Peak Command · Guide · Constraints
Managing constraints
instead of pushing everywhere.
The theory of constraints applied honestly: find the one constraint, exploit it, align everything else, elevate it and check again. Put together your constraint questions here.
Where is work piling up in your company right now?
2 questions in the plan. First question: Where does work wait the longest?
Five steps of the theory of constraints
Identify. Exploit. Subordinate. Elevate.
Where does work wait the longest?
An hour lost at the constraint is an hour lost for the whole company.
The theory of constraints says: a system's throughput depends on its tightest point. Improvements elsewhere only build queues. That is a simplification, but a useful one. Peak Command shows the current constraint from Peak Constraints when you manage it there; the diagnosis itself happens in Peak Constraints, not in Command.
From reading to doing
Your constraint questions. For your flow.
The next constraint.
2 questions selected
- Where does work wait the longest?
Queues often show the constraint better than utilisation numbers.
- When does the constraint stand still although work is waiting?
Set-up time, follow-up questions, meetings, missing documents.
What the theory of constraints
can do.
It points you at the one place that limits throughput. It is a thinking tool, not a measuring device: in small companies the numbers are rough, and the constraint is often a rule or a person, not a machine.
Where does work wait the longest?
Queues often show the constraint better than utilisation numbers.
Usually one at a timeSeveral places can be tight, but one limits the whole most.
Often not a machineApprovals, rules or a single person are common constraints.
It movesWhoever resolves a constraint finds the next one. That is intended.
The playbook
Five steps, in three passes.
One constraint,
one priority.
Identify → Exploit → Subordinate
- 01
Identify: where does it pile up?
Follow one order through the company and roughly measure where it waits. The place with the longest queue is the best candidate. Check that the numbers are fresh before you commit.
Example · Nordwind Travel Goods (fictional)420 orders a week, packing capacity 300.
Constraint: packing. Not marketing, not purchasing. - 02
Exploit and subordinate.
Take everything off the constraint that isn't constraint work, and align the rest with it: no extra ad budget while orders are piling up anyway. This costs little and often works quickly.
Exploit and subordinate
Questions go to service, packing only packs: +40 parcels/week.The packing team also answers customer questions (about 6 h/week). - 03
Elevate, then check again.
Only when exploiting and subordinating aren't enough do you invest in capacity. Then the constraint moves on. Record the decision with a review date so you see whether throughput really rose.
Elevate and check againAfter eight weeks: packing 420, now purchasing piles up.
New constraint. Back to step one.
Your quality check
Do you have the right constraint?
Tick what you have checked. Your selection stays in this view only.
0 of 4 points checked
What this article is based on.
Editorial guide to the theory of constraints after Eliyahu M. Goldratt, simplified. Example and numbers are made up. Peak Command today shows the current constraint from Peak Constraints when it is managed there.
- Evidence pending
Editorial guide with fictional companies and numbers. No customer data, no measured values, no customer results.
See how Command shows the constraint.
The constraint radar page explains what Command reads from Peak Constraints.
Frequently asked questions
Can there be several constraints?
There are many problems, but at any one time one point usually limits the whole. The method focuses on that.
How does Peak Command know the constraint?
From Peak Constraints. It is diagnosed and confirmed there; Peak Command shows it in Today.
What happens after resolving it?
The constraint moves. Check deliberately where the next limit now lies.