World Class Manufacturing by Richard J Schonberger

World Class Manufacturing by Richard J Schonberger

In his best-selling book Japanese 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, in World 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 for continual 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 Manufacturing also 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 explains how it's done.

Richard J. Schonberger is an independent researcher, author, and speaker--offering management-development and research presentations to industrial, service, and academic organizations worldwide (since 1981, involving over 300 hosting organizations). Originator of world-class manufacturing, Richard is author of some 175 process improvement-focused articles in periodicals ranging from general business (Harvard Business Review, Business Horizons, Wall Street Journal) to academic and functional (Journal of Operations, Quality Management Journal, Interfaces, Industrial Engineer, Cost Management, Quality Progress, Manufacturing Engineering), and the following books and videos.

• Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement: A Deeper Look . . . with Telling Evidence from the Leanness Studies (Wiley, 2008); Chinese translation forthcoming.
• Let's Fix It! Overcoming the Crisis in Manufacturing: How the World's Leading Manufacturers Were Seduced by Prosperity and Lost Their Way (Free Press, 2001).
• World Class Manufacturing--The Next Decade: Building Power, Strength, and Value (Free Press, 1996, 7 languages, 6 printings), 1998 Shingo Prize for manufacturing research - Chinese translation, (Simon & Shuster Asia, 1998); Taiwan Chinese translation (1999).
• SynchroService: The Innovative Way to Build a Dynasty of Customers (Irwin: 1994 with co-author)
• Building a Chain of Customers: Linking Business Functions to Create the World Class Company (Free Press, 1990, 5 languages, 28,000 copies sold).
• World Class Manufacturing Casebook: Implementing JIT and TQC (Free Press, 1987, 30,000 copies sold).
• World Class Manufacturing: The Lessons of Simplicity Applied (Free Press, 1986, 8 languages, 20 printings, 160,000 copies sold).
• Japanese Manufacturing Techniques: Nine Hidden Lessons in Simplicity (Free Press, 1982, 9 languages, 25 printings, 160,000 copies sold).
• 7 editions, Operations Management textbook - 7^th edition (2007) translated into Chinese (Irwin/McGraw-Hill; 5 editions co-authored).
• 12-tape video program, World Class Manufacturing, acclaimed by Quality Digest.

Schonberger was a practicing industrial engineer for eight years followed by 14 years as professor in management information systems and operations management at the University of Nebraska, during which he was designated George Cook Distinguished (chaired) Professor; later as affiliate professor, Management Science, University of Washington.

Schonberger is on editorial boards of Benchmarking, Cost Management, Target, the Value Chain Management Conference (Austria), and the executive advisory board of the Shingo Prize. He is director of the Global Leanness Studies and the World Class by Principles international benchmarking.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781416592549
ISBN 10	1416592547
Title	World Class Manufacturing
Author	Richard J Schonberger
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Simon & Schuster
Year published	2008-01-24
Number of pages	272
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.