|
| WebNote |
|
|
Click Here to go...
BACK |
Just In Time Production |
|
| |
Abegglen and Stalk chronicle the struggle of Japan's Yanmar Diesel. It was 1975, in the midst of the worst domestic recession since the Korean war. Yanmar looked to Toyota for guidance. They followed Toyota's advice, and adopted the Toyota Production System, or Kanban (card) system. Many Western observers call it the Just in Time system (JIT), though that is just part of it. By any name, what Yanmar accomplished, during a recession, without dramatically increasing volume or radically refocusing its factory, was increased market share.
|
|
| |
Nothing is as reassuring during a recession, as increased market share. In fact, what Yanmar did was to unfocus its factory, increasing the variety of its outputs by a factor or four. Ironically (and erroneously), many Western observers have focussed most of their attention on the most obvious characteristic of JIT - low inventory. Abegglen and Stalk show how this is a serious underestimation of the methods and benefits of JIT production, which completely upsets the conventional economics of manufacturing. Yanmar succeeded by using JIT production methods to offer a greater range of products, in spite of "the dictates of business".
|
|
| |
|
| |
Abegglen, James C., Stalk, George Jr. Kaisha: The Japanese Corporation. Basic Books. New York. 1985.
This expansive examination of Japanese business practices will be of particular interest to Western readers interested in developing their organization's flexibility. This book cuts through the Western myths about Japanese enterprises. The authors reveal how Japanese marketing practices, financial relationships, and workforce strategies, not management style, make Kaishas world pace setters.
|
|
| |
Abegglen and Stalk lay out the truth, and provide an understanding of which Japanese practices can be transplanted into Western businesses, and which cannot. As they show, it is the Japanese focus on coordination, flexibility and responsiveness which provides their competitive advantage.
|
|
|
