We have spend this year developing effective ways to deal with demand constraints, as the majority of clients we encounter have a marketing and / or Sales constraint. We are working with the Delta  institute in Switzerland (http://www.delta-institute.com/), a company with a number of the foremost sales experts in the world, and with certified associates thoughout the world.

The traditional way that the Theory of Constraints has been dealing with external constraints, is by using the TOC thinking tools developed in the early 1990’s by Dr. Eli Goldratt (1994). In “It’s not Luck” Goldratt (1994), through examples in a variety of industries, shows how to apply TOC to sales and marketing, inventory control, and production distribution. In addition, techniques in conflict resolution are introduced on both a business and personal level. The external constraint analysis is taught using the thinking tools in this format in the Jonah course(TM).

An external constraint can be in several places in the supply chain.

For example:

• Suppliers to one’s organization might not have enough parts or materials

• The market is not demanding enough of one’s products or services

• The distribution channel has difficulty with the logistics of getting the right products to the right places in time to meet customers demand;

• Retailers or resellers are not effectively marketing or selling one’s products or services

An offer can be made to markets / customers or to supplier bases / vendors to provide an organization with effective means to overcome its immediate external constraint. On the market site there are many options. Offers can be constructed for existing and new products and services, new territories, and specific customers and customers segments. On the vendor site, offers usually involve a specific vendor or industry that is crucial in supplying more of the critical product or service that is scarce. Once the selection is made, it is essential which specific chain has the greatest potential to create value. The process starts with the most immediate link and attempts to verbalize the issues or symptoms to be dealt with there. The process of identification as found is figure 1 assumes that solving a more remote link issues can actually increase the demand–pull or availability in a way that is beneficial to the organization conveying the offer.

The search for the right place to make an offer