Theory of Constraints + Lean + Six Sigma = Ultimate Improvement Cycle

I was getting ready to write a blog and was visiting several books I had just completed for some background information. I was distracted and saw that I had a couple of LinkedIn invitations and decided to review them instead. One of the invitations was from Bob Sproull. I stopped a second and looked over at the 2 books on the library table. Yep, I was correct, Bob Sproull, author of The Ultimate Improvement Cycle: Maximizing Profits through the Integration of Lean, Six Sigma, and the Theory of Constraints
was not only on my library table, but in me inbox as well. Being the skeptic that I am, I wondered, was this an up-sell! Has the world just gotten this small that as virtual strangers, there can be a connection of interest?

I found Bob’s book looking for the latest material on how the Theory of Constraints was developing. I am sure Bob found me because of my recent blogs on the subject. The likely hood of this development and this connection is highly unlikely, may be as recently as 12 months ago.

What caught my interest in Bob’s book The Ultimate Improvement Cycle is that recently there has been an added push from TOC disciples to bring TOC on an equal playing field as Lean and Six Sigma. I find it interesting because bottlenecks and constraints are an integral part of Lean and Six Sigma training but TOC has never seemed to be on an equal platform.

I had Mark Woeppel of Pinnacle Strategies recently, and he has a whitepaper on this subject. It is available for download on his site. He calls the process TLS, Theory of constraints- Lean-Six Sigma. You can listen to Mark on the Business901 podcast discuss some of the background on his paper. Bob’s book is the first book I have read that specifically addresses the same subject. They take different approaches with similar outcomes. I enjoyed the material in both and encourage you to read them.

The Ultimate Improvement Cycle or UIC makes the contention that without all 3 processes, you will significantly reduce your desired outcomes. Most specifically, he addresses the need to work on one constraint at a time and using Lean or Six Sigma to correct the constraint. In theory, I have to agree with him that the constraint must be addressed. The weakness of TOC may be in the development of the correction tools needed. Bob also gives a short primer on each discipline. If you are not knowledgeable in one of the three areas or all of them, I believe it would not be a wasted book. However, it is not a lean or a six sigma book. It heavily leans, sorry for the pun, towards TOC.

The book is well written, giving you tools, charts and formulas to improve your business without breaking up the flow of the written material.

I believe that it will take me several months to fully digest the book. Not that I have to re-read it, but using and putting into practice some of the examples that I will incorporate in my philosophy going forward. I will cite these examples in my blog in the upcoming weeks.

Bob has an excellent article on SixSigmaIQ about the Maximizing Profits Through the Integration of Lean, Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints