2015 TOCICO Conference - Catch Phrases

Every TOC event I go to blesses me with a lot of new knowledge and ideas. It also adds some 1-liners and catch phrases. When I capture them here, in the blog, not only can you all enjoy them with me, I can also recall them years later and put them to use (like the ones here). So, here are some of the things I collected during the 2015 Annual TOCICO conference:

• "War Room" - don't talk about yesterday (to the 3rd point after the decimal), talk about tomorrow!
• Fear of the unknown drives us to act according to detailed (and mistaken) forecasts.
• Sales comply with Pareto Law, inventory does not.
• The bigger the range, the bigger the tail.
• People claim (as in "market research shows") they are willing to pay a bigger premium for instantaniety than for technological improvement.
• In fashion, the product life cycle is shorter than the supply time.
• Any business based on forecast is fragile (refer to my previous post on anti-fragile)
• Orthodoxy - anything done without knowing why.
• IVD (Inventory Value Days - what do you know, some countries don't use the UD$ currency, go figure) = stuck, unworking capital (you knew that).
• Risk is uncertainty against an objective
• Risk management should be applied on the weakest link.
• Start with Flow - before applying 5 Focusing Steps check that the constraint is the real cause of delays/blocks in flow.
• Operational Goal - meet demand (at peak, not just on average) effectively and efficiently.
• If you are not testing what you are thinking - you are not thinking like a scientist.
• A cluttered mind is an obstacle to thinking.
• The indicators must subordinate to the goal.
• The goal and the necessary conditions must measure alignment as well as progress.
• Variability in the #1 enemy of flow.
• We need simple systems that can handle complexity.
• Systems are variability amplifiers.
• Forecasts are valuable for mid to long term planning, not day-to-day operations.
• Incoming "Peaks" are not forecasts.
• Buffers decouple supply and demand.
• Come your customer from will, not from need, you can not create trust when you are needy.
• Strategy - a project portfolio of things that need to be done by the time we are planning for.
• It is management's responsibility to create the automatic machine.

So, which one is your favorite? Please share.

Let me know if there is any point you feel needs more elaboration.