The logistics manager, whose objective is to avoid devoting too much time to packaging, certainly has the ability to produce the specifications and, to a certain extent, to ensure that the equipment selected complies with those specifications: These are his not inconsiderable resources.

However, he cannot allow himself to be accused by the production department of obstructing potential progress in packaging, since the plant has to improve its productivity. That is his constraint.

The packaging workshop supervisor, whose objective is to improve his lines’ performance ratings, has the option to order the testing and verification of equipment before any order is placed; he can thereby “disqualify” a supplier—and that is his resource.

Nevertheless, he cannot order the equipment himself, nor can he compile the specifications, nor even oblige purchasing to consult an unlisted supplier: Those are his constraints.

The objective of the packaging line workers is to preserve an interesting job, and they can influence the test results. If they enjoy influence within their union, they can also exploit any tensions in the workplace to pressure work committees. Those are their resources.

However, they would find it difficult to openly oppose their workshop supervisor. Furthermore, they all need to be in agreement. Those are their constraints.

The resources of the quality director include her influence over the plant manager (whom she once recruited and trained for another subsidiary), her knowledge of the equipment in the group’s various packaging workshops, and her ability to monitor the supplier selection procedure. Her constraint is her lack of hierarchical authority.

As a resource, the manager of the other plant has experience in selecting and commissioning new packaging equipment, while his constraint is that the manager of this plant finds him rather irritating and sanctimonious.

The technical manager of the maintenance company enjoys the resource of possessing a recognized ability to assess equipment reliability, but his constraint is the fact that the buyer believes he lacks objectivity and suspects that he has connections with particular equipment suppliers.

The resource of the plant manager is his power to choose the equipment. His constraints are budgetary issues, a lack of detailed information about suppliers (he does not have all the information on file, as this is kept in the purchasing department), and the need to reach a consensus with the buyer and, particularly, the packaging workshop supervisor, on whom he could not impose unwanted equipment under any circumstances.

In our example, the resource of the buyer, whose objective is to show added value compared to her predecessors, is the “power of information” about the proposals of the various competitors and some influence over the choice of supplier. Her constraints are her lack of technical expertise in packaging equipment, the need to reach a consensus with the plant manager, and a lack of “allies” within a company she sees as “conservative” and whose purchasing department sometimes has strained relations with its customers.

The buyer’s PA has the resource of access to all the information about the deal, thanks both to the suppliers’ files and to the excellent relationships she enjoys with most of her fellow PAs in other companies. Her constraint is being obliged to carry out the buyer’s instructions.

The customer’s main customer has the resource of being able to stop buying from the company, but the constraint of lacking any satisfactory or comprehensive alternative for the next 12 months.

As resources, your competitor Manuland has its on-site presence; its good knowledge of the workshop people, thanks to its after-sales service; and its traditional and fairly cheap manual calibration equipment. It has the constraint of not being able to supply high-performance automatic calibration equipment.

Your competitor Killer plc has the resource of its ability to offer a lower price for a machine with a different design but similar technical performance levels to yours (including automatic calibration), but the constraints of having no track record and doubts about the reliability of its equipment.

For its resources, your company has the quality of its automatic calibration equipment and the satisfaction levels of existing users (like the manager of the German plant) as well as the support of the maintenance company manager, while its constraint is the need to raise prices.

The buyer: “I’m empowered to make a decision about this deal. It’s with me that you’ll be negotiating, and if we agree to a deal, it’ll be me signing the PO.”

The quality director: “The board of directors has authorized me to impose common standards on the various sites. Furthermore, I recruited and trained the plant manager myself and he’ll be the one making the decision and funding the investment.”

The logistics manager: “I’m the only one empowered to draw up the specifications and to verify that the equipment selected complies with those specifications.”

The packaging workshop supervisor: “I shall approve the equipment in person. There’s no way they would buy equipment I don’t want.”