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The book traces the evolution of manufacturing management along two lines: That pioneered by Henry Ford, then furthered by Toyota to its modern level of success; versus that originated by Alfred Sloan and others at General Motors still in practice in most American companies today. The latter system of management proves to be the underlying cause of the current failure of American manufacturing to compete.
Foreword written by Dr. Thomas Johnson, author of Relevance Regained, and Relevance Lost, said “In Rebirth of American Industry, William Waddell and Norman Bodek provide a long overdue revision to the standard historical interpretation of the financial control system that DuPont brought to General Motors”which “ has been touted by business gurus such as Peter Drucker and Tom Peters and by leading graduate business schools as the gold standard of good management in American business from the 1950s to the present day.” And, “ Waddell's and Bodek's book helps mark the way by making us more mindful than ever of the pitfalls that lie waiting if we continue to follow the precepts of Sloan-style financial management.” “Indeed, so long as top managers remain committed to the manage-by-results ‘Sloan culture,’ Waddell and Bodek believe that companies have no hope of adopting the "lean culture" that permeates Toyota 's remarkably successful system.”
In my own personal journey, studying Toyota and the other leading Japanese manufacturers these past twenty five years, I was continually amazed and puzzled why GM and Ford did not do what I did, learn from the best and then to forcefully apply the new methodologies in their companies. On my first study mission to Japan in 1981, I visited the American Embassy in Tokyo and met with the information officer. His job was to study the best Japanese technologies and to have that information translated to English to help American companies stay abreast of what was happening in Japan . I was furious at him to have not discovered what Toyota was doing to go from producers of "junk" to world class. His budget, millions of dollars, to spend on translations was hundreds times greater than mine. Somehow, I was blessed to have met Dr. Shigeo Shingo, Mr. Taiichi Ohno, Dr. Ryuji Fukuda, Seiichi Nakajima, Dr. Yoji Akao, Hiroyuki Hirano, Shigehiro Nakamura, Bunji Tozawa, Iwao Kobayashi, Kenichi Sekine and others who were willing to share their information with Americans and allowed me to publish their Japanese books in English. It shortly became obvious to me from my frequent visits to Japan , 65 as of this date, that the Toyota Production System (TPS) was the most important and the most valuable to study. At first, when I met Mr. Taiichi Ohno, vice-president of manufacturing at Toyota , I asked him to let me have things in writing about TPS. He said, " Norman , we don't have things written down, for it is always changing." I felt that he was just reluctant to share the information that was making Toyota so successful. But, I was perseverant. I wouldn't stop searching for information to share with companies in the West. I magically found Dr. Shingo, co-creator with Ohno of TPS, and he graciously allowed me to publish all of his books in English. After a few years, Mr. Ohno also gave me permission to publish his books in English. But, why wouldn't GM and Ford do the same? Why wouldn't they locate, translate and publish everything available on Toyota ? It is still a mystery to me. In 1984, Toyota decided to open a joint venture plant with GM, NUMMI, to share their production system with GM. Virtually, all of Toyota's secrets were then available to GM. Why didn't GM study carefully the JIT/LEAN concepts and apply them? Please read our new book Rebirth of American Industry to foster a new beginning for you and your company.
– Norman Bodek
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