Fast Track to Waste-Free Manufacturing: Straight Talk from a Plant Manager (Manufacturing and Production) (Hardcover)

by John W. Davis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Fast Track to Waste-Free Manufacturing: Straight Talk from a Plant Manager : John W. Davis details a new and proven system called Waste-Free Manufacturing (WFM) that rapidly deploys the lean process. Manufacturing in the United States is currently undergoing a major transition, yet large numbers of manufacturers simply do not recognize what it is all about. Many still operate under out dated manufacturing practices and do not see that the enemy is not the competition, but rather their own system of production. Batch, or mass, manufacturing is still the preferred system of production for most U.S.-based industry. But to survive, let alone become globally competitive, companies will have to put aside their old mass manufacturing paradigms and completely change their entire production system.

WFM will give you step-by-step directions to making rapid, lasting changes. Davis has created 4 new drivers of WFM and has linked them so you know what order to do them in and when it is time to move to the next driver. He covers nearly every aspect of the lean revolution and provides essential tools and techniques you will need to implement WFM. He also addresses the critical management issues that will arise in any plant that is striving to be world class.

Drawing from more than 30 years of manufacturing experience, John Davis gives you tools and techniques for eliminating anything that cannot be clearly established as value added. WFM is not a theory. It is a proven process, and one the author has successfully implemented. He shares with you from his own experiences in guiding manufacturers through this process. Davis fully details the journey of a factory that moved from mass to waste-free manufacturing in a matter of 24 months. This factory was nationally recognized by wall street analysts as an effective manufacturing model. You get to sit in on their meetings and learn from their triumphs and failures.

So hold on to your hat, because you are about to learn how to do what most in the field of world class manufacturing tell you isnt possibleto rapidly deploy WFM and change the system of production. Filled with checklists, an ongoing case study, and, most important, strategies that will work, Fast Track to Waste-Free Manufacturing: Straight Talk from a Plant Manager will provide you with the principles and methodology for WFM and a road map for its implementation. All you need is the will, the focus, and a sense of urgency about the future of U.S. manufacturing. If you are a plant manager, foreman, supervisor, or executive who wants to quickly transform your factory into a world class manufacturer, Mr. Davis WFM methodology is must reading.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Productivity Press; 1 edition (March 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563272121
• ISBN-13: 978-1563272127
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #752,600 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! Best In Class!!, April 27, 1999

By	Student Starting Law School Next Fall (Appleton, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

I've been researching and reviewing dozens of books on Suzaki, Womack and Jones, Liker, Hamel and Prahalad, Treacy and Wiersema, Womack, Jones and Roos, Schonberger, Imai,Shingo,Monden, et. al. This book is the first one I've found that provides both rationale for change and, most importantly, step by guidance on "how to" implement the necessary changes. Written in a style that is at times reminiscent of "The Goal", Mr. Davis offers suggestions, recommendations,and guidelines in an easily readable 264 pages that contain no unnecessary jargon, disconcerting statistics, nor is it part of a doctoral thesis meant to impress the academic community. One gets the feeling from reading this book that Mr. Davis has actually "been there"; that he has worked in a career in manufacturing and is truly speaking from experience. Take my word for it; if you want to read one book or recommend one book to your subordinates on the subject, this is the one! I am pleased to write this review and would be willing to communicate with anyone regarding my impressions

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb! Excellently written!! Great learning tool !!, May 23, 1999

By A Customer

Having worked as a facilitator, manager, and consultant transitioning fortune 500 manufacturing companies from batch to lean manufacturing operations since 1991, my hat is off to Mr. John Davis on his superb book "Fast Track to Waste Free Manufacturing." In my travels and teachings I have been exposed to hundreds of teachers, managers, and authors who profess to be experts in the tools, techniques, and principles of the Toyota Production System and lean organizational skills. However, few if any, have the true experience of being in a position responsible for the success of failure of its implementation. Having had the privilege of working with Mr. Davis in the early 90's as he developed his expertise in waste free manufacturing, I can attest that in this book, Mr. Davis does what he always did best. "He walks the talk." In this book, he takes you on a journey of successful implementation of waste free manufacturing and profitability. This is a must read for managers and associates who understand and belief in the tools, principles, and techniques of a waste free manufacturing organiztion and want to learn how to do it. In this book, Mr. Davis demonstrates the importance of focus, commitment, communications, and leadership in transforming a batch organization to a waste free, profitable organization. "For when a true leader has successfully completed his task....They will say we did it ourselves.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Single Best Book on Lean Implementation, May 1, 2002

By	jimbo (Santa Clarita, CA) - See all my reviews

John Davis takes a simple step-by-step approach in describing the transformation of a plant from a typical troubled operation to a lean operation. Davis focuses on basics and "how-to", not buzz words and jargon. Davis provides a framework that can be used by any plant manager who is trying to implement lean manufacturing concepts in a 'traditional' manufacturing setting. This can be used in high volume opertaions but is especially useful in low volume or job shop manufacturing, where the Toyota model with its manic focus on tact time is not always applicable. Davis focuses on workplace organization (using a 6C model which is an adaptation of the familiar 5S concept) as the basis of any lean transformation. This perspective alone is worth the price of the book because many lean efforts fail due to lack of fundamental workplace organization. If you are a plant manager or GM tasked with turning around a low performing operation, or you simply want a primer on Lean, this is the one to buy.