In This Issue

• Velocity - The World Conference on TOC, Lean and Six Sigma - Earliest Registration Discount ends on Monday, October 15th
  
• The 2007 Dale T. Houle Educational Scholarship and the 2008 Competition
  
• Upcoming AGI Open Courses
  
• Personnel Announcements
  

A Personal Invitation for Velocity - The World Conference on TOC, Lean and Six Sigma

Since 2000, AGI has presented five TOC World^® conferences to share TOC knowledge and experience with thousands of attendees through case studies and educational presentations. As a TOC Times subscriber, you value keeping abreast of the latest information and applications of TOC. Among the most exciting new applications is how to truly integrate TOC, Lean and Six Sigma for very powerful solutions that make a real difference. With this need in mind, TOC World^® has become Velocity–The World Conference on TOC, Lean and Six Sigma (TOC-LSS). Though some of our case studies and breakouts will specifically deal with TOC-LSS in depth, many others will still allow you to grow both in your TOC knowledge and implementation know how. I have highlighted several below.

Velocity is scheduled from April 15-17 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. The program includes three networking receptions for you to interact with the presenters and the experts or just to renew old acquaintances. Please visit our website for the latest information at www.goldratt.com/velocity.

Register by October 15 and receive the largest early registration discount offered, a savings of up to 33% off the regular conference fee. In addition, if you are a current TOC-ICO member or a previous TOC World^® attendee, you qualify for a $100 discount off the applicable registration fee. Graduates of either the AGI Jonah Program^® or one of AGI's two-week Expert training programs qualify for the lowest registration fee available.

I would like to personally invite you to attend and further develop your TOC and LSS understanding.

Dee Jacob
Managing Partner, Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute, LP

- The World Conference on TOC, Lean and Six Sigma (TOC-LSS)

Velocity — speed with direction — conveys the synergistic advantages of using the three approaches coherently to focus improvement efforts to achieve continuous system improvement, beyond what might be accomplished individually towards continuous process improvement.

Major presentations from experience around the world include:

• Keynote address: Dr. Gary Bradt, a change and leadership expert, author and speaker, will deliver the conference keynote. Endorsed by Spencer Johnson as the primary speaker worldwide on Johnson’s business bestseller Who Moved my Cheese?, Dr. Bradt has worked with IBM, FedEx, General Motors, American Express, The Weather Channel, The Department of Defense, NASA and the US Army.
• Two case studies from the Department of Defense on their organization’s experience integrating TOC, Lean and Six Sigma to dramatically improve maintenance and logistics support
• The US Marine Corps Aviation will present a case study on how they used the TOC Thinking Processes to fully develop and deploy their readiness improvement strategies for the future.
• A Fortune 400 company improving supply chain operations performance in Asia
• An exciting session on Using Socratic Tools for Buy-in and Alignment

But rest assured we will include plenty of TOC-specific information as well. Some of the planned breakout topics include:

TOC Project Management

• Aligning stakeholders to agree on the same project before you start
• Guaranteeing due date performance in a world of variability
• Project Management in a Lean World

Strategic Thinking using TOC Thinking Processes


• Creating an Integrated Business Strategy
• Building Group Consensus Plans Quickly and Painlessly
• Writing Conflict Diagrams to Find Win-Win Solutions

TOC Supply Chain – Applying Market Demand Pull and Drum-Buffer-Rope


• Ensuring the right things, in the right places, at the right time
• How much is ‘enough’ with variability everywhere in your supply chain
• What can you learn by simulating your environment

Two preconference full-day workshops

An Introduction to the Theory of Constraints (TOC)
An Introduction to Lean Six Sigma (LSS)

Conference Welcoming Reception

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Keynote Address
Four Case Studies and six Breakout Sessions
Networking Reception

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Four Case Studies and six Breakout Sessions
Networking Reception

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Four Case Studies
Conference ends following lunch

Register by October 15 and receive the largest early-bird discount offered, a savings of up to 33% off the regular conference fee. Register online at www.goldratt.com/velocity/introregpage.htm or print the registration page and fax to +1.203.624.9607. Current TOC-ICO members and previous TOC World^® attendees qualify for a $100 discount off the applicable conference registration fee. Graduates of the AGI Jonah Program^® or one of AGI's two-week Expert Training programs qualify for the lowest registration fee available.

Conference Pricing Per Person in US Dollars (includes continental breakfasts, lunches and receptions)
Register & Pay	Pre-Conference April 14	Conference - April 15-17
		Individuals	Groups of 5 or more	AGI Jonah Program® or Expert Training Graduates
On or Before October 15, 2007	$495	$1500	$1250	$1000
Between October 15 & December 31, 2007		$1650	$1400	$1150
Between January 1 & February 29, 2008		$1800	$1550	$1300
On or After March 1, 2008		$2000	$1750	$1500

To make your hotel reservations, please call Mohegan Sun directly at 1.877.MOHEGAN (1.877.664.3426 - toll-free from within the USA) or at +1.860.862.1286. To receive the special room rate of $209 per night plus applicable taxes you must mention "AGI" while making your reservation.

For government per-diem rates, please call AGI Client Services, 1.800.394.GOAL or 203.624.9026, x324, to book your room.

AGI remains focused on continuous system improvement and leads the way in TOC LSS integration with its worldwide experience improving the performance of major enterprises.

Register today to join us and learn how to add Velocity to your improvement efforts.

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The 2007 Dale T. Houle Educational Scholarship Winners and the 2008 Competition

In August 2007, the Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute announced the selection of two 2007 scholars, Teresa McBride and Steven Holcomb. Both winners intend to apply their scholarship to attend the Jonah Program^® intent on gaining a deeper understanding and mastery of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) Thinking Processes (TP).

In recognition of Dale T. Houle’s service as Managing Partner of the Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute from 1997-2006, the Partners of AGI established an annual educational scholarship in his name to enable recipients to attend their choice of an AGI Open Course (Jonah Program^®, Supply Chain or Project Management Technical Expert Training Programs).

In her application, Teresa noted, “...I have found myself frustrated with the lack of effective, lasting, change most of these [improvement] efforts produced. Over the past five years I have been intensively involved with the application of Lean and Six Sigma tools in the aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul industry and though I have seen these methodologies used to great benefit, once again I always felt there was something missing.” She summarized her motivation for the scholarship in saying, “My passion for TOC is rooted in the fact that I believe I have found in it the explanation for my past frustrations with continuous improvement efforts, and with that a vaccine of sorts, to prevent repeating the similar pattern of frustration in the future.”

Steven Holcomb also applied to attend the Jonah Program^® and “continue spreading Theory of Constraints knowledge” in his company. Through a better understanding of the TOC TP, he anticipates the benefits of shifting strategic and action planning methods from a “brainstorming” based model to a “constraints” based model; further enhancing shop floor manufacturing execution using TOC Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) for improved velocity, synchronization, capacity and visibility; and shifting production planning away from critical path methods to TOC Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM). Through his previous experience with attempts to implement DBR and CCPM, he recognized that “TOC TP is foundational for identifying and overcoming obstacles to major change.”

We salute the 2007 scholarship winners and look forward to hearing more stories of their success.

Look for details in the next issue of TOC Times or online about the 2008 scholarship completion. We do expect the deadline to be much earlier to allow the scholarship to be applied to any AGI Open Course offered in the 2008 calendar year.

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Upcoming AGI Open Courses

The next available AGI Open Courses are listed below by subject. The complete 2008 training schedule will be released soon. Check www.goldratt.com/openschedules.htm for the latest details.

TOC Supply Chain Management Expert Training Program
Technical Expert Training
Nov 5-9 & Nov 26-30, 2007 in New Haven, CT, USA

Deployment Expert Training
Nov 5-9 & Nov 26-30, 2007 in Malaysia

TOC for Supply Chain & Operations
Held in collaboration with the Singapore Institute for Management
Nov 12-13, 2007 in Singapore

Project Management Expert Training Program
Technical Expert Training
Jan 28-Feb 1 & Feb 4-8, 2008 in New Haven, CT, USA

TOC for Managing People & Leadership
Held in collaboration with the Singapore Institute for Management
Nov 22-23, 2007 in Singapore

TOC for Holistic Strategy Development
Held in collaboration with the Singapore Institute for Management
Nov 19-20, 2007 in Singapore

Jonah Program^®
Dec 10-14 & Dec 17-21, 2007 in Malaysia
Feb 11-15 & Feb 25-29, 2008 in New Haven, CT, USA

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Personnel Announcements

Bill McClelland, current President of the North America Group (NAG), notified the partnership of his intention to retire at the end of 2007. While his retirement comes earlier than he and the partnership would have liked, we are fortunate to have a talented management team in place to absorb the change and carry on the wonderful success we have enjoyed. Suzan Bergland has been appointed as President of NAG effective January 1st 2008.

Suzan’s relationship with AGI began in the mid 90s as an AGI customer at Cryovac. In 1998, she became a Certified Associate of AGI and ultimately a Partner at TOC Solutions. She played a key role in Enterprise AIRSpeed from its inception, first as a subcontractor to AGI and then as NAG Vice President of Implementation Services beginning in 2005. In April 2007, she was unanimously elected Partner of NAG and AGI. Suzan has been instrumental in leading the Enterprise AIRSpeed implementation and has taken on increasingly more responsibility during her time with us. She is an outstanding personnel manager who has placed a premium on personnel development throughout the organization. She has fostered excellent relationships with customer and subcontractor personnel at all levels and has become the widely acclaimed leader in the definition and execution of our integrated TOC/LSS implementation strategy.

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