Product Description
There has never been a more critical time to rebuild the foundation of America's economy. President Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have both stressed the need to produce goods in America again. Doing so would create more jobs, reduce harmful global trade imbalances, and strengthen the American economy. But it is easier said than done. Manufacturing in America is in serious decline, with 40,000 factory closures and more than five million jobs lost over the last decade alone. How can the United States industrial sector be revived? The Alliance for American Manufacturing-- an innovative partnership of the United Steelworkers union and leading U.S. manufacturers-- asked some of the brightest minds in America for their ideas. 'Manufacturing a Better Future for America' details the challenges and opportunities the country faces at this critical time: trade policy, skills and training, research and development, national security, supply chains, new technology, and globalization. If you want to understand the sector that is most vital to America's economic renewal, you must read this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

4.5 stars-Excellent.However,the basic points are in Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations
This is a book of collected essays that deals with the negative consequences resulting from government policydecisions that started in the administration of Jimmy Carter.Carter was ,basically, a Wall Street supply sider.He started the deregulation of the American financialand banking industry.He presided over the deregulation of the communications and transportation sectors in the US.The hollowing out and downsizing of the American industrial manufacturing sector started with policies implemented by Carter.All Presidents since Carter have simply increased the rate at which the pace of deindustrialization has been carried out since 1980.

These policies were based on a libertarian philosophy and definition of free trade taught at the University of Chicago's economics department and Booth School of Business by Milton Friedman ,George Stigler,etc .This libertarian definition of free trade directly contradicts the conservative free trade position presented by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations in 1776.Smith was an advocate of both revenue and retaliatory tariffs.(The only exception would be if the threat of retaliation had a 0% probability of eventual success).Smith put into place the highest tariffs in world history in 1780 in Scotland.These rates would only be exceeded by Alexander Hamilton in 1794 in the USA.For example,it is really very simpleand easy to see that Smith would long ago have advocated a resort to the threat of retaliation to deal with the 50 and 20 year old policies of currency manipulation ,respectively,engaged in by the central Banks of Japan and China,respectively.

Smith's analysis of free trade assumes that the plants and factories remain in the home country.Smith is very clear.Protectionist tariffs are to be dismantled very carefully and slowly in order to prevent the destruction of the home country's fixed stock of durable capital,the plants and factories.The absurd libertarian claim that the home country will allow its stock of durable capital goods,its plants and factories ,as well as all of the future innovative and technological improvement and breakthroughs that create the dynamic wealth of a nation over time ,to relocate over seas has nothing to due with conservative economics.
My main criticism of the book is that there is no in depthcoverage of Adam Smith's conservative position with respect to free trade in any of the nine essays.The very first essay sgould have been a historical summing up of Adam Smith's position and a discussion of the adherence to it of all American Presidents up to 1946.

Solid read for the manufacturing professional
As a student of and participant in the manufacturing industry in North America, I found this book to be one of the most data rich and insight filled books on the market today.Deep insight into where our manufacturing industry came from, where it is today, and what must be done to position our manufacturing industries from policy perspective.Great resource book for executive teams as they plot their companies' strategies and futures.

Manufacturing a Better Future for America
Best book on American manufacturing and the failures of American trade policy ever written!

Stephen Crockett, Host of Democratic Talk Radio

tallies the social cost of lost manufacturing in the US
One of the most important books of the past two decades.This is the first, most comprehensive study of the social costs of the loss of the manufacturing sector to the US economy since the process of globalization went into high gear in the mid 1980s.The deregulation, "free trade," open borders and privatization policies pursued by President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher in the UK led to today's global financial casino and all the woes it helped cause in the series of financial crises culminating in the Wall Street debacle of 2008.Hidden and overlooked by obsolete statistics in the US government, the lobbying of global corporations and their "free trade" economists is the tragedy of this unnecessary loss of domestic production.This hollowing out of the USA and the resulting loss of millions of high-paying manufacturing jobs to China, Mexico, India and other low-wage countries is documented in painful, shocking detail.

For 20 years, I have pointed to reasons the USA has experienced "jobless growth"- rooted in the abstractions of macroeconomics theories and methods.The faith in "free trade" has prevented government agencies from making use of futurists' broader forecasting and planning methods used by most global corporations.Their economic advisors' market fundamentalism warned against "industrial policy" except for that covertly practiced by the Department of Defense and activities in the name of "national security."Thus, the "hollowing out" of US manufacturing has continued for two decades at the behest of global corporations and their investment bankers.President Bush I famously held that it did not matter whether the US manufactured computer chips or potato chips, while President Bush II's chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, Gregory Mankiw, maintained that outsourcing was good for American workers who could take their severance pay and 401Ks and become day traders on the stock markets.

Add to these idiocies the stout denials by economists that increasing capital-intensive technological change, automating manufacturing and services would create the structural unemployment we see today.Conventional measures of output per capita masked this technological unemployment as beneficial "increases in productivity" for decades, as we have pointed out for years on the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators ([...]).Unfortunately, Obama administration economic advisors are mostly steeped in conventional theories and models which continue to serve Wall Street and corporate interests at the expense of workers and individuals (see the excellent reports at www.prospect.org).

Hazel Henderson, author of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy
[...].

Globalization and the decline of the United States as an industrial power
This is the oen of the most important economics books of today.Composed of chapters written by academics and "think tank" policy makers and analysts, it is well written with extensive footnotes and references.It gives tables and graphs of facts and figures behind the dramatic decline in manufacturing that occurred in the last two decades, which became severe since the 2001 recession.

Topics discussed include protectionist and unfair trade practices such as export subsidies, currency manipulation, forced technology transfer, lax environmental, health and safety regulations, export restrictions, counterfeiting and piracy.

The myth of the US transition to a "knowledge economy" is busted, with a discussion of off-shoring of US research and development, the rise of foreign R&D and the relocation of information technology business services to places like India by companies such as IBM.

A chapter on support industries critical for national defense examines the trend in employment, sales and number of firms in 16 supplier industries, which are overwhelmingly in decline, with companies that make essential spare parts to expensive military hardware going out of business without keeping critical molds, drawings and other things necessary to make these parts.

There is also a chapter about the social consequences of deindustrialization, which covers the largely unsuccessful attempts to replace lost high wage manufacturing jobs and the resulting decline in communities, resulting in urban blight.The downward mobility of laid off manufacturing workers is also discussed.

Unfortunately much of what has occurred is irreversible.

I cannot recommend this book too highly.

My personal analysis:
Having worked as a manufacturing engineer for 30 years, I witnessed much of the decline as it happened and noticed the particularly severe downturn in the last 10 years.

Just as tremendous gains in productivity in the early 20th Century, such as electrification, mass production and agricultural mechanization, caused high unemployment during the Great Depression, globalization will turn the Great Recession into something much more severe and prolonged.The important difference between then and now is that productivity greatly increased our wealth, while globalization exports wealth to the low wage countries.
... Read more

Product Description
Going Lean sets aside the notion that efficient operations and powerful inno­vations are only possible when business is steady and demand is growing.Instead, companies must learn that sudden shifts or unpredictable conditions need not undermine their results. Led by a new breed of companies -Toyota, Wal-Mart, and Southwest Airlines--a powerful, yet unexpected mindset is reshaping the rules for business competitiveness. By using Lean Dynamics (tm)--based on the now-famous Toyota Production System--companies everywhere can thrive in virtually any environment. In Going Lean, readers will learn how to: become broadly effective in creating and sustaining value * set a critical foundation for achieving sustained excellence * identify sources of lag and create robust value streams that thrive in today's dynamic conditions * describe the underlying techniques to maintain steady and predictable flow * create a system based on "pull," or external demand that consistently introduces new innovation even during severe downturns * strive for perfection * deliver industry-leading returns ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

How to use lean dynamics to thrive in chaotic conditions
People and organizations too often find that the very things they did to prepare for emergencies end up making their problems worse. Stephen A. Ruffa shows you how to use the "lean dynamics" approach to track "lag" within your operations and eliminate it before it harms your competitiveness and makes you less adaptable in a crisis. He explains how to determine where lag is hiding and how to root it out. He offers a solid plan for launching lean dynamics and getting everyone on board. Ruffa also explains how to measure and maximize value within the lean dynamics system, and tells you how to stay ahead of the "value curve." Ruffa writes clearly and illustrates his principles by comparing Toyota and the Detroit automakers, Wal-Mart and Kmart, and Southwest and other major airlines. getAbstract recommends his book to anyone interested in learning about a new approach to business operations.

Wow - what a pile of clear thought
I believe this book offers a great pile of facts on why some of the production factories go terribly off the road recently.

Thumbs up for the style, precise and covering structure of thought and usage of analogies (which are both entertaining and hitting the bull-eye).

The only bit that takes it from 5 stars super-book is the length of the text. Not too many readers would be patient to go through. I understand that author's mission was to walk the reader through the whole argument and build the castle brick by brick. That is all fine, but sometimes the comments on how bad the actual environment is get repeated and obsolete.
You can slap the actual operational setting into the face at the start very hard with some bolder statements and then promise to answer why the slap was actually well deserved in the text.

And oh yes you can prove the slap with the text in this book!!!

Going Lean
In "Going Lean: How the Best Companies Apply Lean Manufacturing Principles to Shatter Uncertainty, Drive Innovation and Maximize Profits", Steve Ruffa has taken the mathematical insight of an Aerospace engineer and combined it with in-depth analysis of three industry leading companies, Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines and Toyota to bring us the concept of Lean Dynamics.
In this time of changing business conditions "Lean Dynamics" can be used to survive, thrive and grow.
The industrial countryside is littered with companies that have started Lean programs just to find sustainability too elusive. This book answers the questions of dealing with lag, how to create a steady and predictable flow in a customer driven supply chain and how to apply the lean dynamic tool to measure sustainability in changing business climates.
By showing us the mistakes of some of the early industrial leaders Mr. Ruffa leads the reader through steps on how not to repeat them. Including the wisdom of Ducker and Deming with the successful systems of Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines and Toyota we find things everyone can learn from past and present Lean Leaders.
This Book is a must read for all Industry and Government leaders in this turbulent time.

A Must Read
Going Lean is a must read for both the Lean veterans and those just initiating their Lean journeys.Again, Ruffa successfully provides an excellent book that doesn't just fall into the "same as" type of Lean category.By providing data on organizations across diverse sectors, he shows the far reaching applicability of Lean principles.His "value curve" clearly depicts the separation of the Lean versus the not-quite-so Lean organizations, and Ruffa's work, as usual, is backed by solid research.I highly recommend this book.

where is the substance?
IMHO this book lacks depth.The author constantly refers to the impetus for change, but no clear framework is given.The reader feels a sense of urgency without any guidance.

True, the author did his research and contemporary examples for WalMart, Toyota and others are sprinkled throughout the book.However, no unified theory is every provided. Yes, change is required, and yes it must be company wide... but now what? ... Read more

Product Description
Designers are becoming more directly involved in the fabrication process from the earliest stages of design. This book showcases the design and research work by some of the leading designers, makers and thinkers today.

This highly illustrated text brings together a wealth of information and numerous examples from practice which will appeal to both students and practitioners.

Customer Reviews (1)

Another excellent book on Digi-architecture
Materials and effects are age-old themes of architecture.
Tectonics, joinery, and permanence are the key themes that
resurface over and over again in the theory and practice of
architecture. Now the grounds are fast shifting due to awesome
new tools available for architects.

Digital parametric design and manufacturing process has freed
"formal imagination" and "material imagination".
In this volume, use of materials and their aftermath
effects are pushed to edge. Using both emergent materials
and innovative application of conventional materials,
desired dynamic and adaptive formal/surface/spatial
effects are achieved.

Beginning with introductory essay by Prof. Kolarevic and
Prof. Klinger,the book introduces case studies of multiple
architects, researchers, and vendors. Key built projects by
Herzog de Meuron, SHoP, Barkow Leibinger, SANAA, OMA, etc
focus on the actual materiality and fabrication aspect.
Experimental projects are as much provoking, if not more,
as built projects.

This is a key publication (along with "Architecture in the
Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing", edited by Prof. Kolarevic)
for those who seek cutting-edge architectural technology,
innovative material application, and pioneering spatial effect-making.
... Read more

Product Description
An integrated supply chain management (SCM) system represents a critical success factor for effective implementation of lean manufacturing. The software functionality must be able to manage variations in lean scenarios as well as changes associated with continuous improvement efforts and the maturity stages of lean manufacturing. This book explains the software functionality to support lean manufacturing scenarios, as defined by functionality within the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. It also covers the traditional approaches to these same scenarios. It explains the incremental conceptual differences between the lean and traditional approaches, and helps those readers with a traditional SCM/ERP background to understand the new vocabulary and conceptual models. The targeted reader includes those individuals implementing or considering Dynamics AX to support their lean manufacturing initiatives, as well as those providing sales and implementation services. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Very Helpful AX References
Scott's Dynamics books continue to be an excellent resource for practicioners and consultants alike.He delivers sometimes complex AX functionality and breaks it down into a form that is easy to understand and follow.

[...]

Comprehensive guide on Lean Manufactuing in Dynamics AX
The book was well structured and full of helpful hints, recommendations and useful illustrations to assist the reader with understanding how to setup AX in a Lean Manufacturing environment.The index and TOC enable you to quickly zero in on a specific topic of interest. The illustrations and tables were very helpful in communicating concepts. The author identifies the relationships between various lean components, parameter settings, concepts and draws comparisons to traditional SCM approaches. I would recommend this book to anyone considering Lean Manufacturing in an AX environment.

A concise reference handbook for a Dynamics AX implementation using lean manufacturing.
Understanding how to take the core lean manufacturing concepts and apply them to any Dynamics AX implementation in a manufacturing environment is a challenge given the complexities of the manufacturing industry. This book helps lay the foundation on how Dynamics AX can be used for handling kanbans and the different maturity stages of lean. I found the cases studies particularly helpful and would recommend this book as a must read for any organization intending to use Dynamics AX to better manage its supply chain.

Get up to speed quickly on Lean Manufacturing
Our client wanted us to investigate the new Dynamics AX functionality that supports lean manufacturing, so it was a pleasant surprise to find a relevant book on the topic.This book walked us through the conceptual differences between traditional and lean approaches to supply chain management, and provided detailed step-by-step solutions to typical lean scenarios.The explanations for using kanbans to manage lean manufacturing were straight-forward and very helpful, and the numerous diagrams and screen examples really helped us understand how AX could be used. The book provided a short learning curve, which was especially helpful given our time constraints and other consulting responsibilities. ... Read more

Product Description
Written by a seasoned professional with more than 50 years experience in manufacturing, the new third edition of this widely used text and self-training manual has been expanded to include many new and revised worksheets designed to facilitate the reader's ability to form a mental picture from a drawing. Blueprint Reading Basics reviews the subject in great detail using many illustrations and examples, as well as thoroughly reviewing all other aspects of print reading. It includes industry standards, practices, and copies of industrial prints throughout, providing a balanced presentation of blueprint reading theory and industry applications. And it is the perfect text for students taking blueprint reading, machine shop, or tool and die courses, as well as machinists, mechanics, technicians, and inspectors.

FEATURES

o Each chapter thoroughly covers one subject and contains an introduction, a detailed review of the subject, illustrations, review questions, and worksheets with short and specific questions.
o Many worksheets can be completed after studying one subject, meaning they can be reviewed before studying the entire chapter.
o Discussions of mathematics, engineering theories, drafting techniques and machine shop practices are kept to a minimum.
o All exercises can be used as teaching aids and have been classroom tested.
o Stresses practical concerns through questions designed to reinforce techniques of calculating dimensions.
o Written in a nontechnical and easy-to-understand manner. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Basic Coverage of Fundamental Blueprint Principles
This book is geared toward mechanical prints and covers the basic blueprint reading principles.It is a good buy for a person starting in a machine shop where they will be seeing a lot of prints.

I bought it hoping it could outline some more advanced drafting principles like welding symbols.It does briefly cover these and most everyday aspects of blueprint reading, however only in a very basic sense.

On the other hand, it does guide one through all the principles and help one to remember them through exercises.But it is for absolute beginners only; those just starting to study Drafting or those wishing to learn how to read shop prints. For those it is a good start.

A good book on print reading.
This is a excellent basic book on print reading. It uses easy to understand examples and enforces what you are studying with chapter questions. I have used this book at work to bring associates up to speed on the basics. An excellent book for the money.

Excellent source
I loved this book. For someone beginning the quest for mechanical and engineering knowledge, this is just the right book to start with. The ability to read blue prints in critical to any similar pursuit. I will be attempting to learn CAD/CAM or Pro/E next and this will make a fantastic foundation. Thank you Warren Hammer. ... Read more

Product Description

Manufacturing Green Prosperity: The Power to Rebuild the American Middle Class connects two critical issues: the importance of manufacturing to the growth and fair distribution of national wealth and the need to create an environmentally sustainable society. In so doing, the book offers groundbreaking arguments demonstrating the centrality of manufacturing and shows ways in which creating a green economy will rebuild U.S. manufacturing and expand the middle class.

Drawing from the fields of political science, economics, ecology, history, engineering, and philosophy, the author challenges existing myths about manufacturing, exposes the weaknesses of neoclassical economics, and proposes a production-centered alternative. America, he persuasively argues, needs a sophisticated, green manufacturing base in order to create an entirely new transportation and energy infrastructure—one that will make cities ecologically sustainable; prevent the worst effects of global warming; protect vulnerable ecosystems; and counter the depletion of oil, coal, and other critical natural resources.

Customer Reviews (1)

Why rebuilding the economy can save the planet...
The U.S. is in serious economic trouble (high unemployment, high consumer endebtedness, falling housing prices, soaring trade deficits and a banking system unwilling to lend, etc). The Republicans propose decreasing taxes, which will shrink the government sector and prolong the malaise, and even could lead to Japanese-style deflation. The Democrats propose more stimulus (as long as long-term interest rates remain low), while remaining silent on the off-shoring of production. What is missing in this picture is the necessity of increasing the productive capacity of the country to generate wealth at home and real economic growth. Jon Rynn provides the evidence and rationale for such a critique.

Rynn describes, convincingly in my view, the trajectory of industrial nations over the centuries as they invented new machinery and forms of production and wrestled for control of nascent empires. In general, developing manufacturing bases led to prosperity, while excessive militarism bled empires. This places the U.S. in double trouble, as it continues to outsource its manufacturing, while clinging to foreign wars with hundreds of military bases across the globe. The U.S. is now in danger of not just losing leadership, but of slipping into collapse, as it places its economic hopes in the dreams of neoliberal globalization (which itself will increasingly collide with oil depletion).

The description of this process would be a worthy book in itself. But Rynn goes much further by projecting a future of failing ecosystems, an unstable climate and falling supplies of raw materials, particularly oil. How will the U.S. deal with a world of rising energy prices, rising tides and a shrinking manufacturing base?

Fortunately, the last one third of the book provides a prescription for such a scenario. The U.S. must revitalize its productive capacity by rebuilding for a sustainable future with a new transportation system based on rail, a housing system based on dense, urban living, an energy system based on renewables and an agricultural sector based on organic and low-energy inputs.

At once visionary and pragmatic, this book ought to be on the shelf of every person concerned about the economy, and the state of the global environment. It ought to spur the creativity that will be needed to tackle the challenges we face and fight the malaise and cynicism of our stale political scene. It challenges both environmentalists and Peak Oilers who call for austerity and New Dealers who call for more roads. Rynn would welcome those debates. Only an engaged citizenry, reshaping the government, Rynn argues, can guide us to a decent future for all. It's hard to argue with that.



... Read more

Product Description
This revised edition contains material on the use ofsoftware, organization strategies in cost estimating, new types ofcosts, learning curves, and much more. Topics presented includemanufacturing costs, standard vs. actual costs, cost in relation toproduct volume, analysis, types of estimates, cost estimatingcontrols, cost requests from other departments, evaluating supplierquotes, calculating selling prices, and much more. ... Read more

Product Description
There are some very good books available that explain the Lean Manufacturing theory and touch on implementing its techniques. However, you cannot learn "how to be" lean from merely reading the theory. And to be successful in the real-work environment you need a clear comprehension of how lean techniques work, rather than just a remote understanding of what they are. You need to know what does and does not work in different situations. And you need the benefit of practical experience in their implementation.Lean Manufacturing: Tools, Techniques, and How to Use Them gives you the benefit of author and practitioner William Feld's 15 years of hands-on experience - and the lessons he's learned. Feld provides insight into the appropriate use of assessment, analysis, design, and, most importantly, deployment of a successful lean manufacturing program. Packed with practical advice and tips but not bogged down in theory, this book covers how, why, when, and what to do while implementing lean manufacturing. It equips you with the tools and techniques you need along with an understanding of how and why they work. Feld explores why an integrated approach is so much more beneficial in securing sustained improvement. He focuses on the interdependency of the Five Primary Elements: organization, metrics, logistics, manufacturing flow, and process control. He describes a proven, applied approach to creating a lean program using these elements. To keep up globally, and even locally, your manufacturing operation must be responsive, flexible, predictable, and consistent. You must continually improve manufacturing operations and cultivate a self directed work force driven by output based, customer performance criteria. By applying what you learn from Lean Manufacturing: Tools, Techniques, and How to Use Them you can build a workforce - and an organization - with the capacity to satisfy world class expectations now and into the future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Not what you're expecting...
If you're looking for an upper-level view of lean programs, this MAY help.If you're looking for anything that assists in the actual implementation of ANY lean techniques, keep looking elsewhere.

Great start to lean implementation
Everyone is looking for the lean cookbook. Sorry, but it doesn't exist. However, if you're looking for a good solid start, here it is. I've been doing lean consulting for nearly a decade, and found this book to be one of the best. Forget theories and potential benefits: here's where the rubber hits the road. The deployment plan presented is sound and can be easily adapted to most operations. The case study at the end helps to make the process more practical. While there is still no "Lean For Dummies" book out there yet, here is a good solid place to learn how to do it.

Disapointing and confusing
After reading Womack's books on lean, Feld seemed to be coming from a completely different perspective.The intriguing title and description suggested to me this book would be helpful in furthering my understanding of lean concepts (as described by Womack) and how to implement them.While I found a few bits and piecesto be helpful, overall it suggested a much different and confusing approach.In addition the way ideas were presented seemed to come more from a "how things might be done" rather than "how things were done that lead to success."

Lean Manufacturing: Tools, Techniques, and How to Use Them
This book was very refreshing as it took a very detailed approach at Lean manufacturing and made it not only easy to understand but easy to implement. This is a step by step, "holistic" approach to LT. If you ever get a chance to meet the author Bill Feld, and talk to him one on one you should jump at the chance. He is obviously one of the most knowledgable in North America on the sublect of Lean Manufacturing. ... Read more

Product Description
Presenting the best practices of the best manufacturing companies in the world, this book presents proven models for achieving world-class performance. Using a case study of a fictional company called Beta International, Moore illustrates how to increase uptime, lower costs, increase market share, maximize asset utilization, apply benchmarks and best practices, and improve many other aspects that ultimately raise your company's performance to the level of world-class. 'Making Common Sense Common Practice' takes a good, hard look at plant design, procurement, parts management, installation and maintenance, training, and implementing a computerized maintenance management system. In discussing the successes and failures of the world's premier manufacturers, Moore outlines a stable path of growth for almost any manufacturing company. In today's tough competitive markets, 'Making Common Sense Common Practice' greatly enhances your company's chance to succeed - and profit.

* Third edition features updating plus new sections on innovation, change management, and leadership
* Presents proven models for achieving world-class performance based on real-life case histories
* Highly readable, concrete style brings the key points to life through a case study of a fictitious organization, Beta International, which runs throughout the book, based on real case histories ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Best all-inclusive Maintenance and Manufacturing reference!
Ron Moore has broken the traditional mould of Maintenance manuals with this book!This is an all inclusive comprehensive guide to managing, operating and maintaining a production facility.I highly recommend this book for both Operations and Maintenance / Reliability professionals.Covers everything from business Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to establishing meaningful vibration alarm limits.The book relates information in a storybook fashion using several imaginary facilities as examples, which makes it much easier (and more entertaining) to digest.

Forward to the Fundamentals
Ron's book is not only good for the Society of Maintenance and Reliability Professionals certification, it's great for educating upper management that cutting costs are not always the answer to driving improved capacity and plant reliability.Many times, investing in proactive behaviors outweigh saving our way to prosperity.When undergoing change efforts around reliability practices, I share this book with senior management, asking them to read the first two chapters if nothing else.

Jeff Shiver, CMRP, CPMM

Great career development material
Ron Moore's knowledge and passion for business comes out in his book "Making Common Sense, Common Practice". I give this book to supervisors as required reading material when they are preparing for the Society of Maintenance & Reliability Society's - Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional Exam. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

A vast wealth of insight
This book is much more than a simple transcript of the documentary of the same name, it also offers a lot of information and excerpts from interviews with and writings by Noam Chomsky not included in the film.It is a very wonderfully put together book.This might be the best introduction to Chomsky's thought around.and the philosopher all star trading cards in the back of the book are a great idea. Plus, it really looks good on the coffee table.

An extremely useful book
"While the film has met with large-scale success throughout much of the world, it is as a book that Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media is most useful.A virtual transcript of the film, it also includes a range of other materials--extended extracts from Chomsky's writings, reviews of those writings, interviews and a variety of novelty items, from comic strips through to a set of "Philosopher all-Star" trading cards attached to the spine.Through these, the emphasis on Chomsky's personality with marks the film (and about which Chomsky himself was concerned) is diminished, and the result is a highly skimmable guide to Chomsky's political ideas, the controversies in which he has been embroiled, and the notoriously thorny question of the relationship between his political and linguistic ideas.It is, perhaps, too fragmentary and montage-like in its organization to serve as a course text, but as a distillation of one important current within Western radical thought it is extremely useful."

Will Straw,
Canadian Journal of Communication

Useful Primer for the Uninitiated
This documentary is a reasonable exposition of Chomsky's views. For those unfamiliar with Chomsky's (and Edward Herman's) propaganda model, this film is highly recommended. Those already conversant with Chomsky will probably revel in the extension of his ideas to real Living Color (those who agree with him anyway). However, I have one complaint: the propaganda system is complicated, and the film seems to take a dive on the specifics instead of dealing with its essential details. The failure to explicate what exactly Chomsky means when he speaks of "thought control in a democratic society" allows the pejorative claim that his ideas are "conspiratorial" to seep into the argument. Tom Wolfe scoffingly impugns what he calls, "the cabal"- I doubt he's actually read Chomsky. Anyone who understands the propaganda model, even if they fervently deny its existence, realizes that it is not worthy of "conspiracy theory" derision. The film would have done well to debunk this myth.

The other flaw as I see is the focus on Chomsky's background and personal life, which are superfluous to the film's main message and inconsistent with Chomsky's own feelings about celebrity.

As you can imagine, the film is rather one-sided in favor of Chomsky's views. Once you've seen this, it's absolutely imperative to read "Necessary Illusions", "Manufacturing Consent", and even some of Chomsky's other books- "The Washington Connection" and "Rouge States" are recommended. Also of note is that Chomsky may be Godfather of media criticism, but others including Nancy Snow and Michael Parenti have written well on the subject.

A primer in intellectual self-defense
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media is the essential companion book to the celebrated philosophical documentary film of the same name which was released in 1993.

Noam Chomsky followers and all freethinkers who have seen the film (and those who have not) owe it tothemselves to get a copy of this provocative book and discover theincredible depth and lucidity of Chomsky's thought and ideas which addressthe most important moral, ethical, political and social issues of ourtime.

The book contains a complete transcript of the film, with 300stills illustrating the text, as well as copious excerpts from Chomsky'swritings, interviews and other sources. The side-bar rich format of thebook is well designed in that it allows one to follow the sometimes fastpace of the documentary's narrative while providing well chosen excerptsfrom Chomsky's writings that enrich and elucidate the topics presented inthe film.

Like the film, this book will hold your attention, and you willfind yourself returning again and again to explore the political life andtimes of the controversial author, linguist, and radical philosopher NoamChomsky.I would highly recommend this book both to the seasoned reader ofChomsky's work and as a very approachable introduction for the first timereader to this authors intellectually potent thought. ... Read more

Product Description
Relying on ethnographic and statistical data, this volume documents the many constraints and social forces that prevent Mexican-origin adolescents from constructing social networks, and thus social support. The role of social networks in shaping young people's chances is illuminated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mexican/Latino Adolescents in the U.S.--"An Eloquent Rendering"
"A beautifully written and inspiring book that announces a new generation of Mexican/Latino scholars.... This is a book which tells the tale about Mexican/Latino adolescents but, in reality, it is a book about how working-class adolescent life is socially constructed, defined, and elaborated in the United States. An eloquent rendering, indeed."

--Carlos G. Vélez-Ibáñez, Presidential Chair in Anthropology, University of California, Riverside ... Read more

Product Description
Manufacturing Engineering and Technology describes both time-tested and modern methods of manufacturing engineering materials. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

The best textbook bargin ...
This great tome arrived a bit late, but it arrived in perfect condition. The price is unbeatable. I would certainly look for my next textbook with this vendor.

It's an o.k. book.
Purchased as a text.

Some good information but the class didn't use the text much.I read most of it before the class started and although it was a dry subject and several of the sections and examples were dated, it served its purpose.

A must for the student of manufacturing
I like this book and think it should be in the hands of every manufacturing engineer. Most of the classical manufacturing subjects for example materials technology is treated, but also modern subjects like computer integrated manufacturning systems and automation. As far as I can see it is updated with the latest research and engineering practice.

Classic Manufacturing Technology Working Book [1989 ed]
This is one of 2 books that captures the essence of a manufacturing management (or industrial engineering) engineering undergraduate degree- the other being an operations management text from Ray Wild, Nigel Slack,or Laurie Mullins. To help get an idea of what being a manufacturingengineer involves, prospective students should envision a dose of intenseteam & individual industry-based change projects, and striving globallycompetitive companies to add "seasoning" to these books.The broad`technology' contents are useful for industry veterans, consultants, andundergraduate students alike, as well as being a good starting point forresearchers.

Over 1000 pages of richly detailed and illustrated yetconcise contents span:

* materials properties- metals, behaviour &testing, properties, alloys, production of steels, non-ferrous production,plastics, ceramics, and composites.

* metal casting processes andequipment- fundamentals, processes, and design & economics.

*formingand shaping processes and equipment- rolling, forging, extrusion anddrawing, sheet-metal forming, powder metallurgy, forming & shapingplastic & composites, forming & shaping ceramics & glass.

*material removal processes and machines- cutting, tolls & fluids,round-shape processes, various-shape processes, machine tools andeconomics, abrasive processes & operations, and non-traditionalprocesses.

* joining processes and equipment- oxyfuel & arc &resistance welding, solid-state welding, metallurgy, brazing/soldering& mechanical joining processes.

* surface technology- characteristics& measurement, tribology, surface treatment, fabrication ofmicroelectronics,

* common aspects of manufacturing- metrology, testingand quality assurance, human factors and safety.

* manufacturing in acompetitive environment- automation, integrated systems, competition andeconomics.

The strengths include the vast amount of detail,illustrations, references and exercises to embed learning; broadness yetcorrectness of content; and many examples of industrial application andusefulness for industry. An updated version, with further additions onlatest technologies, process control, and systems analysis/simulation &change management, would address the only weakness of the text (the sectionon competitive environment manufacturing). Thoroughly recommended as areference and how-to book in manufacturing (suspect latest version evenbetter!)

[Refers to first edition 1989 ISBN 0201128497]

an excelent engineering refrence
this book contains all the information ever needed by a mechanical production engineer. it is a usful addition to all libararies. ... Read more

Product Description
Well organized and clearly written, this book uses a sound analytical approach to explain manufacturing processes; it enables the reader to understand and appreciate the complex interrelationships between the diverse topics in this field. The book carefully presents the fundamentals of materials processing along with their relevant applications, so that the reader can clearly assess the capabilities, limitations, and potentials of manufacturing processes and their competitive aspects. Using real-world examples and well-wrought graphics, this book covers a multitude of topics, including the mechanical behavior of materials; the structure and manufacturing properties of metals; surfaces, dimensional characteristics, inspection, and quality assurance; metal-casting processes including heat treatment; bulk deformation processes; sheet-metal forming processes; material removal processes; polymers, reinforced plastics, rapid prototyping and rapid tooling; metal powders, ceramics, glasses, composites, and superconductors; joining and fastening processes; microelectronic and micromechanical devices; automation; computer-integrated systems; and product design. For manufacturing engineers, metallurgists, industrial designers, material handlers, product designers, and quality assurance managers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Quick Delivery
I received my textbook in the estimated time frame, and it was in pristine condition. Very happy with the provider and I would purchase from them again in the future when I need more textbooks.

Incredible content, poor binder quality
I have not had a chance to really delve into the content. But paging through the book, I am very excited to go deeper.The book seems to touch on almost all mfg processes, even addressing material behavior, metallurgy, tribology, and some other wide ranging subjects that affect manufacturing.

That being said, I bought this book "new" from Amazon and it has several gouges on the front and back cover. Also the back cover hinge looks like someone took a knife to it so that there's only the inside glued paper that's holding the hard cardboard onto the book. Never seen anything like this from Amazon.

Great book and great educator
i was privileged enough to have dr. kalpakjian as a teacher in college before he retired. we used his 3rd edition as our textbook. now as i start my career in engineering, i am finding that i need to refer to the book! i borrowed the book in college for his class and am now buying a copy for our office.a great reference.very well thought out book with excellent diagrams.worth every penny.

Oversimplified
The emphasis of this book seems to be more on the basic mechanics of the different processes it describes.That's fine, and important to understand manufacturing, but...

BUT, he gives very little attention to how the material being processed responds to the processing.Without a better understanding of the microstructural effects -- and ensuing DEfects -- it may be too hard to troubleshoot the processes described in this book.

My professor was flipping through the early chapters of this book (where the materials issues are presented) and declared them "cheesy."

So, to sum up:this good book becomes great by combining it with other books/courses/professors/etc that will interject materials issues into this books discussion of the mechanical issues.

A great engineering book
This book is one of the best in manufacturing engineering, even if there are a few mistakes in some mathematical deductions. I think it is a very didactic and easy to learn book, it shows almost every manufacturing process used by modern industry. ... Read more

Product Description
The third edition of this authoritative text focuses on the organization and operation
of the U.S. textiles and fashion industry how fashion apparel and accessories are
designed, manufactured, marketed, and distributed and examines the role of these
industries within a global context. Since the publication of the first edition, the textile
and apparel industries have continued to undergo tremendous change. Quick Response
strategies have evolved into supply-chain management, Web-based business-to-business
and business-to-consumer communications and commerce have grown, and
mass customization is a reality. The third edition of this book continues to capture the
dynamics of the fashion industry by emphasizing the technological, organizational, and
global changes in its various components. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Business of Fashion
This book is very informative about all of the aspects of the buisness behind fashion.

The Business Side of the London Fashionista
The cover says it all. Fashion is Business! very straightforward and interesting from page to page.

A bit of a strain for non-students of the industry
Very informative - yet just not what I would have imagined.It would terrific it told you how to create your fashion business from scratch.

I used this book for a class...
This book was to be purchased for my "Business of Fashion" class.What a great purchase.After the class was over I didn't turn it back in to get money for it.I kept it knowing that someday I may want a reference guide.It was a great investment!

A very good introduction and view into the Fashion Business
I not only learned alot from reading this book but actually enjoyed the reading considering it's a text book.As someone who's trying to get back into the fashion industry after a 20 year hiatus; I feel that I have theknowledge I need to head in the direction I want to go now.I really likedhow they used real companies for examples and at the end of each chapterthey have an explanation of a job in the industry with comments from peoplein those jobs.There's lots of charts, lists of important contacts,calendars of events, etc that will be important to anyone starting afashion business or wanting to find a job in fashion.It's worth the moneyif you can't afford to go to school for this. ... Read more

Product Description
This project-oriented facilities design and material handlingreference explores the techniques and procedures for developing anefficient facility layout, and introduces some of the state-of-the-arttools involved, such as computer simulation. A “how-to,” systematic,and methodical approach leads readers through the collection, analysisand development of information to produce a quality functional plantlayout.Lean manufacturing; work cells and group technology; time standards; the concepts behind calculating machine and personnel requirements, balancing assembly lines, and leveling workloads in manufacturing cells; automatic identification and data collection; and ergonomics.For facilities planners, plant layout, and industrial engineer professionals who are involved in facilities planning and design. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Manufacturing Facilities Design and Material Handling
This is the most comprehensive facility design book that I have found. It touches upon just enough of architectural, process, material handling, and safety concerns to get you started and get you asking the right questions. I consult in a variety of industries but the basics remain the same.Great book.

Manufacturing Facilities for Freshmans
If you can't formulate a simple linear programming problem, then this book was made for you! No advance IE/OR quantitative methodologies required. However, I found this book covers important material that were left out from other books such as Tompkins' Facility Planning. Overall, I think that this book is a good complement for other books.

A hands-on learning class
The book can be thought of as a project development using a hands-on approach. Step by step, the author go through the main issues in a project like this. By using a practical approach, the stuff is easy to be read and well organized. No previous knowledge on the topic is required before reading. The four stars come from the lack of a deeper treatment in some areas which are necessary for kicking off such a facility.

A good overview
A good overview on the main points in developing an implementation proyect.

A hands-on class
The book can be thought of as a project development class. By using a hands-on approach, step by step, the author goes through the main issues in developing a project like this. By using plain english, the stuff is easyto read and well organized. The level is attainable to all readers nomatter their previous level in the topic. The four stars classificationcomes from the lack of some deeper study in some areas which is necessaryfor kicking off facilities like this. ... Read more

Product Description
Implement Oracle's Internet-based Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management products using this Oracle authorized resource. This comprehensive guide explains how to implement the planning, engineering, pricing, order fulfillment, and inventory management components of Oracle Manufacturing and Supply Chain--and develop and deliver goods and services faster, cheaper, and more efficiently than your competitors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Excellent Book
This book is written good and covers almost everything offered by Oracle 11i in SCM space, I wanted to rate this book with 5 stars, but the only thing held me was the expectation of some realistic examples and some more detail in the area of Warehouse Management System, I believe that the Inventory Management should be covered separately and not coupled with WMS in the same chapter.

Anyway, the fact is that it is a wonderful book which is presented very well and is worth every cent.

Truly informative
I am a book lover and whenever I get some free time, I always spend it reading books. When I visited an old friend in his house, he was still on his way home, so while waiting for him I took the book "Oracle E-Business Suite Manufacturing & Supply Chain Management" from the shelves.
Since I am engaged into business I really got interested about the book so I borrowed it from him. I continue reading it at home and whenever I got some free time. I like the book a lot, it is very informative and the author has explained the majority of the concept with matching diagrams to provide readers concise information. And honestly, I have already applied some of the things I learn from this book. I hope the other readers have learnt from this too.
I am also planning to purchase this book and give it to my cousins and friend who are also into business! Well see!

For use by "the initiated"
While Gerald & Co's book may look like a good introduction to Oracle's manufacturing & supply chain management modules, it will make little sense to those who have never used the system or don't have access to it.Because I had three years of hands-on experience with Oracle's E-Business Suite, the book is useful and I'm giving it a 3-star rating.

Things that Gerald & Co. could have done better: more illustrations of what they write about.There are many "bells and whistles" in the software, but the book doesn't have enough "screen shots" to show you where they're located on an Oracle "form."I'm not satisfied with the case study, which they have placed in chapter 22. There are no screen shots there either.

Gerald & Co. are assuming you can navigate and know a lot of the Oracle lingo.If you are new to this, don't expect to learn it from this book.The audiences for the book are intermediate and advanced users.

One could also regard this as a reference book.Use it to answer problems you encounter while using the product or better understand what's going on. In this context, I'd rate it 3 stars, too.

A Good Introduction
This book is for users of Oracle Manufacturing and has the end-user in mind Definately not for the the technical minded, site specific Installs and for those who are used to Technical Reference manuals

I am yet to receive this book
The tentative date of receipt is 27th Jan 2006 but to i haven't received the book as of today.

Pls send same asap

Arul ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Selecting the Right Manufacturing Improvement Tools offers an easy-to-read and comprehensive review of the most important current industrial improvement tools that every manufacturing or industrial executive, operational manager or engineer needs to know, including which tool to use for a particular type of manufacturing situation.

But his book goes beyond a simple comparison of improvement tools to show how these tools can be implemented and supported.Instead, it offers a broader strategic explanation of how they relate to one another, and their relative strengths and weaknesses in the larger context of the entire enterprise.It demonstrates how to use these tools in an integratedway such that they are not just be viewed as another "program of the month" or management fad.Selecting the Right Manufacturing Improvement Tools guides the use of these individual management tools within the need for aligning the organization, developing leadership, and managing change, all for creating an environment where these tools will be more successfully applied.

· Provides an excellent review of the most popular improvement tools and strategies - Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen, including 5S, Kanban, Quick Changeover, and Standardization, Total Productive Maintenance, Six Sigma, Supply Chain Management, Reliability Centered Maintenance, Predictive Maintenance (or Condition Monitoring), and Root Cause Analysis.
· Illustrates the use of each tool with case studies, using a fictitious company called "Beta International," which continues its journey to business excellence from author's previous book, Making Common Sense Common Practice
· Describes the foundational elements necessary for any tool to work - leadership, organizational alignment and discipline, teamwork, performance measurement, change management, and the role of innovation.
· Concludes with a recommended hierarchy for the use of the various tools, and provides enough information so that individual circumstances and issues can be related to these improvement tools, making better decisions and having greater business success. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Review of Selecting the Right Manufacturing Improvement Tools
This is a very well written and pertinent book, and its applicability goes way beyond manufacturing. Persons involved in any kind of business will find useful and thought-provoking information.

Maintenance and operations people in businesses today are positively bombarded with offers from trainers and consultants. This book gives an unbiased and factual description of many of the most popular improvement tools, and most importantly, their weaknesses and drawbacks, not just their strengths.

Someone who wants to know what is really involved, and be forewarned of the bumps ahead, will find this book an enormous aid to making good choices.

Most of the literature on improvement tools is written by people with something to sell. Ron Moore isn't really selling anything except the idea of trying to improve how we do business. That alone makes him well worth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
The "Fundamentals of Manufacturing Supplement," in addition to the "Fundamentals of Manufacturing," Second Edition, provides a structured review for the Certified Manufacturing Engineer examination. The curricula is consistent with the Manufacturing "Body of Knowledge" published by the Manufacturing Engineering Certification Institute (MECI) of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Reviewed by subject matter experts, the areas of advanced manufacturing science covered include: personal effectiveness, machining processes analysis, forming processes analysis, joining and fastening analysis, deburring and finishing analysis, fixture and jig design, advanced quality analysis, engineering economics analysis, management theory and practice, and industrial safety, health, and environmental management. Sample problems and questions at the end of each chapter are available for practice. Answers are included to confirm the problem-solving process. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

CMfgE preparation text.
This supplement is intended to address the content covered in the CMfgE exam. It does delve deeper into many topics that are only briefly discussed in the original FOM text, or are new topics altogether. My only criticism is the review questions are mostly qualitative in nature, and I expected this text to have more challenging quantitative problems than the FOM text.

Great for CMfgT Exam Preparation
I take the CMfgT exam this week and I feel I'm very prepared due to using this book as a study guide...
Best of Luck...

Fundamentals of Manufacturing Supplement
Is a really useful book for professionals interested in obtain a certification as MFg engineer.

Italo ... Read more

Product Description
With global harmonization of regulatory requirements and quality standards and national and global business consolidations ongoing at a fast pace, pharmaceutical manufacturers, suppliers, contractors, and distributors are impacted by continual change.Offering a wide assortment of policy and guidance document references and interpretations, this Sixth Edition is significantly expanded to reflect the increase of information and changing practices in CGMP regulation and pharmaceutical manufacturing and control practices worldwide. An essential companion for every pharmaceutical professional, this guide is updated and expanded by a team of industry experts, each member with extensive experience in industry or academic settings. ... Read more