Free worksheet / for industrial teams - Before picking a fix, find where to focus.
Late orders, overtime, and constant chasing tell you something is wrong. They do not tell you which improvement will change the result. Use this worksheet with the people doing the work to build and test a better explanation.
Already have comparable capacity and demand estimates? Use the interactive Fix-First Planner to compare proposed changes and build a decision brief. If the numbers are unknown, start with this worksheet.
What you leave with
One business outcome, a map of the relevant work, evidence for and against a suspected constraint, and one bounded experiment with an owner. If the evidence is missing, you leave with an observation plan.
This is a worksheet, not an automatic bottleneck diagnosis or a savings estimate. The workbook includes blank observation tabs and a clearly labeled worked example. Initial discussion may be short; reliable observations can take days or longer.
01
Choose the result, not the software.
Pick one flow, branch or product family, and period. What needs to improve: correct orders shipped on time, quote response, or cash collection? Establish the current result and the source of that measurement.
02
Follow a few actual orders or jobs.
Trace ordinary cases as well as late or stalled ones. Record where work waits, what is missing, when it moves, and whether the next stage is ready. Keep waiting time separate from hands-on work.
03
Challenge the obvious explanation.
A large queue or a busy person is a clue. Ask whether improving that step would increase the final result. Check supplier availability, demand, release policies, credit holds, rework, and downstream capacity.
04
Test a small change and measure the whole flow.
Start with preparation, priorities, coordination, or avoidable interruptions using current resources. Name an owner, a review date, a success measure, and guardrails. Check whether the result improved or the queue simply moved.
Why this starts with the whole result
The Theory of Constraints focuses improvement on what limits the system’s goal, uses existing resources better, coordinates the surrounding work, and then considers additional capacity. The focus is revisited as the constraint changes. Read the TOC Institute’s explanation.
Our worksheet adapts that logic into practical questions. It does not assume every constraint needs automation. A scheduling rule, supplier issue, unclear approval, or lack of profitable demand may be the more important issue.
You can contact us before you have the answer.
Bring the result you want and what you have noticed. We can help decide what evidence to gather next. If the investigation points to a quote, order, pricing, or information-flow problem, that can become a scoped project.
Let’s talk →