At I & J Munn Ltd we have a passionate belief in the UK as a manufacturing and service economy. We still believe that the UK has the ability lead the world in terms of quality, delivery performance and time to market for new product development, and that improvements in all three areas will boost the economic growth of our country. This same level of performance is possible too within the service sector, whether for-profit or not-for-profit.

However, achieving this requires a different set of tools than those usually promoted, hence our desire to bring the benefit of Theory of Constraints (TOC) to a wider audience throughout the UK. Despite its name, the Theory of Constraints is far more than just a 'theory'; its principles are practical, implementable and highly effective. From our work as a company we know that TOC can have a significant positive impact on the bottom line performance of companies and we have also seen how well TOC links with other key philosophies such as Lean and Six Sigma.

By incorporating what we call TOC-Lean into our Continuous Process Improvement solutions we can use not only the TOC applications in operations, logistics and projects to address the issues of constraints, but also the focusing power of TOC to gain the fullest advantage from Lean and Quality Systems. The application of constraint management has a proven track record in all manner of companies and organisations, including the service sector.

The approach was first developed by Dr Eli Goldratt and became well-known through his book The Goal. This book introduced concepts which later became known as Drum – Buffer – Rope (DBR) for operations, Critical Chain (CCPM) for project management and Replenishment for supply chain.

The ability to develop people is crucial to what we do: the thinking processes that lie at the heart of TOC are the basis for the Thinking For Change approach for focusing on both team and business issues, and in a coaching role, for enabling individuals to achieve their goal in life, leading to a better life for all concerned.

I & J Munn is a recognised training centre for Theory of Constraints applications such as Drum – Buffer – Rope and Critical Chain Project Management. We run a variety of courses, seminars and workshops all focused on the transfer of TOC knowledge and also on how this approach links with Lean and Six Sigma.

All of our training is in line with the requirements of the International Certification body TOCICO and therefore can be used as preparation for sitting the relevant TOCICO examinations.