The Goal: a process of Ongoing Improvement

today...
not nine months from now,’’ says Jonah. "That’s one way to increase
the capacity of the bottlenecks. The other way you increase bottleneck
capacity is to take some of the load off the bottlenecks and give it to non-
bottlenecks.’’
I ask, "Yeah, but how do we do that?’’
"That’s why I was asking those questions when we were out in the plant,’’ he
says. "Do all of the parts have to be processed by the bottleneck? If not, the
ones which don’t can be shifted to nonbottlenecks for processing. And the
result is you gain capacity on your bottleneck. A second question: do you
have other machines to do the same process? If you have the machines, or if
you have a vendor with the right equipment, you can offload from the
bottleneck. And, again, you gain capacity which enables you to increase
throughput.’’
I come into the kitchen for breakfast the next morning and sit down to a
big steaming bowl of my mother’s oatmeal . . . which I have hated ever since
I was a kid. I’m staring at the oatmeal (and the oatmeal is staring back) when
Mom/Grandma asks, "So how did everything go last night?’’
I say, "Well, actually, you and the kids were on the right track at dinner.’’
"We were?’’ asks Dave.
"We need to make the Herbies go faster,’’ I say. "And last night Jonah
pointed out some ways to do that. So we learned a lot.’’
"Well, now, isn’t that good news,’’ says my mother.
She pours a cup of coffee for herself and sits down at the table. It’s quiet for a
moment. Then I notice that Mom and the kids are eyeing each other.

---

"Something wrong?’’ I ask.
"Their mother called again last night while you were gone,’’ says my mother.
Julie has been calling the kids regularly since she left. But for whatever
reason of her own, she still won’t tell them where she is. I’m debating
whether to hire a private detective to find out where she’s hiding.
"Sharon says she heard something when she was on the phone talking,’’ says
my mother.
I look at Sharon.
"You know that music Grandpa always listens to?’’ she says.
I say, "You mean Grandpa Barnett?’’
"Uh-huh, you know,’’ she says, "the music that puts you to sleep, with the—
what are they called?’’
"Violins,’’ says Dave.
"Right, the violins,’’ says Sharon. "Well, when Mom wasn’t talking, I heard
that on the phone last night.’’
"I heard ’em too,’’ says Dave.
"Really?’’ I say. "That’s very interesting. Thank you both for noticing that.
Maybe I’ll give Grandma and Grandpa Barnett another call today.’’
I finish my coffee and stand up.
"Alex, you haven’t even touched your oatmeal,’’ says Mom.
I lean down and kiss her on the cheek. "Sorry, I’m late for school.’’

---

I wave to the kids and hurry to grab my briefcase.
"Well, I’ll just have to save it so you can eat it tomorrow,’’ says my mother.

---

20
Driving to the plant, I pass the motel where Jonah stayed last night. I
know he’s long gone—he had a 6:30 A.M. flight to catch. I offered to pick
him up this morning and drive him to the airport, but (lucky for me) he
refused and said he’d take a cab.
As soon as I get to the office, I tell Fran to set up a meeting with the staff.
Meanwhile, I start to write down a list of the actions Jonah suggested last
night. But Julie comes to mind and won’t leave. I close my office door and sit
down at my desk. I find the number for Julie’s parents and dial it.
The first day after Julie left, her parents called to ask me if I had heard
anything. They haven’t called back since. A day or two ago, I tried getting in
touch with them to find out if 
they
had heard anything. I called in the
afternoon and I talked to Julie’s mother, Ada. She said she didn’t know where
Julie was. Even then, I didn’t quite believe her.
Now Ada answers again.
"Hi, this is Alex,’’ I tell her. "Let me talk to Julie.’’ Ada is flustered. "Well,
um, ah... she isn’t here.’’ "Yes, she is.’’
I hear Ada sigh.
"She 
is
there, isn’t she,’’ I say.
Finally Ada says, "She does not want to talk to you.’’ "How long, Ada? How
long has she been there? Were you ying to me even that Sunday night when I
called?’’ "No, we were not 
lying
to you,’’ she says indignantly. "We had no
idea where she was. She was with her friend, Jane, for a few days.’’
"Sure, and what about the other day when I called?’’ "Julie simply asked me

---

not to say where she was,’’ says Ada, "and I shouldn’t even be telling you
now. She wants to be by herself for a while.’’
"Ada, I need to speak with her,’’ I say.
"She will not come to the phone,’’ says Ada.
"How do you know until you’ve asked?’’
The phone on Ada’s end is put down on the table. Footsteps fade away and
return a minute later.
"She says she’ll call you when she’s ready,’’ says Ada. "What does that
mean?’’
"If you hadn’t neglected her all these years, you wouldn’t be in this
situation,’’ she says.
"Ada—’’
"Good-bye,’’ she says.
She hangs up the phone. I try calling back right away, but there is no answer.
After a few minutes, I force my mind back to getting ready to talk to the staff.
At ten o’clock, the meeting starts in my office.
"I’d like to know what you think about what you heard last night,’’ I say.
"Lou, what was your reaction?’’
Lou says, "Well...I just couldn’t believe what he was saying about an hour of
a bottleneck. I went home last night and thought it over to see if it all made
sense. And, actually, we were wrong about a lost hour of a bottleneck costing
$2,700.’’
"We were?’’ I ask.

---

"Only eighty percent of our products flow through the bottlenecks,’’ says Lou
as he takes a piece of note paper from his shirt pocket. "So the truer cost
ought to be eighty percent of our operating expense, and that comes to $2,188
an hour—not $2,735.’’
"Oh,’’ I say. "I suppose you’re right.’’
Then Lou smiles.
"Nevertheless,’’ he says, "I have to admit it was quite an eyeopener to look at
the situation from that perspective.’’
"I agree,’’ I say. "What about the rest of you?’’
I go from person to person around the office asking for reactions, and we’re
all pretty much in agreement. Even so, Bob seems hesitant about committing
to some of the changes Jonah was talking about. And Ralph isn’t sure yet
where he fits in. But Stacey is a strong advocate.
She sums up, saying, "I think it makes enough sense to risk the changes.’’
"Although I’m nervous about anything that increases operating expense at
this point in time,’’ says Lou, "I agree with Stacey. As Jonah said, we may
face a bigger risk just staying on the path we’ve been following.’’
Bob raises one of his meaty hands in preparation for a comment.
"Okay, but some of what Jonah talked about will be easier and faster to make
happen than the rest,’’ he says. "Why don’t we go ahead with the easier
things right away and see what kind of effect they have while we’re
developing the others.’’
I tell him, "That sounds reasonable. What would you do first?’’
"I think I’d wanna move the Q.C. inspection points first, to check parts going
into the bottlenecks,’’ says Bob. "The other Q.C. measures will take a little
time, but we can have an inspector checking pre-bottleneck parts in no time

---

—by the end of today if you want.’’
I nod. "Good. What about new rules for lunch breaks?’’
"We might have a squawk or two from the union,’’ he says.
I shake my head. "I think they’ll go along with it. Work out the details and
I’ll talk to O’Donnell.’’
Bob makes a note on the paper pad on his lap. I stand up and step around the
desk to emphasize what I’m about to say.
"One of the questions Jonah raised last night really struck home for me,’’ I
tell them. "Why are we making the bottlenecks work on inventory that won’t
increase throughput?’’
Bob looks at Stacey, and she looks back at him.
"That’s a good question,’’ she says.
Bob says, "We made the decision—’’
"I know the decision,’’ I say. "Build inventory to maintain efficiencies.’’ But
our problem is not efficiencies. Our problem is our backlog of overdue
orders. And it’s very visible to our customers and to division management.
We positively must do something to improve our due-date performance, and
Jonah has given us the insight on what that something has to be.
"Until now, we’ve expedited orders on the basis of who’s screamed the
loudest,’’ I say. "From now on, late orders should get first priority over the
others. An order that’s two weeks late gets priority over an order that’s one
week late, and so on.’’
"We’ve tried that from time to time in the past,’’ says Stacey.
"Yes, but the key this time is we make sure the 
bottlenecks
are processing