The Machine That Changed the World
The Story of Lean Production-- Toyota's Secret Weapon in the Global Car Wars That Is Now Revolutionizing World Industry
1: THE INDUSTRY OF INDUSTRIES IN TRANSITION
Forty years ago Peter Drucker dubbed it "the industry of industries." Today, automobile manufacturing is still the world's largest manufacturing activity, with nearly 50 million new vehicles produced each year.
Most of us own one, many of us own several, and, although we may be unaware of it, these cars and trucks are an important part of our everyday lives.
Yet the auto industry is even more important to us than it appears. Twice in this century it has changed our most fundamental ideas of how we make things. And how we make things dictates not only how we work but what we buy, how we think, and the way we live.
After World War I, Henry Ford and General Motors' Alfred Sloan moved world manufacture from centuries of craft production -- led by European firms -- into the age of mass production. Largely as a result, the United States soon dominated the global economy.
After World War II, Eiji Toy ... read full excerpt from: The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production-- Toyota's Secret Weapon in the Global Car Wars That Is Now Revolutionizing World Ind ebook
