John Ricketts – författare

            A manager’s instinct is to strive to control everything. That’s not just ineffective, it’s a practical impossibility. So, where should managers commit finite resources to achieve their enterprise’s mission?  Eli Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints (“TOC”), introduced in The Goal, is a great place to start, but a terrible place to stop, as most readers can’t put that knowledge to use.                Constraints hold organizations in check. Without them, productivity would be easy, and companies could grow without bounds. But in most enterprises, survival and growth are perpetual struggles.               This book is intended to bring a broader understanding of strategy and information to the TOC community while introducing TOC principles to the strategy and information communities. Exceeding the Goal is the book’s title because reaching a goal may be sufficient for operations, but it’s insufficient for strategy when global competition is intense.  Exceeding the goal is the path to extraordinary results.             The author uses his own experiences in manufacturing, research, consulting, software, and strategy as the basis for the book. The “adventures” that are chronicled are true stories about real-life situations—some successful, and others not. Valuable lessons can be learned from both, with the failures serving as invaluable cautionary tales.    Features  Closes the gaps between:Enterprise Strategy and Technical StrategyThe Information field and the organization it supportsReading about TOC and actually implementing it.

            A manager’s instinct is to strive to control everything. That’s not just ineffective, it’s a practical impossibility. So, where should managers commit finite resources to achieve their enterprise’s mission?  Eli Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints (“TOC”), introduced in The Goal, is a great place to start, but a terrible place to stop, as most readers can’t put that knowledge to use.                Constraints hold organizations in check. Without them, productivity would be easy, and companies could grow without bounds. But in most enterprises, survival and growth are perpetual struggles.               This book is intended to bring a broader understanding of strategy and information to the TOC community while introducing TOC principles to the strategy and information communities. Exceeding the Goal is the book’s title because reaching a goal may be sufficient for operations, but it’s insufficient for strategy when global competition is intense.  Exceeding the goal is the path to extraordinary results.             The author uses his own experiences in manufacturing, research, consulting, software, and strategy as the basis for the book. The “adventures” that are chronicled are true stories about real-life situations—some successful, and others not. Valuable lessons can be learned from both, with the failures serving as invaluable cautionary tales.    Features  Closes the gaps between:Enterprise Strategy and Technical StrategyThe Information field and the organization it supportsReading about TOC and actually implementing it.

This book describes the blast furnace process for operators. As a starting point, the blast furnace is seen as a simple iron ore melter, while gradually the physical, chemical and metallurgical background is clarified. Operational observations, challenges and remedies are explained from this perspective. Optimization of the blast furnace process is not only based on “best practice transfer”, but also requires conceptual understanding of what works when. In other words: operational improvement is not only based on know–how, but on know–why as well. With Modern Blast Furnace Ironmaking – An Introduction (Third Edition, 2015) the reader has a compact compendium of the blast furnace process available: by operators and for operators and for those who are preparing to become operators.

This book describes the blast furnace process for operators. As a starting point, the blast furnace is seen as a simple iron ore melter, while gradually the physical, chemical and metallurgical background is clarified. Operational observations, challenges and remedies are explained from this perspective. Optimization of the blast furnace process is not only based on “best practice transfer”, but also requires conceptual understanding of what works when. In other words: operational improvement is not only based on know–how, but on know–why as well. With Modern Blast Furnace Ironmaking – An Introduction (Third Edition, 2015) the reader has a compact compendium of the blast furnace process available: by operators and for operators and for those who are preparing to become operators.