World Class Manufacturing - by Richard J Schonberger (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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.

From the Back Cover

Since the invention of double-entry bookkeeping, managers have judged a company's worth by sales and profits. Now, Richard J. Schonberger, the architect of the worldwide Just-In-Time revolution, reaches beyond "financials" to redefine excellence - and reveals, with new benchmark data, how pioneers become dynasties. This book will be indispensable reading for manufacturing and general managers in all industries, as well as for pension fund managers, institutional investors, stock analysts, and stockbrokers.

Review Quotes

John M. Burnham

CFPIM Regional Vice President, American Production and Inventory Control Society

Richard Schonberger has successfully addressed the next steps in the journey toward becoming world-class manufacturers -- issues of holistic view and perspective, effective interfacing among functional areas, and demonstrated results that demolish the arguments that "we're different" and "it can't be done." Each of his chapter topics is logically and persuasively developed. In a word, I wish I had written this book.

Philip Gray

Vice President, Defense Systems & Electronics Group, Texas Instruments

"World Class Manufacturing" brings together for the first time all the programs and approaches we at Texas Instruments and other companies have been working toward for the past six years -- total quality control, just-in-time manufacturing, statistical process control, manufacturing cells, and, most important, employee involvement. It will be required reading for managers who have marketing, product design, and manufacturing responsibilities.

Eric Olsen Worldwide Manufacturing Education Manager, Hewlett Packard Components Group Dick Schonberger's call to "manage the basics, watch the results," plays well in Hewlett Packard's environment where we believe people want to do a good job. Focusing on the right metrics at each level tells them what a good job is.

About the Author

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.