Submitted By ---------------------BOOK REVIEW : THE GOAL BY ELIYAHU M. GOLDRATT, General Information 1.

The Goal is a management oriented novel written by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt, a business consultant whose Theory of Constraints has become a model for systems management. The book was originally published in 1984 and has since been revised and republished in 1992, 2004 and 2012. Till date over 7 million copies of the book have been sold. The third revised Indian edition of the books costs Rs 500/- whereas the international edition costs Rs 2000/-. This book is usually used in college courses and in the business world for case studies in operations management, with a focus geared towards the Theory of Constraints, bottlenecks and how to alleviate them, and applications of these concepts in real life. This book is widely used in leading colleges of management to teach students about the importance of strategic capacity planning and constraint management. The Author

2. Dr Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt was born on 31 March 1947. He was an Israeli physicist who became a business management guru. He was the originator of the Optimized Production Technique, The Theory of Constraints (TOC), the Thinking Processes, Drum-Buffer-Rope, Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) and other TOC derived tools. He authored several business novels and non-fiction works, mainly on the application of the theory of constraints to various manufacturing, engineering, and other business processes. Dr Dr Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt passed away on 11 Jun 2011.

Summary of the Book 3. Like other books by Goldratt, The Goal is written as a piece of fiction. The main character is Alex Rogo, who manages a production plant owned by UniCo Manufacturing, where everything is always behind schedule and things are looking dire. At the beginning of the book, Bill Peach, a company executive, tells Alex that he has three months to turn operations at his plant around from being unprofitable and unreliable to being successful. At any point in time, one particular constraint (such as inadequate capacity at a machine tool) limits total system throughput, and when the constraint is resolved, another constraint becomes the critical one. The plot of the

stories, such as in his book "The Goal", revolve around identifying the current limiting constraint and raising it, which is followed by finding out which is the next limiting constraint. Another common theme is that the system being analyzed has excess capacity at a number of non critical points, which, contrary to conventional wisdom, is absolutely essential to ensure constant operation of the constrained resource. The story also captures his family in the back ground to enlighten the drudgeries of a manufacturing engineers life. Setting. His distant acquaintance, Jonah (a physicist), whom many believe represent Goldratt himself, helps him solve the company's problems through a series of telephone calls and short meetings. A second story line, which only occasionally intersects with the main topic of the book but to which concepts Jonah learns are also applied, describes Alex's marital life.

Important Issues 4. Bottlenecks.The book goes on to point out the role of bottlenecks (constraints) in a manufacturing process, and how identifying them not only makes it possible to reduce their impact, but also yields a useful tool for measuring and controlling the flow of materials. Alex and his team identify the bottlenecks in their process and immediately begin to implement changes to help speed up capacity. In response to questions about the logic of using outdated technology in modern manufacturing, Alex's team brought in an old machine they received for free (which had previously been used at their plant in conjunction with two other machines) in order to increase the capacity of the NCX-10 machine, which had been identified as one of the two bottlenecks. Further more, they identified processes at the heat treat, identified as their second bottleneck, that caused massive delays in their getting product through the heat-treat and which had also caused some products to be heat-treated multiple times (to make softer and then harder again) instead of just once or not at all. 5. Socratic Method. In the book, Jonah teaches Alex Rogo by using the Socratic method. Throughout the book, whenever a meeting or telephone call dialogue happens with Jonah he poses a question to Alex Rogo or a member of his crew which in turn causes them to talk amongst themselves to come up with a solution to their problem. When Alex Rogo is with his wife, he finds the Socratic method to be a way to fix his marriage which he then uses, with his crew, to come up with the five steps they should use to fix problems in the plant which ultimately leads him and Lou to think up the three things every division manager, the position Rogo is promoted to, should be able to do. 6. Evaporating Cloud.The book gives a good example of the Evaporating Cloud thinking process when Alex Rogo wants to increase the plant's throughput but he can not do so according to a salesman, Johnny Jons, because there are not any deals available. However, later it turns out that there is a deal from a French client who wants a certain part at a low price and in a massive amount, the conflict being they won't make

a big profit and Alex's plant can't produce the amount wanted in time. Alex's team comes up with the idea that if they can't produce it all at one time they could produce the quantity in pieces which bumps the price back up because the client isn't ordering in bulk anymore.(This is not what it says in the book. The book says they are unable to produce the 1000 parts in 2 weeks but they are able to produce 250 parts a week for 4 weeks to satisfy the order. The price remains the same, and the flow and cost are better managed between both manufacturer and buyer. Page 245 of the 20th anniversary edition (3rd revised edition 2004)). The French client hears of the plan and makes a deal with Jons even though it's a little more costly which increases the throughput of Alex's plant and the net profit of UniCo by finding a win-win solution to a situation that had goals in conflict with each other. 7. Marriage and Beyond. Besides the ongoing theme of saving the plant, there is an underlying story about Alexs personal life. In the beginning Alexs wife, Julie, and him are constantly arguing about Alex working late in attempts of saving the plant which flows over into not spending any time with his family. Within the first 100 pages of the book, his wife leaves him, after being exhausted of all attempts to save their marriage. However, during his search for reclaiming the plant he does the same with his marriage. I believe that the author is stating to the audience that there must be a balance between these two lives. It is important for both to be in harmony because ultimately they will flow in and out of each environment. 8. Overall Review. Overall the book was excellent and easy read. This book would be ideal for any one interested in simplifying ways to improving any process - whether it is manufacturing or service oriented. These back to basics principles, help break down what has become "common practice". What I enjoyed about this book most of all, was the layout. The layout consisted of telling a story about Alex in a novel form, which included dialog, plot, etc. By laying it out in this way it broke the specifics down for a layperson, Alex. After all, Alex represents the average person - job going down the tube and marriage shortly following it. The source of the problem the whole time was following the rules that were and are continuously engraved into us each day.