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THE WAY PEOPLE USE MACHINES KEY TO REMAINING COMPETITIVE

IN HIGH LABOR COST COUNTRIES

NEW YORK … How do companies in high labor cost countries manage to remain competitive? In the United States, Japan and or Western Europe, the more manual a manufacturing process, the more severe the competitive handicap of high wages. Full automation would make labor costs irrelevant but remains impractical in most industries. Most successful manufacturing processes in advanced economies are neither fully manual nor fully automatic. Instead, they involve interactions between small numbers of highly skilled people and machines that account for the bulk of the manufacturing costs, and thereby, equalize the playing field, as this equipment is no cheaper than competitors.

Effectiveness in the use of production machines is rarely limited by their technology. Outside of leading-edge plants in high-technology industries or mature industries introducing new technology, machines have the technical capability to hold the required tolerances. The performance differences observed between factories result from the way people use the machines.

In Productivity Press' new book, Working with Machines - - The Nuts and Bolts of Lean Operations with Jidoka, author Michel Baudin begins with the human interfaces of individual machines and progresses towards the linking of machines into cells, as well as the management of monuments and common services, automation, maintenance and production control. Working with Machines pulls together all these threads into a cohesive approach, and provides manufacturing managers, engineers, lean champions and consultants with strategies and tools to make the technical and managerial decisions that turn working with machines into lasting business success.

This compelling book:

• Emphasizes the importance of the "Jidoka" pillar of the Toyota Production System, which is engineering of the way people work with machines.
  
• Addresses the problems associated with "monuments" - machines that provide services for production lines across a variety of products, but cannot be organized into cells.
  
• Compares automation, as it has been developed in the U.S. with a lean manufacturing approach, to the management of automated systems implemented before a lean conversion.

About the Author
Since 1987, Michel Baudin has consulted for such clients as Honda of America, Dell Computer, Parker Hannifin, Unilever, Boeing and Hoechst and others on lean manufacturing implementation, and for high-tech companies like Intel, Hewlett Packard, Motorola and National Semiconductor. He is the author of Lean Logistics - - The Nuts and Bolts of Delivering Materials and Goods, Lean Assembly - - The Nuts and Bolts of Making Assembly Operations Flow and Manufacturing Systems Analysis, With Application to Production Scheduling.

About Productivity Press:
Productivity Press is the premier source of authoritative information on organizational improvement, offering the broadest selection of books and learning tools about lean methodologies, based on the Toyota Production System. Whether you are responsible for production, office and administrative operations or providing services, our publications offer you proven, practical strategies for increasing efficiency and capacity while eliminating waste. We are the leading source of materials for educating and training your workforce in lean. In February, 2007, Productivity Press launched its new healthcare division, Healthcare Performance Press (www.HCPpress.com).

List price is $55.00. Complimentary review copies are available to media contacts by calling (212) 216-7865 or by e-mailing: leon.carter@taylorandfrancis.com.

For more information on Working with Machines, or any of Productivity Press' other titles, call 1 (888) 319-5852, or access our online catalog at www.productivitypress.com.

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ADVANCE PRAISE FOR

Working with Machines - -

The Nuts and Bolts of Lean Operations with Jidoka

By Michel Baudin

"I have found this book very informative on the management of machines. It includes many new ideas and approaches on the management of machine engineering…. it is easy to read and… it will help many readers understand how to incorporate the roles of machines into modern-day management."

--Masaaki Imai
Founder
Kaizen Institute

"Michel Baudin is a successful consultant and an internationally recognized expert on lean manufacturing and productivity. In his new book, Working with Machines, he provides us with invaluable insights as to how production machinery can and should be designed to better fit the human worker, resulting in increased productivity, competitiveness, and quality. This book is packed with clear and cogent examples and principles, many of them based on the author's experiences with Lean Manufacturing, which can be adopted and employed by engineers, managers, technicians, and anyone interested to better understand and appreciate the role of the human worker in modern manufacturing."

--Asaf Degani, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center
Author, Taming HAL - - Designing Interfaces beyond 2001

"Loaded with contemporary case stories, relevant examples and timely illustrations, this book serves as the roadmap for integrating man and machine."

--Dan Wehrman
Assistant Manager
Honda North American Supplier Development