Practice has traditionally led theory in operations management and particularly production planning and control (PPC). This can be seen in the work of Ford, Deming, Ohno and Goldratt. These developments have in turn challenged academic understanding and the need for theory that encompasses a systems approach. However, the academic research process tends to encourage specialist study rather than holistic investigations needed to extend these seminal developments.  At a general level this paper aims to clarify the critical need to appreciate, challenge, and contextualize the adopted PPC methodologies, identifying the common need for flow management signaling tools that focus improvement activity. More specifically the paper will illustrate this through the application of a seminal TOC development entitled Simplified-Drum-Buffer-Rope (S-DBR). Research into TOC has largely been confined to distinctive elements, such as bottleneck scheduling with little attention being given to its underlying philosophy, concepts, and wider signaling tool and associated embrace empowerment. To address this gap, we attempt to unpack the philosophical layer of S-DBR with particular focus on the concept of flow and human empowerment. This is followed by a case review on an S-DBR implementation, demonstrating how the tools in S-DBR: planned load (PL) and buffer management (BM) were contextualized to engage, upskill, and empower personnel. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported S-DBR study in which the researcher was also the intervention implementer in the case company.

Keywords

Simplified Drum Buffer Rope, Production Planning and Control, Theory of Constraints, Human Empowerment, Buffer Management.