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Summary: Surpasses The Goal
Review: A brilliantly written novel that does, for an entire supply chain, what The Goal did for production. It explains clearly the need for a holistic approach that embraces the I.T. function. The book has an excellent example of how addressing a constraint in one area (production) unavoidably leads to disaster in the distribution channel. This book gives I.T. professionals and anyone wondering about the value of their computer systems an incredible business education in a fast-paced 4 hour read. Not only does it do a brilliant job of explaining the problems, but it even gives tangible solutions.
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Summary: Not even necessary!
Review: Anxiously awaited, and extremely disappointing work from the authors. Reasons: A. Inferior content. Neither does the book present a sound theory of enterprise/ B2B software, nor does it do do justice to the intellect and experience of its authors. For example, why should "Drum Buffer Rope" software be part of the larger enterprise system? Or why companies need enterprise software in the first place? Just because the technologies are there? Potential readers looking for ground-breaking thoughts in enterprise management and enterprise software are advised to read following previous works by two of the book's authors: 1. "The Haystack Syndrome" by Dr. Eli Goldratt 2. "Management Dilemmas" by Eli Schragenheim B. Defeats the purpose. Enterprise software users, enterprise software providers and management consultants all risk being led down the wrong path by following superficial advice contained in the book. For example, isn't it impractical to ask outsiders (enterprise software providers) to ensure that the insiders (enterprise managers) create value for their organizations? Does it mean that management also can be outsourced? C. Amateurish storyline and poor editing. At a minimum readers should not be denied the pleasure of good reading! The only value rendered by this book is reminding managers that all their investments, even in software, should have measurable payoff.
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Summary: Eli tells how to integrate the whole supply chain!
Review: Book Review: This is Eli Goldratt's clearest story of theTheory of Constraints Holistic Approach-integrating the wholesupply chain. The heroes in this novel are from the softwareservice industry who must provide software to connect the variedcompany components. The heroes struggle as they try to meet client demands and at the same time provide real value to the marketplace. In the first chapter, Eli tells why the stock market is so fickled, exposes the results of two breakthrough ideas, outlines the key role of the CEO and clarifies the confusion between pessimism and paranoia. And the chapters accelerate from there. After the third chapter, you are drawn into the story and forget this really is a systems management textbook. Read carefully to discover: Many erroneous assumptions made by management (e.g. Measuring efficiency is good) Discover the problems with Finite Capacity Planning (and the solution) The full solution for Distribution and Replenishment Systems How to synchronize engineering with the rest of the firm (yes, it is possible) The terrible effect of Transfer Pricing (nothing is sold until the final customer pays) The devastating results of Min-Max inventory policy The best use of Dollar-Days How to find the next constraint (the one that will hit you in the face as soon as you fix the current one) Each chapter builds on the understanding of the previous chapters to help the reader see the possible impact of applying TOC to the whole enterprise. Towards the end of Necessary But Not Sufficient you will find you want to go back and re-read The Goal, and Its Not Luck so you can better understand the TOC applications. That is good, but finish Necessary But Not Sufficient first. The last three chapters outline an "UnRefusable Offer" from the software providers to industry. While Eli intended this offer to be a prediction of the future, it is rapidly happening-its probably in place by the time you read this book review.
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Summary: The plot is the constraint!
Review: Don't get me wrong--I'm a big TOC fan. I loved The Goal, Critical Chain, and It's Not Luck. I even bought a textbook on TOC. I was so excited for this book and so disappointed. I'm surprised anybody has given this book more than two starts. The plot is 100% non-captivating and I learned NOTHING new about TOC. Please Mr. Goldratt--Give us something good next time.
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Summary: Great easy read about supply chain
Review: I am a Supply Chain Consultant and have devoted the majority of my reading to Supply Chain theory. This was a very refreshing way to address and educate others concerning Supply Chain Management. Theory textbooks are often painful to endure, but because this is written "novel style" it did not seem like education. I would highly recommend this to the road warrior looking for a relaxing, yet educational book for the plane.
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Summary: Who forgot to proof-read?
Review: I bought this book after reading The Goal, and It's Not Luck. I found The Goal and It's Not Luck to be very interesting to read. This one left a lot to be desired. Some of Goldratt's assumptions in Necessary But Not Sufficient seem to be overly simplistic. For instance, he seems to advocate stripping out of mid-market ERP systems everything but production & inventory control. I doubt that too many manufacturing companies would really be beating down the doors of any ERP company who actually did this. He also seems to think that major changes can be made to an ERP system in a couple of weeks. Anyone who has dealt with changes to any software system, no matter how simple the system or how simple the change, knows that is simply not true. I would like to see some case studies published to back up Goldratt's stories. In all of his books that I have read I have found his implementation successes a bit hard to swallow. I like his theories, but I think that actual case studies would greatly increase his credibility, especially with this book. But my biggest gripe about this book is this: Who proof-read this thing? I have never read a book with so many typos! I would think that with 3 authors on the cover and a publishing company behind them that at least somebody would have read the thing first! It really got to be annoying to read through all the errors. Anyways, read The Goal and It's Not Luck and skip this one.
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Summary: A modern Day version of The Goal
Review: I found several of the new ideas helpful in understanding why ERP is Neccessary But Not Sufficient. I felt that the book delivered some new content but in terms of TOC philosophy, it didn't inspire me as much as The Goal or The Measurement Nightmare. Some of the content can be found in Haystack Syndrome but I would only recommend that book if you like to be thoroughly confused and put to sleep at times. It's an interesting fictional story, I liked it on that basis but I had already realized that ERP isn't for everyone and shouldn't be done just because everyone else is.
Rating:
Summary: A modern Day version of The Goal
Review: I found several of the new ideas helpful in understanding why ERP is Neccessary But Not Sufficient. I felt that the book delivered some new content but in terms of TOC philosophy, it didn't inspire me as much as The Goal or The Measurement Nightmare. Some of the content can be found in Haystack Syndrome but I would only recommend that book if you like to be thoroughly confused and put to sleep at times. It's an interesting fictional story, I liked it on that basis but I had already realized that ERP isn't for everyone and shouldn't be done just because everyone else is.
Rating:
Summary: Far and away worst Goldratt
Review: I have thouroughly enjoyed Goldratt's other books--each taught me a new framework and how to apply it. Each taught in an interesting and easy to follow manner, and applied the framework to many different problems. This book didn't do that. It restated that the concepts that we learned in the Goal, Critical Chain, and Its not Luck are good and still apply, but doesn't add anything new. As far as I can tell, the only new idea briefly appears in the last chapters-- dollar-day metrics; and seems to appear from out of the blue. On the positive side, the style of writing hasn't changed much-- its still easy to read. If you've read the previous Goldratt books, don't bother. If you haven't, don't bother--go read them!
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Summary: Student's point of View
Review: I'm a student at Tec de Monterrey, in Mexico City. I've been assigned to read The Goal, it wasn't luck and this necessary but not suficient. I have to say that when i read the goald and it's second part i really loved the book. I was introduced to this concepts like DBR and inventory management. While i was reading necessary... i thought, this is by far the worst book written by this author (also read the race). As a novel there's nothing exciting about it, is not that the other's had me in the edge of my chair, but at least there u could feel the threat was bigger, closing the factory and selling three of them. And here trying to use TOC and DBD in the technology environment just doesn't work. U could see where the book was going to end, probably cause we are living in that time where u have to make the future.
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