World Class Manufacturing

by Schonberger, Richard J.

• ISBN13: 9781416592549
• ISBN10: 1416592547
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-24
• Publisher: Free Press

Summary

In his best-selling bookJapanese Manufacturing Techniques,Richard J. Schonberger revolutionized American manufacturing theory and, more important, practice. In that breakthrough book, he revealed that Japanese manufacturing excellence was not culturally bound. Offering the first demystified explanation of the simple techniques that fueled Japan's industrial success, he demonstrated how the same methods could be put to work as effectively in U.S. plants.Now, inWorld Class Manufacturing,Schonberger returns to tell the success stories of nearly 100 American corporations -- including Hewlett-Packard, Harley-Davidson, General Motors, Honeywell, and Uniroyal -- that have adopted the famed just-in-time production and "total quality control" strategies. Based on his firsthand experience as a major consultant to American industry, he examines how they did it -- and illustrates how the same concrete, specific steps used by these top companies can be implemented in any factory today. What's more, Schonberger shows that his bold concepts and reforms apply equally to all industries, whether the product is computers, pasta, or trucks, and to all divisions -- from manufacturing and engineering to accounting and marketing.According to Schonberger, world-class manufacturing depends on blended management -- rather than domination by a separate group of managers -- which marshalls resources forcontinual rapid improvement.To achieve world-class status, companies must change procedures and concepts, which in turn leads to recasting relations among suppliers, purchasers, producers, and customers. Acknowledging the difficulty inherent in such changes, Schonberger stresses that employee involvement and interaction, both on the shop floor and in the decision-making/problem-solving process, is key. Wary of those who view improvement in terms of modernizing equipment, he points out that making maximum use of people and current machinery is a company's first priority; automation, if necessary, should come much later.World Class Manufacturingalso includes Schonberger's 17-point action agenda to guide innovators toward manufacturing excellence, from getting to know the customer to cutting the number of suppliers, reducing error in production, and deciding when and how to automate.Indispensable for all manufacturing innovators who aim to keep ahead of the competition, this inspiring, groundbreaking volume does much more than just recommend or theorize about the new manufacturing approach. Plainly, realistically, and logically, it explainshow it's done.

Author Biography

Richard J. Schonberger, author of Japanese Manufacturing Techniques (also from The Free Press), is a world-renowned authority on production and manufacturing. President of the consulting firm of Schonberger & Associates, Inc., in Seattle, Washington, he was formerly George Cook Professor of Management at the University of Nebraska.

Table of Contents

Preface

Faster, Higher, Stronger

Line Operators and Operating Data

Staff as Supporting Actors

Overstated Role of Capital (Automation in Slow Motion)

Economy of Multiples

Responsibility Centers

Quality: Zeroing In

Design Leverage

Partners in Profit: Suppliers, Carriers, Customers

Simple Models, Simple Systems

Managing the Transformation

Training: The Catalyst

Strategy Revealed

Appendix: Honor Roll: The 5-10-20s

Notes

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.