The Theory of Constraints boils down to the idea that a process is only as good as its weakest link, and the weak links are bottlenecks. This idea was developed by Eliyahu Goldratt and made famous in his book, The Goal, a novel based on a production plant.
Once the major bottleneck is discovered, the idea is to reduce or eliminate it knowing that another, lesser bottleneck will emerge in its place. This systematic approach to rapid improvement states that only by systematically addressing each successively smaller bottleneck will the company reach its financial goal.
