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The Goal Eli Goldratt Summary

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The Goal: A Process of on – going Improvement (Summary)
Alex Rogo is the plant manager of Unico’s Bearington plant. Clearly he has problems in his plant as is evident in the surprise visit he got from the vice – president of his division, Bill Peach. Peach came to expedite an order (No. 41427), which he wanted to be shipped that day. Alex is given three months to turn around his unprofitable plant or else face a shut – down.
The order is shipped at the end of the day, although there was a breakdown of a machine and the plant operated beneath efficiency. All workers were pulled from other jobs just to work on a single order. Some even had to carry machine parts by hand to the point of assembly. Alex is concerned that his plant does not …show more content…

They were surprised that everything explained to them was done in terms of money. Throughput for instance was the money coming into the system, operational expense the money going out and inventory the money within the system. The production manager is surprised that everything can be measured in terms of money. The inventory manager compares inventory to investment. Finally they are all convinced by Alex’s explanation and decide to call Jonah for further help.
Alex meets Jonah briefly in New York the following day. Alex discusses the problems he is experiencing at the plant with Jonah, about how long he has to turn the plant around. Jonah says he doesn’t have the time to solve the problem but that with diligence, Alex and his team should be able to. He asks Alex to forget about the robots and came up with a better definition of efficiency than is presently used at the plant. Jonah told Alex that a plant in which everyone was working all the time was inefficient. Jonah also dispels Alex’s idea of a balanced plant being a good one. He said the trimming of capacity to demand is not good for a plant as it reduces throughput and inventory piles up. Jonah gives Alex something to think about - What happens when dependent events are in combination with statistical fluctuations?
Through a Boy Scout camping trip with his son’s group, Alex is able to figure out Jonah’s puzzle. The boys walk along the trail in a file with them alternating between

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