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.

345 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2008

Reviews

[Aivaras · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Read the 1986 version] I decided to read this book to learn a bit more about the different World Class Manufacturing initiatives and how they can be utilized in a plant. The book was suggested to me as a good starting point to understand where some of the initiatives that are so popular today come from.

The book has many concrete and detailed examples to emphasize some of the lessons and guidance that is available. For someone who has not worked with manufacturing directly before it was sometimes difficult to follow the examples. Nevertheless, the general ideas were clear to understand. Furthermore, as the book is quite old, you could feel that some of the specific information, in particular about available training material, is vastly outdated.

I would recommend this book to someone who already has a general interest in manufacturing, as well as a general understanding of its different processes. To get the most out of the book you have to actively engage with it and think through the different lessons and examples, trying to connect them to your work.

[Lendl Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reviewing the companion to this book: World Class Manufacturing at SEL, by Dena Durham (which isn't listed on Goodreads)

It summarizes key concepts from the original book and describes how they are applied at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories.

It was a great refresher to Japanese manufacturing techniques. I especially appreciated how the approach and principles were generalized and applied to non-manufacturing environments like office work.