Question 1

What is the goal in the book The goal?

Accepted Answer

The goal is to make money!  Alex is initially stumped but realizes what the goal is while reflecting on his discussion with Jonah.

Question 2

Is the goal a true story?

Accepted Answer

No, but it was based on several clients Dr Goldratt had worked with.

Question 3

Who is Jonah in the goal?

Accepted Answer

Jonah is one of Alex's former physics teachers.  Jonah reconnects with Alex by happenstance at an airport.  Jonah asks Alex socratic questions to help him save his plant.

Question 4

What is Goldratt's Theory of Constraints?

Accepted Answer

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a management philosophy that states there is one or few things (the constraints or bottleneck) that is limiting your ability to reach your goal.  TOC includes thinking processes and tools to help you to focus on and leverage your constraint.

Question 5

What is the bottleneck in the goal?

Accepted Answer

The constraint in manufacturing is often referred to as the bottleneck or capacity constrained resource (CCR).  In The Goal book, the bottleneck was the NCX-10 at the start of the story.  But as Alex improved the productivity at the constraint, the constraint moved to the market - they had more capacity than sales.

Question 6

What is a balanced plant the goal?

Accepted Answer

A plant is balanced when each operation has the capacity to produce the same number of products or jobs.  this is explained more fully in the How To Get More Jobs Done Faster scheduling webinar.

Question 7

What happened to Alex Rogo's father?

Accepted Answer

Alex's father was not part of The Goal story.

Question 8

What causes a balanced plant to fail?

Accepted Answer

When you balance the capacity of a plant, the constraint moves!  It's very difficult to focus on and leverage a moving target!  To read more about Drum Buffer Rope and why balancing FLOW is a much better approach.

Question 9

Why does Jonah say a plant should have bottlenecks?

Accepted Answer

There will always be a bottleneck.  But if you don't select one, what tends to happen is that you end up with balanced capacity which causes your constraint to move based on your mix of work.

Question 10

What is the bottleneck?

Accepted Answer

A bottleneck or constraint is any resource that does not have enough capacity for the demand in a time period.

Question 11

What did Alex Rogo learn about managing his plant on the Boy Scout hiking trip be specific?

Accepted Answer

1) That the constraint (Herbie) dictates the output of the entire organization.  2) Variability (the dice game) plays a significant roll in the output.

Question 12

Who are the cast of characters in The Goal book and movie?

Accepted Answer

- Alex Rogo:  plant manager (the main character)
- Jonah:  Alex's college physics professor, who offers critical advice & clues through a Socratic approach
- Bill Peach:  UniCo division vice-president, Alex's boss
- Fran:  Alex's secretary
- Lou:  the head accountant reporting to Alex
- Ralph Nakamura:  Data Processing Manager reporting to Alex
- Stacey:  the plant inventory manager reporting to Alex
- Bob Donovan:  the production manager reporting to Alex
- Herbie:  the slowest hiker on a boy scout outing and who metaphorically symbolizes the bottleneck or constraint in the plant
- Sharon:  Alex's daughter
- Dave:  Alex's son, and one of the boy scout hikers
- Julie Rogo: Alex Rogo's wife

The Goal book by Eliyahu Goldratt SUMMARY

Job Shop Scheduling – The Secret To Getting On Time & Reducing Lead Times

Drum Buffer Rope (DBR) Summary

Flow Based Scheduling | Flow Manufacturing

On Time Delivery KPI

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