Customer Reviews

The Machine That Changed the World : Based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5-Million-Dollar 5-Year Study on the Future of the Automobile

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Remember, this was published in 1990, and today is out of date. If you have come looking for specific examples, or secrets of how the Japanese have been making such huge gains, THIS IS NOT FOR YOU. The book is great from a historical standpoint, but it misses totally on any detailed examples of what Toyota has done. Anyone in manufacturing who has not heard of work-circles or suggestion boxes, would probably find this a great read with lots of info, but for the rest of us, this is just a history book. Go for Lean Thinking instead.

While this book has been touted as an enlightening view of lean production and how it beat mass production in manufacturing it is also extremely instructive for anyone who is interested in the auto industry in general. It not only shows how the west's failure to listen to Demming allowed the Japanese to revolutionize the industry, it also pokes a few holes in the hallowed European "quality" myth particularly the German manufacturers. For westerners it also raises the curtain on the Japanese domestic auto business which I found very enlightening.

The Machine that Changed the World has been published more than once. Amazon, you're offering a special "buy these 2 titles, and save", but they are the exact same book.

Since the beginning of the 50's, Toyota has been a making a revolution in the way corporation works. A real unique approach named lean has been allowing the company to achieve superior performance concurrently in manufacturing, product development and suppliers management. The Machine brings to the reader a wide explanation of "Toyota Way". If you are looking for a book about Lean and you'd like to understand Toyota, it certainly should be your first choice!

The title sets the tone the authors carry throughout the book. A little too much glorifying. A little too much hype. Yes, what Toyota and others did was impressive. But no, they did not change the world. In my opinion, not even close.

And this book is dated. In fact, though written in the early '90s, it reads more like many of the books written about Japanese management in the early '80s. Books like "Japan As Number One." Or "Trading Places." At the time, the Japanese were thought to be able to do no wrong.

Now, of course, we know that Japanese executives and managers are mere mortals too. Toyota has certainly done better than most Japanese companies over the last 15 years. And part of the reason -- a big part probably -- has been the effectiveness of their management in areas like lean production. But even without the benefit of the hindsight we now have, the authors of this book should have realized that their unstinted praise was not warranted. Even for the brains behind Toyota.

Still, this book is the best I have found on the history of the "Industry of Industries." It traces the history of the automobile industry from craft production to mass production to lean production. No other book I have read has done that so well.

And for an academic book, The Machine That Changed the World is easy to read. It keeps a careful balance between informing the reader and keeping the reader's interest. Most writers, particularly of works like this, tilt too much one way or the other. Either too dry and pedantic or too light and entertaining. A happy medium is hard to achieve.

Where does the auto industry go from here? Lean production is no longer exceptional. It has become the rule. But it seems to have run its course.

The future of the automobile industry may lie in "collaborative production." Major automakers concentrate on sales and service, not production. Suppliers develop specialized skills in technologies from hybrid power trains to drive-by-wire control systems. And everyone sells to everyone else. Technology becomes less important than brand.

If that is the case, Toyota may still lead the pack. In Business Week's list of the top 100 global brands, Toyota leads all carmakers at number 7. No one has caught Toyota napping on the increasing importance of brand.

Even so, Toyota fiercely defends the idea that is a motor company, not a sales company. Innovative technology and excellent manufacturing have been much more of a focus than sales. Will it be able to adapt if the industry does change?

An interesting question that we should see answered in the next few years. Like many good history books, The Machine That Changed the World gives us hints as to what that future will be.

A visiting professor recommended this book when I asked him about the LEAN philosophy. What is great about this book is how it introduces the birth of not only the LEAN concept, but also the MASS PRODUCTION which preceded and still dominates the world of manufacturing. With its timeline based structure, this book shows how and why the complex automotive industry is changing to LEAN. All other industries tend to follow...

This is the best unbiased insight into the operations of the auto industry with great insights into the best practices for design, manufacturing, and marketing. The lessons taught are applicable to any manufacturing industry, especially one that operates on a global basis. It shatters myth, mysteries, and legends and replaces it with scientific data that solidifies the concepts of lean business. A must read for all manufacturing professionals at any level.

This book is about a major study that has been executed in the beginning of the eighties about the competiveness of car manufacturing plants. Now we know that the Japense manufacturing is not that supriour after all this book is still a great book to read. For two reasons. First because its give a clear idea about how you can run a succesfull manufacturing plant and secondly because its give you a beautifull insight about a time when both Europe and the USA were affraid to loss it all to the Japanse. A classic on both business and industrial engineering

This book should be read by every business student. It is a perfect summary of 20th century's industrial development.
This book also provides a perfect insight to large scale academic programs and reseachs. Every student reading this book will gain much more than taking 2 or 3 courses in an MBA program. This book has much to offer than any of the books that I have read. It makes you think and then gives the answers and at the end it presents with you issues to think further.

A small group of firms in a country devastated by war rose to the top in one of the world's most competitive industries. Only by thinking of the way things were done, and why. Everyone connected to the automobile should read this book, and review how things are done in his company.