This book is for those who want to become factory showcase leaders. Readers learn various tools and techniques along a structured path and will be able to apply them or evaluate their company's effectiveness. The information is useful for:

- Manufacturing Operation leaders

- Department and functional staff, supervisors, and team leaders

- Students studying engineering, operations, supply chain, production planning, finance, human resources, quality, and business administration

- Entrepreneurs starting new manufacturing enterprises

The focus is on the necessary elements for individuals to develop leadership capabilities in manufacturing. The elements address the requirements to make it possible for employees to add greater value. In addition, the approach builds knowledge, factory strength, and collectively establishes a factory showcase culture. The elements presented apply to raw material processing through to advanced technologies such as: 3-D printing and nano-technology. The 4th industrial revolution will introduce more innovation, more digital technology, and a less labor-intensive environment, but the lessons in this book will stand the test of time for any manufacturing facility. If the destination is having a factory showcase culture, then the steps of the journey are:

- Orientation

- Foundation

- Conditioning

- Competitiveness

Part 1 - Orientation is how the company introduces itself to New Hires and to other external people, such as customers, suppliers, contractors, etc. Orientation is visual, mindset, behavioral, and training based. It represents the company's standard operating practices for managing data using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which have to be learned, practiced, and honed for improvement.

Part 2 - Foundation is the core of a company's processes. It is a collection of various systems and practices that are the basis for the company's success. Foundation is purely operational in nature and builds upon the Orientation section. The Foundation section does not stand-alone -- it must be used along with the other main elements.

Part 3 - Conditioning builds upon Orientation and Foundation. It's the culture of motivating people, using daily routines, data collection and analysis, auditing to ensure compliance, coordinating resources to take actions, and responding to various inputs using analytics.

Part 4 - Competitiveness is the way in which a company demonstrates its advantages by implementing short-term plans with long-term investments, strategies, and vision.

Reviews:

Is a must-read, step-by-step tutorial for those working in a factory. Whether you are just beginning a career in manufacturing or have spent many years in the plant, the principles in this book lay out a solid foundation for understanding and driving manufacturing excellence. This is a well done, comprehensive review of the many elements needed to establish a well-functioning manufacturing facility. It outlines the foundational elements needed to establish a successful operation through technical details required to support a continuously improving plant, showing the full comprehensive road map for operational excellence. The book talks about all the milestones and deliverables by each function with a clear checklist and ownership that needs to be well understood by all levels in the organization. Change Management risk reduction is emphasized, and is an important aspect that works well with design reviews by failure modes. A very comprehensive analysis that when applied will undoubtedly improve any organization overall, and the bottom line! By reading the book you feel very close to the experience of the author -- sometimes it is like you are on the shop-floor during the shift hand-over.