Review: Goal Roll 2010007

Review

Of the fiction novel

The Goal

Eliyahu M. Goldratt & Jeff Cox

Submitted By:
Abhinav Kamal
2010007, Section A
Operation Management-II
INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY

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Review: Goal Roll 2010007

“An hour saved at the non-bottleneck is a mirage”------- Eliyahu M. Goldratt

“The Goal” has been written by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt, and the theory of constraints given
by the writer has since become a model for the system managers. The book focuses on
bottlenecks and theory of constraints. Written as a piece of fiction, the story revolves
around the main character “Alex Rogo” who is a Plant Manager in a plant owned by Unico
Manufacturing.

Marred by schedule delays and high costs, Alex is reprimanded by the executive of the
company that he has just three months to show his mettle and transform the unprofitable
plant into a profitable one. Alex has issues with his wife at home as well, who is unhappy
because of Alex’s workaholic nature. Jonah, Alex’s past professor, guides him toward a
series of steps and continual process of drastic improvement.

“Alex, if you are like nearly everybody else in this world you’ve accepted so many things
without questions that you are not really thinking at all.”

Alex and Johan explore and challenge various orthodox methods which were in place in the
company despite the hiccups raised by reluctant boss and the top management.

This book emphasizes the role of bottlenecks in the manufacturing plant. According to the
author, recognizing them not only paves way for controlling it but also removing them.
Moreover the flow of the material within a plant can be better controlled if we know the
bottlenecks.
The protagonist Alex finds out various dependent processes that slow the production cycle
and hence reduce the overall performance of the system in a much more magnified way
than the bottleneck itself. Alex restructures the processes and the thinking of the people
involved to maximize the use of the bottlenecks to reduce inventory and the operating
expenses.

“Make the bottlenecks work only on what will contribute to throughput today … not nine
months from now. That’s one way to increase capacity at the bottlenecks. The other way
you increase bottleneck capacity is to take some of the load off the bottlenecks and give it to
non-bottlenecks.”

The parallel story that runs between Alex and Julie, Alex’s wife, might seem to be digressing
and needless but serve as a good reminder that we might try hard to separate work life
from personal life, they are inextricably linked.

The book gives a good example of the Evaporating Cloud thinking process.