By Goldratt, Eliyahu M.; Cox, Jeff The Goal Third Revised, 25th Edition Paperback Paperback – June 15, 2012

When I was first assigned to read this book, I thought it was going to be a purely theoretical material. I thought it was going to be a book difficult to read and/or keep me interested to continue reading. However, this book turned to be a marvelous composition. The reader is always interested in the topic, and one can feel like being part of the plot. This book is a perfect combination of a narrative, and an explanation. The author dedicated the time and effort to make sure that anyone, who grabs this book and reads it, will be able to clearly understand the material presented. As an industrial engineering student, we are focused on improving an existent process and/or system in a facility. Moreover, we are provided with a broad set of techniques that can be utilized in accomplishing this purpose. The Goal by Goldratt is a magnificent piece of literature where industrial engineering student can see how the different techniques learned in class are applied into a real world problem.In The Goal, Goldratt also provides the reader with a description and an example of how to apply the Theory of Constraints. Alex Rogo, a plant engineer at UniCo Manufacturing, is presented with a complex problem; he has several months of orders overdue and his plant is not capable of delivering any order in time. Therefore, Bill Peach, Alex’s boss, tells him that he has only three months to turn his plant around. As a result, Alex and his team start working in finding a solution; however, they are not capable to find it without the help of Jonah, Alex’s Physics professor. Nonetheless, it is important to mention that Jonah does not provide Alex with immediate solutions; instead, he uses the Socratic Method to teach Alex how to be able to localize the bottlenecks and non-bottlenecks of his process and to determine the goal of his plant. Therefore, after spending several days thinking about what the goal is, he is finally able to define it as “Reducing operational expenses and inventory while increasing throughput” (Goldratt 87). Jonah also teaches Alex that in every company there is dependent events and statistical fluctuations that affect the process. According to the Theory of Constraints, one must identify the bottleneck and then work around it; in other words, one must take into account the bottleneck in order to increase throughput and ultimately reach the goal. Jonah, however, after providing Alex with enough help, he takes a step back on his role and forces Alex to learn how to be able to identify the bottlenecks on his own and what approach or process to use to fix the bottlenecks. At the end, Alex finally understands that it is of utmost importance for any individual to be able to answer three questions: “‘what to change?’, ‘what to change to?’, and ‘how to cause a change?’” (Goldratt 337).Overall, The Goal is a magnificent work that I highly recommend to any individual to read in order to understand more about the Theory of Constraints and how to become a better manager. I deeply believe that any individual who reads this book will be greatly benefited from the material presented; in my personal experience, I am pleased that I was able to read this book since I was given the opportunity to add a new technique to my engineering toolbox. I encourage any reader that is uncertain whether or not to buy this book to purchase it. I believe that it is definitely worth the time reading this book; thanks to this book, I feel better prepared as an engineer.

When I first picked up this book, I don’t know what I was expecting. Needless to say this book has both surpassed my expectations and is definitely something I would recommend to someone else. The story starts off following the day of Alex Rogo, a plant manager for UniCo manufacturing plant. As the division for his company starts to go under, he is tasked with a seemingly impossible task: improve the company’s profit within three months or the plant will be shut down. Assisted by an old teacher, Jonah, Alex learns how to analyze the true problems of the plant and implement them with the help of his co-workers, Ralph, Bob, and Stacey.Written in mind for anyone interested in Industrial Engineering and its effect on manufacturing, Goldratt has really created an outstanding book to explain the idea of the theory constraints. Through the use of first person and the setting of a real-life situation, we are able to both relate to the idea and see the practicality of its use in an actual plant, such as the idea of bottlenecks and its effect on inventory and operational expense. The breakdown of the idea is explained through the excellent dialogue between the characters and shows how although the “the goal” can be identified, improvements are not easy to find and implementation can be just as difficult, if not harder. This implementation is represented by the struggles Alex faces with upper management, marketing, and sales. Goldratt’s choice to explain the material in the form of a fiction novel makes this incredibly understandable and makes its extremely easy to go through the process of thinking about the theory of constraints.Reading this book has seriously made me consider the ramifications of constraint and how it effects “goal” when it comes to a process. When it comes down to it, whatever we do and whatever we choose to improve must, in the end, aid us in reaching our “goal.” Until we learn to identify what we want, we cannot improve or change the way things are done. I would definitely recommend Goldratt’s book for anyone who enjoys both a good story and the idea of ongoing improvement.