide will also direct you to some other
me. material created by TOC experts.
Fine Rajeev, tell
OK, Look at this…
me more
TOC knowledge is spread / grouped under the following Heads:
• Basic Concepts
• Five Focusing Steps
• Basic decision making using TOC
• Applications
• Manufacturing
• Projects
• Distribution
• Sales and Marketing
• Managing People
• Thinking Processes

I will provide you

guidance for the
areas marked in red. Yes Rajeev
Is it good enough for
you?
 First, you need to understand, in
brief, what TOC is about. It will be
in brief and you will understand it
better and better as you learn
So, what is more and more about TOC. You
the first thing also need to understand what is
to learn the “GOAL” of an organization and
Rajeev? how to measure it.
Next is…
 Next is, you need to well
understand the core of TOC
i.e. the Five Focusing Steps.
Look at this

Five Focusing Steps:

• Step 1: Identify the System’s Constraint

• Step 2: Decide how to exploit the System’s Constraint
• Step 3: Subordinate everything else to the above decision
• Step 4: (Evaluate various alternatives to) elevate the system’s
Constraint
• Step 5: If in the previous steps, a Constraint has been broken
go back to Step 1 (Do not let the inertia to set in)
 Easy to
understand, Yes, Rajeev
Right?

Five Focusing Steps are easy

to understand, no doubt.
But they are the most
misunderstood steps!
In order to understand them
correctly, you need to…
 You need to carefully read the
explanation of each of the steps.
Understand them well and try to
relate them to your situation. You
also need to understand what a
“Constraint” means and try to
find out the constraint in your
area of operation.
Then you need to learn…

Yes Rajeev?
 Then you need
to learn…

• The TOC Measurements

• How these measurements drive behaviors
• How to use the TOC measurements in the areas of
• Judgment of the performance of the system as a whole
• Judgment on investment in equipment
• Make or Buy judgment
• Judgment of sub-systems
• Judgment of Product / Service viability

Where and how

do I learn this For this purpose,
Rajeev? you need…
 You need a book
that…

• Explains the concepts in detail in small chapters

• Contains several Figures, Tables, Diagrams, Pictures, Charts,
Graphs, examples, Quotes, Exercises and Games as appropriate
• Summarizes “Points to Ponder” at the end of many chapters
• Provides some Multiple Choice Self-assessment questions to
help you to assess yourself the knowledge gained by you by
reading that Book

Great! What is the

name of the book? Here are the
Where can I buy it? details…
 This will be a good
beginning. By reading
this eBook, you will
get basic knowledge
of TOC. Click the book
image to buy now or
wait for good
discount along with
other eBooks

https://leanpub.com/tocbasic
By reading this eBook you would
learn the basic concepts of TOC.
Ask yourself whether you have
well-understood them. Look at
your score for the multiple
choice questions. Revisit the
eBook, if necessary.
Then…

And then?
 Now you will be ready to learn about
TOC applications. Let’s start with
Manufacturing. TOC started with it. This
is what you need to learn

• What is Synchronized manufacturing?

• What are basic rules of manufacturing?
• What are the various types of plants?
• What are the typical problems faced by Manufacturing
environment?
• The vicious cycle
• The solution
• DRUM-BUFFER-ROPE (DBR) Solution
• Buffer Management
• Simplified-DRUM-BUFFER ROPE (SDBR) Solution
• Some other relevant topics such as
• Choosing the Constraint, Capacity, Batch Sizing, MTA,
MTS, MTO, Measurements, Impact on Inventory
 For this purpose,
you need a book
that…

• Explains the concepts in detail in small chapters

• Contains several Figures, Tables, Diagrams, Pictures, Charts,
Graphs, examples, Quotes, Exercises and Games as
appropriate
• Summarizes “Points to Ponder” at the end of many chapters
• Provides some Multiple Choice Self-assessment questions to
help you to assess yourself the knowledge gained by you by
reading that Book

Great! Where can

You can buy this
I buy this book
book at…
Rajeev?
 Here is the TOC Learner’s
Guide for Manufacturing
(TOCLG). The eBook
explains how TOC is
applied to
Manufacturing system.
Click the book image to
buy now or wait for
good discount along with
other eBooks

https://leanpub.com/tocmanufacturing
 So far so good. By reading this eBook,
you would gain good enough
knowledge about TOC’s solution for
Manufacturing. Does this mean that
you are ready for implementation?
Nope!
Implementation is a different ballgame.
So let me tell you what is needed for
implementation

Please tell
me Rajeev
You need a DO-IT-YOURSELF
(DIY) kit!
In any implementation, the
sequence of steps is
important. You need a book
that gives you step-by-step
guidance for implementation

Where can I
buy such a
book Rajeev?
 Here is DO-IT-YOURSELF
eBook giving step-by-step
guidance for implementing
TOC’s solution for
Manufacturing. Click the
book image to buy now or
wait for good discount
along with other eBooks

https://leanpub.com/tocdiymanufacturing
 So far I have talked about three eBooks.
Perhaps, you may want to take a break here
and read these eBooks.
If that is the case, buy this bundle with
good discount at
https://leanpub.com/b/tocbasicsmfglgdiy
Or click this box

However, your interest may not be in

manufacturing or you may want to find out
more. In that case let’s continue our dialogue

Yes, Rajeev. Please

tell me more
You must have realized that you need to
read:
• One eBook to understand TOC Basics
• One eBook to understand TOC’s
application for Manufacturing and
• One eBook to know how to implement it

Got it?

Yes, Rajeev. What

about other TOC
applications?
I have published two eBooks
each for TOC’s application for
Distribution and Project
Management. You can read
them after you have read the
eBook for Basics

Really nice Rajeev. Tell me in

brief about these eBooks
 The TOCLG series of eBooks for Distribution
and projects define
• The Problem
• The Vicious Cycle
• The causes and
• The Solution
They also…
• Explain the concepts in detail in small chapters
• Contain several Figures, Tables, Diagrams, Pictures, Charts, Graphs, examples,
Quotes, Exercises and Games as appropriate
• Summarize “Points to Ponder” at the end of many chapters
• Provide some Multiple Choice Self-assessment questions to help you to assess
yourself the knowledge gained by you by reading that Book

That’s really great Yes, Of course. Here

Rajeev. Do you have are the details of
DIY eBooks also? Distribution eBooks
 Here is the TOC
Learner’s Guide for
Distribution (TOCLG).
The eBook explains how
TOC is applied to
Distribution system.
Click the book image to
buy now or wait for
good discount along
with other eBooks

https://leanpub.com/tocdistribution
 Here is DO-IT-YOURSELF
eBook giving step-by-step
guidance for
implementing TOC’s
solution for Distribution.
Click the book image to
buy now or wait for good
discount along with other
eBooks

https://leanpub.com/tocdiydistribution
 You can buy the Distribution eBooks along
with the eBook for Basics. This bundle with
good discount is available at
https://leanpub.com/b/tocbasicsdistbnlgdiy
Or click this box

However, your interest may not be

in Distribution or you may want to
know more. In that case let’s
continue our dialogue

Yes, Rajeev. Please tell me the

names of the eBooks for Projects
and where to buy them
 Here is the TOC
Learner’s Guide for
Projects (TOCLG). The
eBook explains How
TOC is applied to Project
Management.
Click the book image to
buy now or wait for
good discount along
with other eBooks

https://leanpub.com/tocprojects
Here is DO-IT-YOURSELF
eBook giving step-by-
step guidance for
implementing TOC’s
solution for Projects.
Click the book image to
buy now or wait for
good discount along
with other eBooks

https://leanpub.com/tocdiyprojects
You can buy the Projects eBooks along with
the eBook for Basics. This bundle with good
discount is available at
https://leanpub.com/b/tocbasicsprojlgdiy
Or click this box or continue for more
discount

Great Rajeev.
Have you
published any
other eBooks?

Yes, there are two more

eBooks…
 There are some Gurus in TOC and they have
published many articles over the years. The
articles provide a great insight into various
aspects of TOC. I have collected them and
published 80 articles in two volumes of 40 each.
I call them “Echoes of TOC (eTOC)”. They will
help you to enhance your learning about TOC.

Wonderful.
Please tell me
the urls.
 Click the images to buy individual
eBooks or click this box to buy them as
bundle at good discount or wait for
more discount
https://leanpub.com/b/echoesoftoc
 Is there a way to
buy all the eBooks
together and get a
good discount?

Yes, you can buy all

nine eBooks for $99!
Click this box

WOW! It’s really

not expensive!

https://leanpub.com/b/toclgdiyetoc01
 Are these eBooks available
in smaller lots with different
combinations Rajeev?

Yes, Click this box to see various

combinations. This page shows
all my eBooks followed by all
the bundles that give good
discount

https://leanpub.com/u/rajeevathavale
 Can you please
show the learning
roadmap Rajeev?

Yes of course…
 First read the eBook “Theory of
Constraints (TOC) Basic Concepts and
Decision Making”
Then you can choose your path…

Choose any one path at a Start

time, read both the eBooks
on that path and then move Read TOC Basics
on to the next path

Read TOCLG Read TOCLG Read TOCLG

eBook for eBook for eBook for
Manufacturing Distribution Projects

Read DIY eBook Read DIY Read DIY

for eBook for eBook for
Manufacturing Distribution Projects
 Read TOC Basics

Read TOCLG Read TOCLG Read TOCLG

eBook for eBook for eBook for
After you Manufacturing Distribution Projects
have
finished all Read DIY eBook Read DIY Read DIY
the three for eBook for eBook for
paths, read Manufacturing Distribution Projects
eTOC
series of
eBooks
Read Echoes Read Echoes
of TOC Vol 1 of TOC Vol 2
The roadmap Thanks. Just to remind
is very clear you, the TOCLG series of
and simple eBooks give the basic
Rajeev knowledge along with
several opportunities to
try out what you learn

TOCDIY series of eBooks

give step-by-step
guidance to implement
the solutions and eTOC
series of eBooks help to
enhance your knowledge
Please do not forget that
I have not covered all the
aspects of TOC. What I
have told you is good
enough to gain fair
knowledge

Thanks Rajeev, please

tell me what are the
other sources of
knowledge for an
individual to learn more
and more about TOC
There are several. My eBooks give a small
list. They also mention the software
needed for implementation. You may
choose from that or explore more.

To be very brief, you may

refer to the list of books
available on TOCICO site.
There are many videos
available on TOC.tv
 That’s really great
Rajeev. I am really
thankful to you for
your guidance

You are welcome. Share this

dialogue with those who want
to learn TOC. Feel free to write
to me for any queries. My
email-id is
rajeev_athavale@yahoo.com
Happy Learning!