The Goal
The Goal, by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, is basically a "How to?" book cleverly put together to tell a story about a struggling plant run by Alex Rogo and his staff, that will be closed down in three months if the plant doesn't start making money. The story begins with Alex coming to work and to his dismay finding his boss', Bill Peach, parked in his spot. Then he comes into his office and finds Bill Peach at his desk. Finally Peach give it to Alex straight, "You've got three months to turn this plant around", and this is where the adventure for Alex and his staff begins. Goldratt could have easily cut this book down to a page of simple steps on how to get your plant rolling, but he has tried it before giving, seminars, holding meeting, but to with little success. No one wants to see the definition of a theory on a piece of paper or a list of steps on how to do something, people want to see this plan put to work, and if it will work when put into action, and that is what Goldratt did. Alex not only got his plant back on it's feet in three months, but he turned his plant into a money making machine, where it was the most profitable plant in the whole division of UniWare. He did this with the help of an old physics professor, Jonah, who helped him through his problems not by solving the problems himself, but by forcing Alex and his staff to think and figure out what are the problems and how to correct them. It all started out with a simple question from Jonah which essentially is the basic premise of the book, "what is the goal of your manufacturing organization?"
After realizing the "goal" of the company is to make money, it was time to start making money. To make the money they had to f ...