Intelligent Manufacturing € July € 1996 € Vol. 2 € No. 7

Manufacturer's Library

A Manufacturing CEO's Secret Tips for Improving Profit, by Richard Ludwig, John Wiley & Sons, 231 pages, $34.95, ISBN 0-471-12555-5

This book assumes the mental perspective of the manager who sees the whole complex picture and who must make tough decisions quickly and effectively. It offers a complete management system that can provide improved profits from all areas of operations, from administration or indirect labor functions to production.

The book provides:

formulas for choosing capital equipment, downsizing, and buying outside services
how to identify and weed out weak or poorly performing sectors
how to use an American version of quality circles and incentives for improving employee productivity
how to combine trend analysis with Pareto analysis to reduce costs and improve the bottom line

Chapters are arranged to provide an organized, immediate way to identify problem areas, generate information about them, and implement systems to improve results and increase profits.

Ludwig is a management consultant. Formerly he was president and CEO of Lavelle Aircraft Co., and a manager in the manufacturing organization at General Electric.

Strategic Manufacturing for Competitive Advantage: Transforming Operations from Shop Floor to Strategy, by Steve Brown, Prentice Hall, 363 pages, price TBA, ISBN 0-13-184508-X

This book concentrates on the strategic role and importance of manufacturing. It examines the competitive advantage to be gained from manufacturing up from the shop floor right through the organization and into the board room, an approach that the author believes will enable firms to become and remain competitive in global markets.

The structure of the book reflects its theme, with an opening chapter on strategic issues in manufacturing that provides an important framework for the rest of the book. Two key areas often neglected in discussions of manufacturing strategies -- new product development and human resource management -- are given chapters of their own. The book also includes short case studies, focusing on such manufacturers as Ford Motor, IBM, Motorola and Sun Microsystems.

Brown is with the University of Brighton Business School.

Keeping Score -- Using the Right Metrics to Drive World Class Performance, by Mark Graham Brown, Quality Resources, 198 pages, $29.95, ISBN 0-527-76312-8

This book ensures that organizations consider the right measurements when interpreting data. The author contends that data measurements must focus on the past, present and future and be based on the needs of customers, shareholders and employees. Measuring everything is more damaging than measuring nothing -- pinpointing the vital few key measures is the key to success.

Following a Baldridge approach, the author shows how to evaluate one's current approach to measurement and redesign inadequate metrics and systems used to collect and report data. Developing an accurate measurement system ensures that one correctly measures:

Customer satisfaction and value.
The quality of products and services before they reach the customer.
Employee satisfaction.

The book also helps the reader improve the accuracy of his metrics by linking them to key success factors as well as learn how to select the right financial metrics, perform process measurement, and track suplier performance.

Mark Graham Brown is a consultant to major corporations, and has served as a Baldridge examiner and as an overseer for the California Quality Awards.

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