Production

The Toyota story has been intensively researched and painstakingly documented, yet what really happens inside the company remains a mystery. Here’s new insight into the unspoken rules that give Toyota its competitive edge.

It's more complicated than simply implementing new technologies.

The federal government can and should play a much bigger role in helping American companies regain the lead in manufacturing. We need to invest a commensurate...

Now that providing services is more lucrative than making products, the old foundations for success in manufacturing are crumbling. Smart manufacturers are creating new business models to capture profits at the customer’s end of the value chain.

Dynamic Manufacturing: Creating the Learning Organization, Robert H. Hayes, Steven C. Wheelwright, and Kim B. Clark (New York: Free Press, 1988) 429 pages, $24.95. American Business: A Two-Minute Warning, C. Jackson Grayson, Jr. and Carla O’Dell (New York: Free Press, 1988) 368 pages, $24.95. In the fall of 1911, Frederick Winslow Taylor rushed into print […]

The short answer is: not much. And that’s a good thing.

Among the characteristics of a company that shape corporate and therefore manufacturing strategy are its dominant orientation (market or product), pattern of diversification (product, market, or process), attitude toward growth (acceptance of low growth rate), and choice between competitive strategies (high profit margins versus high output volumes). Once the basic attitudes or priorities are established, […]

As retailers adopt lean retailing practices, manufacturers are feeling the pinch. Retailers no longer place large seasonal orders for goods in advance--instead,...

The business press does not rush to do stories on tool pegboards. An editor hears that Westinghouse’s Asheville, North Carolina plant has shortened machine setup times, eliminated many computer transactions, and cut inventories and indirect labor costs by two-thirds—all in only a couple of years—and you can bet the reporter sent to cover the story […]

Hardware startups are easier to launch than ever.

A growing number of executives of U.S.-based companies are repatriating their manufacturing capabilities — moving some production operations back from overseas. One such company is Ford, which announced last year that it will move jobs from China and Mexico back to the U.S. Another example is Caterpillar, which is investing $120 million in a new […]

Ever since Robert Hayes and the late William Abernathy exposed the ways we manage our companies into decline, executives in big manufacturing corporations have been struggling with a central strategic problem.1 It is to find the right balance between investing in vertical integration and encouraging process technology development among suppliers. The problem for managers is […]

What will it take to reverse a decades-long shift to global supply chains?

A new generation of innovations is already underway.

Corporate strategy affects manufacturing goals and processes. Manufacturing must pay attention to the cost, time, and quality factors that go into production....

Many companies have embraced the Just-In-Time manufacturing method because of the zeal with which its successes were reported. But JIT is a simple idea,...

To fix a problem, you need to understand it.

Even in this contentious election year, all sides agree on one issue: The loss of American manufacturing jobs over the past decade has been a disaster for the U.S. economy. It would be unrealistic to imagine a return to low-value-add, low-skill, low-wage production in the commodity industries that employed millions of Americans a century ago. […]

And how to overcome them.

A new study shows that global trade doesn't always mean poor working conditions.