The Principles and Issues of Production and Manufacturing Management-
A Summary of Managing in the New World of Manufacturing
The First Law of Manufacturing Control.....................1
Evolution, Facts and Fables................................4
Manufacturing as a Process.................................8
Strategic Planning.........................................10
The System and Its Role....................................14
Effective Execution and Control............................17
Measures of Performance. ..................................21
Manufacturing in the Future................................22
Conclusion.................................................27
Managing in the New World of Manufacturing - A Summary
Chapter 1 - The First Law of Manufacturing Control
The first law of manufacturing control involves a basic element of the physical world: time. According to George W. Plossl(s Managing in the New World of Manufacturing time, particularly the inability to manage it is why (manufacturing is out of control( (p.1). In order to understand why this is and what can be done about it, a little historical background of manufacturing is in order because it specifically relates to why it is (out of control.( Plossl strongly emphasizes that to manage in today(s world of manufacturing, current corporations must understand exactly why time has become such a threat.
Around 1775, a completely new kind of (rationalized( production emerged in England, based on what the British economist Adam Smith called the division of labor. Smith described it using the classic example of manufacturing a pin. Formerly, a single artisan would make the whole pin from beginning to end. With division of labor, one person would draw the wire, a second would cut and point it, a third would upset, or form the head, and a fourth would put the finished pin in a box. With its benefits of speed, economy, and cont...