Manufacturing for Survival: The How-To Guide for Practitioners and Managers

It's a long way from the operations theory found in most books on manufacturing to the realities of the factory floor.Here is a book that bridges that gap. Written by a factory manager with more than 30 years of shop floor experience, it brings you proven, real-world techniques - unencumbered by complex mathematics and weighty theory - that you can put into practice immediately to improve your manufacturing processes. Focusing exclusively on factory-level problems and solutions, this hands-on guide gives you plainly-written explanations and specific instructions on how to set up and execute an efficient, nimble, and high-quality manufacturing system.The book covers the state of the art in manufacturing, including ISO 9000, forecasting, scheduling, lead-time management, concurrent engineering, manufacturing information systems, and more. It helps you solve such difficulties as high inventory levels, unreliable sourcing, excessive overtime, and slow turnaround. And with each technique discussed, you will find a list of dos and dont's that will help you successfully put methods into practice.Whether you head up manufacturing in a small family-owned business or are an operations manager in a larger company, the valuable insights in this book go to the heart of what it takes to remain competitive in worldwide markets.