About this Presentation
This masterclass introduces the Theory of Constraints approach to supply chain and distribution by showing why forecast-driven replenishment so often leads to stockouts, overstocks, and unstable inventory behavior. Using practical examples, Henry F. Camp explains how forecasting systems can mistake normal variation for trend, why inventory decisions should be tied to replenishment time, and how TOC replaces push logic with pull-based replenishment. The session then connects these ideas to TOC’s Five Focusing Steps, offering a practical foundation for improving availability, reducing inventory distortion, and creating a more responsive distribution system.
What Will You Learn
To help you get the most value from this session, we’ve highlighted a few key points. These takeaways capture the main ideas and practical insights from the presentation, making it easier for you to review, reflect, and apply what you’ve learned.
This masterclass shows why traditional SKU-level forecasting so often creates the very problems it is supposed to prevent: overreaction to noise, late recognition of real shifts, and repeated boom-bust inventory swings. The Product A example walks through how random spikes get misread as trends, causing over-ordering and excess stock.
A major takeaway is that the real question is not “How much should we forecast?” but “How much do we need to cover until we can reliably replenish?” The presentation reframes inventory decisions around replenishment time instead of forecast confidence.
The session points toward a simpler and more practical alternative: pull-based replenishment. The agenda and TOC solution section make clear that the goal is to replenish based on actual consumption, in smaller quantities and more frequently, rather than pushing inventory based on forecasts.
It also translates the distribution solution into TOC’s Five Focusing Steps: identify the constraint as market availability, exploit it with properly sized buffers, subordinate the rest of the system to pull replenishment, elevate by improving reliability and responsiveness, and watch for inertia.
Instructor(s)
Henry F. Camp
Henry F. Camp - After earning a BA in Mathematics at the University ofVirginia, Camp taught for several years before joining Shippers Solutions, where he designed and programmed his own ERP system to improve the company’s operational effectiveness. After five years, he bought the
company and still owns it, having grown sales tenfold. www.ssco.pro A $4 billion customer implored Henry to manage their $70 million raw material inventories in 4 different countries. New software was created and deployed. Within months, five warehouses in four countries all demonstrated 6σ inventory accuracy. More importantly, the client’s shortages disappeared, which had previously delayed a third of planned production schedules. Added benefit: inventory needed dropped 70%.This spin off became IDEA, LLC, of which Mr. Camp owned the majority,
until it was sold in 2022.
IDEA expanded scope, delivering supply chain consulting using replenishment software based on constraints theory. In the early 2000’s, Henry formed a personal relationship with Eli Goldratt author of The Goal. A major client was adidas, who used IDEA’s Elucidate software to double their same-store sales without increased inventory or expense. He collaborated with Bahadir Inozu at Turkish Technic, Turkish Airline’s internal MRO group. Camp gained recognition as a worldwide authority in supply chains.
Henry shifted to buying companies instead of consulting. He raised money in the early 2010s to establish TOC Equity Partners which acquired and substantially improved three companies, using TOC and his operational expertise. These acquisitions have either been sold or are being positioned for sale at dramatic profits. With constraints theory experts Eli Schragenheim and Rocco Surace, he published his second book in 2019 titled Throughput Economics. The book expands TOC Throughput Accounting, showing how to apply a simple holistic approach in many different business cases. Throughput Economics helps companies improve quickly and significantly. As its ideas are more broadly adopted, future difficult economic shifts will be made easier, enhancing the world economy. He is currently the Manager of The Aviation Protection Group, which will support commercial airlines, as passenger traffic returns to normal, post-coronavirus pandemic.