Japanese Manufacturing Techniques: Nine Hidden Lessons in Simplicity

I was lead to this book by a friend who had fueled my curiosity about just-in-time management methods. This is book is an extremely lucid introduction to the Just-in-Time (JIT) philosophy of Japanese manufacturers and also Total Quality Control (TQC). The author explains why and how Japanese techniques like JIT and TQC yield economic, motivational and processual benefits. The author shows how inventory reduction with input control for quality leads to a long-term benefits in terms of shorter lead time, flexible workers; lower inventory costs; lower storage space; lower marketing costs etc. He also explains plant configurations and organization of production lines that facilitate these improvements; the kanban or pull-system of inventory replenishment in the assembly line; quality control circles and just in time purchasing. While some JIT and TQC principles are more applicable to the manufacturing sector many insights can also be transplanted to government and service sectors if the reader builds parallel connections. For example plant configuration design has interesting insights to offer for office workspace design. On the flip side, the author's enthusiasm for kanban (card-based singalling for material/resource/inventory replenishment) against computer-based material requirements management (MRP) solutions may not seem very prophetic (this book was written in 1982). The author also has a convert's Polyanna enthusiasm.