Quotes from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“So this is the goal: To make money by increasing net profit, while simultaneously increasing return on investment, and simultaneously increasing cash flow.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“What you have learned is that the capacity of the plant is equal to the capacity of its bottlenecks,” says Jonah.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“STEP 1. Identify the system’s bottlenecks. (After all it wasn’t too difficult to identify the oven and the NCX10 as the bottlenecks of the plant.)
STEP 2. Decide how to exploit the bottlenecks. (That was fun. Realizing that those machines should not take a lunch break, etc.)
STEP 3. Subordinate everything else to the above decision. (Making sure that everything marches to the tune of the constraints. The red and green tags.)
STEP 4. Elevate the system’s bottlenecks. (Bringing back the old Zmegma, switching back to old, less “effective” routings. . . .)
STEP 5. If, in a previous step, a bottleneck has been broken go back to step 1.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“Well, I don’t. Not absolutely. But adopting "making money’’ as the goal of a manufacturing organization looks like a pretty good assumption. Because, for one thing, there isn’t one item on that list that’s worth a damn if the company isn’t making money.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“More importantly, our software worked. I don't just mean that it didn't bump, or that it performed according to the written specifications, or that it was efficient in producing reports. It really worked”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“I smile and start to count on my fingers: One, people are good. Two, every conflict can be removed. Three, every situation, no matter how complex it initially looks, is exceedingly simple. Four, every situation can be substantially improved; even the sky is not the limit. Five, every person can reach a full life. Six, there is always a win-win solution. Shall I continue to count?”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“The entire bottleneck concept is not geared to decrease operating expense, it’s focused on increasing throughput.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“Putting it precisely, activating a resource and utilizing a resource are not synonymous.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“utilizing” a resource means making use of the resource in a way that moves the system toward the goal. “Activating” a resource is like pressing the ON switch of a machine; it runs whether or not there is any benefit to be derived from the work it’s doing.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“For the ability to answer three simple questions: ‘what to change?’, ‘what to change to?’, and ‘how to cause the change?’ Basically what we are asking for is the most fundamental abilities one would expect from a manager.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“In summary, both Ford and Ohno followed four concepts (from now on we’ll refer to them as the concepts of flow): Improving flow (or equivalently lead time) is a primary objective of operations. This primary objective should be translated into a practical mechanism that guides the operation when not to produce (preventsoverproduction). Ford used space; Ohno used inventory. Local efficiencies must be abolished. A focusing process to balance flow must be in place. Ford used direct observation. Ohno used the gradual reduction of the number of containers and then gradual reduction of parts per container. The”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“They’re measurements which express the goal of making money perfectly well, but which also permit you to develop operational rules for running your plant,” he says. “There are three of them. Their names are throughput, inventory and operational expense.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“Since the strength of the chain is determined by the weakest link, then the first step to improve an organization must be to identify the weakest link.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“Bob comes into the office with a smear of grease on his white shirt over the bulge of his beer gut, and he’s talking nonstop about what’s going on with the breakdown of the automatic testing machines. “Bob,” I tell him, “forget about that for now.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“Henry Ford achieved the highest throughput per worker of any car manufacturing company of his time.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“Mr. Granby next time you two have”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“-En todos lados, el mejoramiento ha sido interpretado como sinónimo de ahorro en costos. La gente se concentra en reducir el gasto de operación como si fuera el indicador mas importante.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“The secret of being a good scientist, I believe, lies not in our brain power. We have enough. We simply need to look at reality and think logically and precisely about what we see. The key ingredient is to have the courage to face inconsistencies between what we see and deduce and the way things are done. This challenging of basic assumptions is essential to breakthroughs.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“Eli Goldratt passed away at his home in Israel on June 11th, 2011, in the company of his family and close friends.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“La máxima desviación de una operación precedente pasara a ser el punto inicial de la operación siguiente.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“Whenever we think we have final answers progress, science, and better understanding ceases.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“No,” he says. “Through sales— not production. If you produce something, but don’t sell it, it’s not throughput. Got it?”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“Inventory is all the money that the system has invested in purchasing things which it intends to sell.” I”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“Operational expense,” he says. “Operational expense is all the money the system spends in order to turn inventory into throughput.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“productividad es el acto de acercar a la empresa a su meta. Las acciones que acercan a una compañía a su meta son productivas. Las acciones que no acercan a la compañía a su meta no son productivas.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“bringing a company closer to its goal. Every action that brings a company closer to its goal is productive. Every action that”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“If you don’t manufacture a quality product all you’ve got at the end is a bunch of expensive mistakes.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

“Science is simply the method we use to try and postulate a minimum set of assumptions that can explain, through a straightforward logical derivation, the existence of many phenomena of nature.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, quote from The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

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Popular quotes

“Yes," Ba said sadly, "it is impossible. But it is not ridiculous.”
― Grace Lin, quote from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

“Те се умълчаха за миг. Една кана използва настъпилата тишина, за да издаде сребрист звук, който отекна о стените”
― Boris Vian, quote from Foam of the Daze: L'Ecume Des Jours

“(...) Sí, por las tardes, hacia las siete, le gusta encontrarse en un vagón de segunda mano del metro. La mayoría de los pasajeros son personas que regresan de sus trabajos. Se sienta entre ellos, trata de sorprender en sus caras el motivo de sus preocupaciones. Naturalmente, están pensando en lo que acaban de abandonar hasta mañana, sólo hasta mañana, y también en lo que les espera esta noche, lo cual les alegra o les preocupa aún más. Nadja se queda mirando fijamente algo definido: «Hay buenas personas». Más alterado de lo que quisiera mostrarme, ahora sí me enojo: «Pues no. Además tampoco se trata de eso. El hecho de que soporten el trabajo, con o sin las demás miserias, impide que esas personas sean interesantes. Si la rebeldía no es lo más fuerte que sienten, ¿cómo podrían aumentar su dignidad sólo con eso? En esos momentos, por lo demás, usted les ve; ellos ni siquiera la ven a usted. Por lo que a mí se refiere, yo odio, con todas mis fuerzas, esa esclavitud que pretenden que considere encomiable. Compadezco al hombre por estar condenado a ella, porque por lo general no puede evitarla, pero si me pongo de su parte no es por la dureza de su condena, es y no podría ser más que por la energía de su protesta. Yo sé que en el horno de la fábrica, o delante de esas máquinas inexorables que durante todo el día imponen la repetición del mismo gesto, con intervalos de algunos segundos, o en cualquier otro lugar bajo las órdenes más inaceptables, o en una celda, o ante un pelotón de ejecución, todavía puede uno sentirse libre, pero no es el martirio que se padece lo que crea esa libertad. Admito que esa libertad sea un perpetuo librarse de las cadenas: será preciso, por añadidura, para que ese desencadenarse sea posible, constantemente posible, que las cadenas no nos aplasten, como les ocurre a muchos de los que usted me habla. Pero también es, y quizá mucho más desde el punto de vista humano, la mayor o menor pero, en cualquier caso, la maravillosa sucesión de pasos que le es dado al hombre hacer sin cadenas. Esos pasos, ¿les considera usted capaces de darlos? ¿Tienen tiempo de darlos, al menos? ¿Tienen el valor de darlos? Buenas personas, decía usted, sí, tan buenas como las que se dejaron matar en la guerra, ¿verdad? Digamos claro lo que son los héroes: un montón de desgraciados y algunos pobres imbéciles. Para mí, debo confesarlo, esos pasos lo son todo. Hacia dónde se encaminan, ésa es la verdadera pregunta. De algún modo, acabarán trazando un camino y, en ese camino, ¿quién sabe si no surgirá la manera de quitar las cadenas o de ayudar a desencadenarse a los que se han quedado en el camino? Sólo entonces será conveniente detenerse un poco, sin que ello suponga desandar lo andado». (Bastante a las claras se ve lo que puedo decir al respecto, sobre todo a poco que decida tratarlo de manera concreta.) Nadja me escucha y no intenta contradecirme. Tal vez lo último que ella haya querido hacer sea la apología del trabajo.”
― André Breton, quote from Nadja

“Let's be friends based on mutual hate."
- Wallace Wells
"Listen to this, okay? Just listen. You hear that? That's' market bacon hitting the pan. Today a child is born unto us, and his name will be bacon."
- Wallace Wells”
― Bryan Lee O'Malley, quote from Scott Pilgrim, Volume 3: Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness

“Kylie and Nick went to the symphony the next night, and by the time she came home, Blair was sound asleep on the sofa. The doctor gently woke her and helped her to her feet. “But I wanna stay up and talk about being a lesbian,” Blair mumbled, her words sounding comical given her tousled hair and sleep-suffused voice. “We can talk about being lesbians tomorrow.” Kylie scratched the back of Blair’s neck, knowing that a good scratch was as effective as ether. By the time they reached the bedroom, Kylie merely had to urge her onto the bed and cover her with a quilt. “That’s my girl,” Kylie said.”
― Susan X. Meagher, quote from All That Matters

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