New Manufacturing Challenge - by Kiyoshi Suzaki (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

As a consultant, Kiyoshi Suzaki has helped scores of Fortune 500 clients improve manufacturing operations and get the job done faster, cheaper, better, and safer. Now, in this detailed "operating manual" -- full of more step-by-step applications than any other book available -- Suzaki spells out new options in production and employee resources that can help American industry regain the cutting edge in price, quality, and delivery of products.
A well-known expert in the field, Suzaki begins with the premise that "if it doesn't add value, it's waste" -- a concept devised by Henry Ford and later used by Toyota. He recaps what Toyota identifies as the seven most prominent forms of waste in factories. Most importantly, he meticulously details steps individuals can take to "simplify, combine, and eliminate operations" -- thereby reducing waste, improving quality, and saving money.
Describing in detail the basic techniques culled from Japanese industrial philosophy and procedure, Suzaki shows how small, family-run businesses and billion-dollar American corporations from a wide range of industries -- automotive, electronics, cosmetics, and even defense contractors -- are meeting the manufacturing challenge today -- demolishing the widely held belief that most American manufacturers have become distribution organizations for products manufactured overseas. In addition, he links his methodology with several successful production systems, from Just-In-Time Production, Total Quality Control, Total Productive Maintenance to Computer Integrated Manufacturing. Throughout this practical handbook, he places emphasis squarely on the shop floor and grounds his approach in easy, yet powerful techniques everybody can understand and implement today.
Illustrated with numerous charts and exhibits, The New Manufacturing Challenge shows how to integrate people and techniques to improve the workplace and, thus, strengthen any company's competitiveness in the global marketplace.

Review Quotes

Brian Kelley Plant Manager, Cummins Engine Company Suzaki's book is a practitioner's book -- not another theory book.

J. Richard Iverson President and CEO, American Electronics Association Mr. Suzaki develops basic manufacturing approaches that will truly challenge the perceptive manager.

John L. Warne Former President and COO, Omark Industries An excellent resource for operating managers who want to bring their manufacturing up to world class.

Kenneth L. Thorpe Executive Vice President, Society of Manufacturing Engineers Every manufacturing manager and top executive should read this book to learn how they can gain an advantage over their competition through discipline, involvement and common sense.

Leonard A. Harvey Executive Vice President, Borg-Warner Corporation ...this book cuts through a lot of the mystique in modern manufacturing...it demonstrates, in a concise manner, the perceptions needed to make today's factory competitive.

Leonard J. Ricard Director-Inventory Management and Methods, General Motors Corporation This book is filled with practical techniques for improving quality and productivity together with scores of examples of the application of those techniques. It is a valuable handbook for all who must meet today's competitive manufacturing challenges.

Lewis E. Platt Senior Vice President, Hewlett-Packard Company "It's packed with examples which reinforce techniques for continuous improvement and stir the reader to action. It also helps us develop a common understanding of how to restore our competitive edge.

Robert W. Hall Professor of Operations Management, Indiana University School of Business Readers unfamiliar with the new production will find the book an easily read explanation of Japanese 'techniques...Experienced readers will find a great blend of current Japanese and American thinking.

Shoichi Saba Chairman and CEO, Toshiba Corporation Suzaki describes the core of Japanese manufacturing techniques...this simple yet very insightful work should be shared by business leaders and practitioners around the world.

Tom Peters Co-author of "In Search of Excellence" and "A Passion for Excellence" Continuous improvement, with everyone involved, must become the American norm -- or else. We must shed 150 years of wrong-headed thinking. Kiyoshi Suzaki makes an important contribution to our doing just that.

About the Author

Kiyoshi Suzaki is president of The Eucalyptus Group in Pacific Palisades, California and an internationally recognized consultant on manufacturing competitiveness in various industries in the United States, Europe, and the Far East. Besides consulting, he lectures in major universities, serves on the board of directors of several U.S. companies and as an advisor to Japan Technology Transfer Association. Mr. Suzaki is author and co-author of two books on manufacturing published in Japan and France.