Alex Goal

¶ … Alex is facing and evaluate different tools to arrive at the solutions. Moreover, the paper evaluates the newer tools such as lean, six sigma, and the internet to arrive at the solution the problem that Alex is facing. The paper provides the overview of the problems that Alex Rogo is asked to solve within three months. The focus of this paper centers on Alex Rogo, a plant manager of the Uniware, a division of Unico.

Alex's meeting with his boss, Bill Peach, reveals that the company is facing challenges and Alex is given an ultimatum of three months to improve the performances of the plants. However, Alex is unable to use available outside tools such as surveys and consultant because of the limited time. With narrow channel to follow, Alex remembered Jonah whom he knew in its previous workplace.

With the current company's situation, Alex decided to have a conversation with Jonah, and the conversation made Alex to realize that the goal of any modern business is to make money. Alex further realizes that action towards achieving the goal is to move towards being productive and desist from non-productive actions. (Goldratt, 2004). A further contact with Jonah makes them to define measurement for a plant production: Measurements: Throughout: is a system that generates money from sales by this rate.

The measurement consists of a market share of the company's product after deducting inventory and operating expenses. Inventory: consists the money used to purchase items to be sold in the market. Operational expense: This consist the money to turn inventory into throughput and include items such as oil, lubricating, scraps and depreciation. (Goldratt, 2004). Although, Alex could have been able to arrive at the solution to the problem using the Goal tools, however, recent development in technology and operational management theory reveal alternative toolsets that Alex Rogo can use.

The paper discusses newer tools that could affect the choice of the solutions to Alex problem. 1. Availability of newer Tools Lean manufacturing is a toolset available to a plant manager such as Alex. Lean manufacturing is an improved administrative and industrial process developed from a logistics management approach. Typically, lean manufacturing technique will assist a plant manager to carry out manufacturing operations and arrive at optimal flow. Lean focuses on maximizing customers' values by eliminating wastes and the goal is to achieve value stream as much as possible.

The technique is by gearing steps that add values and eliminate steps that do not add value to a business. The technique the lean manufacturing employs to maximize value and eliminate wastes is by identifying product family and use VSM (value stream mapping) to add value. Moreover, the lean eliminates loss such as manufacturing faults, inventory, and overproduction, waiting times, manufacturing faults, unnecessary movements and manufacturing disruptions. The lean also smoothly creates material and pull to enhance a demand driven production in order to strive at perfection. (Holweg, 2007).

The Ford Company used the lean technique to transform available scarce raw materials into a T-Ford car model within 33 hours. Toyota also uses lean technique to manufacture multiple products using a single assembly line. Six Sigma is another toolset available for Alex. The Six Sigma is developed from a standpoint quality to reduce variations in business and production process. The goal is to maximize value and ensure that products meet customer's expectation with 0.00034% probability errors. (Tennant, 2001).

Motorola and General Electric use Six Sigma technique to enhance quality improvement to maximize customer value. 2. Determination if Alex's goal is similar with these new Tools The Goal model takes the perspective of the Lean manufacturing to enhance business process improvement. Comparatively, both the Lean and Goal models aim to increase the flow by continuously improving and tracing rate-limiting steps. Moreover, both the Lean and Goal assist a plant to balance a flow and decline a work in progress.

Using a Lean's perspective, Alex uses Goal model in identifying bottlenecks and non-bottlenecks in solving the problem. Typically, the identification of bottleneck makes Alex to reorganize the plant, and the Goal concentrates on reducing time allotted to throughput. Alex is able to improve the performance of the plant by optimally exploiting the plant's bottlenecks. Similar to Lean technique, the Goal assists in getting rid of hidden intermediate stock, which might cause the bottleneck to the plant.

For example, Jonah identifies bottlenecks as issues that will have enormous excess capacity to plants. After various discussions with team members, Alex finally arrives at the solutions similar to Lean technique, which assists in arriving at the solution to the problem. The solutions are as follows: First, Alex identifies the plant's bottlenecks. Next, Alex decides the strategy to exploit the bottlenecks. Moreover, Alex divides everything into two divisions. The next step is to evaluate the bottlenecks associated with system.

The last step is to go to the first step if previous step is broken. After reviewing these steps several times, Alex discovered that the plant has been using some bottlenecks to produce fictitious order making the bottlenecks busy. Identification of this problem assists the company to free up the bottlenecks, which consequently translate into market share. 3.

Discussion of how Alex would have faced challenges in the absence of the Goldratt & Cox Alex can use the Lean-sigma model to face the challenges in the absence of the Goldratt & Cox model. The Six Sigma uses statistical tools to analyze, improve, measure and control a project. Thus, Lean-Sigma can be used for business improvement because the model combines two-line approach. Alex can use Lean manufacturing to identify and reduce the bottlenecks as well as removing unnecessary production steps within the plant.

Moreover, Alex can use Six Sigma to standardize and quality of the remaining steps. Using the combination of the Lean and Sigma, Alex would have been able to achieve better and efficient production by reducing delivery fault and deliver a quality production with reduced costs. 4. Determination where Alex might have applied new ideas to discard. The development of new technology has introduced new ideas that Alex could have.