Customer Reviews

Pathways to Agility: Mass Customization in Action (National Association of Manufacturers)

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Wayne Gretrzky for some time has know the .... "Pathways to Agility: Mass Customization in Action". For your information manufacturing innovation is now in its mass customization stage. To yo unwitting managers who are not yet onboard, fear not, mass customization is still in its infancy. But one mustn't tarry. To survive the busimess realities of today, tomorrow, and the next century, one must saddle up soon, according to the author. John Oleson discovered agility as the lone process industry person at a meeting of automobile industry engineers. He's director of manufacturing technology at Dow Corning and probably a man of vision. Agility is the means by which an enterprise adapts, stays of top of competition, and flourishes. If this sounds like Charles Darwin evolutionism, well, it is. Oleson takes us through the history of agility defined as 1) the ability to predict trends and establish appropriate procedures for handling them, and 2) the ability to respond with ease to unexpected but anticipated events. The hunter-gatherers needed to outsmart prey, farmers responded to unexpected changes in the weather to learn effective agriculture, and the craft workers (e.g., tailors, brewers, and blacksmiths) accomadated the needs of the customer. The invention of interchangable parts bridged the evolution from craft to mass production. The Japanese taught the world the spirit and culture of lean manufacturing and it has become a part of the industrial West. Mass Customization, giving people a product that is made just for them or seems to be that way, does not displace any of these improvements. It's simply the next evolutionary step for the survivors, the agile. Oleson illuminates the pathway by outlining the strategic and technical issues tapping a wealth of first hand experience and judiciously using anecdotes. This interesting and informative read is to be used by manufacturing managers and engineers looking to make the tenets of agility a part of the companies' futures. The Great One, perhaps the most successful athlete in any sport, explains his uncanny sucess quite simply, "Iskate to where the puck is going to be." Review by "INTECH" July 1998 in their Books and More section. "INTEK is a Instrument Society of America publication.