About this Presentation
The importance of buffering in the wider sense is discussed. Remember Eli Goldratt's insight: 'Never let something important to become urgent!'. The key insight of the 'Red-line' in buffer managing is discussed. Managing a buffer is different than managing the whole protective mechanism. Additionally, monitoring the 'number of reds' is a key indicator of management.
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.
The session reveals that buffers are not just time cushions or inventory piles — in TOC they are formal, visible protection mechanisms placed deliberately to protect what’s truly important (e.g., market commitments, constraint output) against uncertainty and variation.
It shows how TOC buffer logic distinguishes real protective capacity from average estimates, challenging the conventional practice of treating lead times or stock levels as implicit buffers without true protective value.
The presentation illustrates how buffer management converts buffer penetration data into actionable priorities: when buffers (time or stock) enter yellow/red zones, they signal urgency and guide real-time adjustments, not just retrospective analysis.
It emphasizes that properly defined buffer zones and penetration monitoring not only protect delivery commitments, but also reveal deeper problems in planning, execution, resource capacity, and system stability — turning uncertainty into a learning signal rather than chaos.
Instructor(s)
Eli Schragenheim
Eli Schragenheim is a well-known international management educator, author and consultant active in various fields of management. He worked with a huge variety of organizations all over the world, including public-sector organizations, industrial, high-tech and start-ups. Since he had joined Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt, the famous creator of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) in 1985, Eli Schragenheim had taught, spoke at conferences, and consulted all over the globe. Eli Schragenheim is the author of several books on various aspects of management. His last book, Throughput Economics – Making Good Management Decisions, together with Henry Camp and Rocco Surace, was published in July 2019. Eli Schragenheim first book Management Dilemmas (1998) showed a variety of problematic situations in management and the rigorous analysis leading to the right solution. Next he collaborated with William H. Dettmer in writing Manufacturing at Warp Speed. In this book the new concept of Simplified-DBR, now a key concept in production planning according to TOC, was introduced. He collaborated with Carol A. Ptak on ERP, Tools, Techniques, and Applications for Integrating the Supply Chain, and with Dr. Goldratt and Carol Ptak on Necessary but Not Sufficient. In 2009 his book Supply Chain Management at Warp Speed, with William H. Dettmer and Wayne Patterson was published. In March 2015, Eli has opened a blog, now containing more than 140 articles on various topics in TOC that everybody can access.