The Goal was the first manufacturing management book I read in English. There is no theoretical framework in the book, so it is both interesting and easy to understand. This book was written by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox, tells a fictional story about Alex Rogo, a manufacturing plant manager who struggled with situation that his plant faced with losses and shut, with the help of Jonah and through the efforts of the team, Rogo finally found out the way to save the plant and increase production efficiency, compress production time and reduce the production cost. It ultimately changed the entire plant as well as the situation of the company as a whole. It gave me a different insight into an upper level of management achieving a purpose.
For the factories, chaotic production system, higher production costs and longer lead times are common problems. The theory of Constraints which was introduced in the book is a good tool to help us solve these problems. Besides this, what I learned in the book is far more than the application of the theory itself.
First, find the goal. When Rogo sought a solution of factory predicament from Jonah, the first question this physicist asked him was what is the goal of the factory? This seems like a simple question. But soon Rogo found that this question is not simple, he realized that the "goal" is the starting point and the final destination of the managers, what he did before was just specious stereotypes in guiding decision-making. In fact, people do need a goal for doing anything, we can only know the direction of doing things with the goal, and then we will think how to do things. And we also need to refer to the goal so as not to deviate from the direction. What is the goal of the enterprise? In a nutshell it is the word "money." If we use a precise definition: the present and the future goal must continue to obtain profits.
Second, make the goal into the day-to-day work of the enterprise. Every one of us knows that companies must make money, only by making money can companies develop. But how to let everyone know that the things they do is to help enterprises make money? The goal takes a careful look at this analysis: to measure the ability of the company of making money, we can use three indicators to measure:
1. Throughput;
2. Inventory;
3. Operational expenses.
The throughput is the money we received, the inventory is currently a backlog of money in the system, and the operating expense allows the throughput can occur which is the money we have to pay. An indicator used to measure received the money coming in, an indicator to measure the internal backlog of funds, another indicator to measure the money to pay to go. So if companies want to make money, they have to improve throughput, reduce inventory and operating expenses
Thirdly, smart managers need to deal with conflicts. There is a situation that Peach and Rogo had a problem of shot staff, Peach told Rogo to prove to him that he can effectively use of existing workers firstly, otherwise do not cry to him. This is a good practice; managers should allow others to reflect on themselves whether there is a management problem of them rather than just seek for support. Fourthly, managers need always to reflect on themselves. Keep a clear head, stop and think. Rogo’s factory was in a hurry production every day, rushing delivery. Every batch of their goods delayed, and which goods to produce depend on the urging of leaders. Rogo ran in the field for production every day, in accordance with the instructions from his superiors to supervise his workers. Day after day, month after month, and year after year. Until the Peach gave him a time limit - three months, if he could not turn around, it is necessary to turn off the plant. Then he stopped to think carefully about exactly how to solve the problem. He should have thought about it. In particular, there is nothing to make him feel the advent of the crisis than plant closings. Think about it, we usually often encounter this kind of thing. Fortunately, Rogo had three months to change. Actually, a lot of times you are eliminated out when you have not found the problem. Therefore, we have to keep a sober mind in peacetime, to stop and think.
Fifthly, change the way in thinking. The book mentions different concepts of cost. The author says that only the products produced, and handed over to the customers, money is made. For the production of the bottleneck at the delay of one hour delay, that is, an hour delay in the whole production system. At this time, the actual cost of the bottleneck should be the entire system of total operating expenses divided by the bottleneck production hours, rather than calculate the cost of production of a single process by the method of accounting. Why is there a difference? It is simple, "customer first" principle for the marketing and sales departments does not apply in the production system, because the production system only to pursue the production scale to reduce the cost of a single product. Modern manufactures must change concepts, that is, in the process of increasing customer value, also reduce production costs. The author has also mentioned a better solution, that is, batch production, partial shipment. Thus, it reduces the inventory of raw materials and semi-finished inventory of their own businesses, shorten non-value-added time. And partial shipment to the customer's raw materials inventory is a win-win mode.
Also, learn to communicate. The way that Jonah direct Rogo to solve problem is not just told him the answer, instead, he kept asking Rogo thinking and let Rogo found the result by himself. This is called Socrates guidance method in the book: ask questions, not provide answers, think by themselves, to explore, to assume, to find out the answer. Moreover, communication seems simply, in fact, it is very complex. Most times, different people have different interpretations of the same word. In this case, it is very important for people to learn how to communicate effectively with others.
Finally, I appreciate the interpersonal relationships and communication in the novel. Rogo and his wife's marriage were in the ups and downs along with the fate of the factory. In the beginning, due to the difficulty of his plant, Rogo spent his most time in the work, ignoring the family. His wife could not stand and ran away from the home to stay at her parents’ home. In this case, Rogo did not get angry, on the contrary, he reflected on his own behavior, and sincerely apologized to his wife. I appreciate the way of communication, and mutual respect between family members. In addition, Rogo and his subordinates get along well in the factory. He knew his own strength is limited; he needed to use the power of the team to make profit of the factory.
Overall, The Goal is a valuable book. What I learned is not limited to the above points. I still need to explore more in this book. I believe, when I enter the workplace, what I learned in The Goal will help me more.