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VisionWorks' Breakthrough Solutions
Harnessing the Forces of Change
A Sense of Urgency, Part II – September 2005
Last summer I attended a workshop on Lean
Manufacturing, presented by Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions (AMS)
and hosted by Arkansas Electric Cooperatives. At the workshop, Bill
Kraus and Pamela Speraw from AMS did a terrific job of explaining
how manufacturing firms can cut costs by reducing waste through
introducing Lean Manufacturing principles. AMS is a valuable
resource and can be reached by calling 1-800-637-4634, or through
info@mfgsolutions.org.
Bill told this great story about what happened
through World War II to the present:
- In 1940, the war in Europe created a sense
of urgency in the United States, and U.S. manufacturers had to
quickly switch from producing peacetime consumer goods to producing
wartime weapons and supplies. A fellow named Charles Allen
developed a four step “Training Within Industries” (TWI) program
that was used to train 1,750,650 workers and 16,000 supervisors in
16,511 plants.
- In 1943, 18 million people in the U.S worked in
manufacturing to support the war effort. This was 42 percent of the
workforce.
- In 1945, at the end of the war, the U.S. had the
greatest manufacturing system ever, and the “Training Within
Industries” program was terminated.
- In 1946, post-war Japan experienced a sense
of urgency – their manufacturers had to quickly switch from
producing war-time weapons to producing peacetime consumer goods.
They had no choice – they had to do this to survive. Douglas
MacArthur and Charles Deming used TWI and the Quality System to
rebuild Japan.
- In 1984, Japan introduced “Lean Manufacturing” (a
later evolution of TWI) at a joint venture plant between Toyota and
General Motors in Freemont, CA.
- Since then U.S. manufacturers have been playing
catch-up to Japanese manufacturers.
- In 2004, manufacturing is now a global commodities
game whereby virtually anything can be made by anybody, anywhere.
Does your community or region have a sense
of urgency that compels it to do extraordinary things –
breakthrough solutions - to move it forward? If not, why not?
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Harnessing the Forces of Change
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