The Goal

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Finally, Bob admits, "Okay, if we cut batch sizes in half, then that means it ought to take half the time it does now. So instead of six to eight weeks, it should take about four weeks... maybe even three weeks in a lot of cases."

"Suppose I go to marketing and tell them to promise cus- tomers deliveries in three weeks?" I say.

"Whoa! Hold on!" says Bob.

"Yeah, give us a break!" says Stacey.

"All right, four weeks then," I say. "That's reasonable, isn't it?"

"Sounds reasonable to me," says Ralph.

"Well... okay," says Stacey.

"I think we should risk it," says Lou.

"So are you willing to commit to this with us?" I ask Bob.

Bob sits back and says, "Well... I'm all for bigger bonuses. What the hell. Let's try it."

Friday morning finds the Mazda and me again hustling up the Interstate toward headquarters. I hit town just as the sun hits the glass of the UniCo building and reflects a blinding glare. Kind of pretty actually. For a moment, it takes my mind off my nerves. I've got a meeting scheduled with Johnny Jons in his office. When I called, he was quite willing to see me, but sounded less than enthusiastic about what I said I'd like to talk about. I feel there's a lot riding on my ability to convince him to go along with what we want to do. So I've found myself biting a fingernail or two during the trip.

Jons doesn't really have a desk in his office. He has a sheet of glass on chrome legs. I guess that's so that everyone can get a good look at his Gucci loafers and silk socks-which he exposes as he leans back in this chair, interweaves his fingers and puts them behind his head.

He says, "So... how is everything going?"

"Everything is going very well right now," I say. "In fact, that's why I wanted to talk to you."

Jons immediately dons an impassive face.

"All right, listen," I tell him, "I'm going to lay my cards out for you. I'm not exaggerating when I say everything is going well. It is. We've worked off our backlog of overdue orders, as you know. At the beginning of last week, the plant began producing strictly to meet projected due dates."