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Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing, the revolutionary
system introduced by the Japanese to reduce space and inventory,
compress time and improve quality, is becoming firmly entrenched
in U.S. manufacturing. But because manufacturing is only
one part of the business function, it cannot transform s
poorly operating company by itself. Time-Based Competition
takes the basic, timeless principles underlying JIT and
applies them to the other crucial business functions so
you can take nonvalue-added time out of your entire product
delivery cycle.
Less than 5 percent of the total time required
to manufacture and deliver a product to a customer is spent
on the actual process. The remaining 95 percent is nonvalue-added
time. This wasted time represents a gaping window of opportunity
for the time-based competitor. Blackburn shows you how to
compress the length of time it takes to develop, manufacture,
and deliver a product or service. This time compression
means faster asset turnover, increased output and flexibility,
and satisfied customers.
The essence of time-based competition is
this: eliminate idle or dead time wherever it exists, make
sure that work can be processed in small batches, and maximize
value-added time. As each business function is streamlined
and wasted time eliminated, your company will:
- Use fewer clerical hours to process orders,
thus shortening your customer response time.
- Move finished products out the door more
quickly and reduce your inventory.
- Slice idle time out of your distribution
chain.
Time compression, like quality, is free.
It provides the edge you need to overcome competition both
here and abroad. Using a mix of guidelines, step-by-step
instructions, and case histories from industry leaders,
such as Hewlett-Packard, Federal Express, Xerox, and Honeywell,
Blackburn shows you how to implement a time-based competitive
strategy in your company to become a true global competitor.
Joseph D. Blackburn is Associate Dean
for Academic Affairs and professor of Operations Management
in the Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University.
He also serves as director of the Operations Roundtable
-- an industry-academic partnership that supports research
on operations strategy issues.
Professor Blackburn is an associate of
the market research firm Yankelovich Clancy Shulman, where
his LITMUS model, developed with Kevin Clancy, is used in
the firm's new-product consulting service. He also serves
on the editorial board of The
Journal of Operations Management
and is an area editor of Production
and Operations Management.
His consulting and research work covers
operations strategy, time-compression activities, and new-product
forecasting models. He has published numerous articles in
Management Science,
Marketing Science,
Journal of Operations Management,
and other journals.
He received his Ph.D. in Operations Research
from Stanford University, his M.S. degree from the University
of Wisconsin, and a B.S. degree from Vanderbilt University.
He has taught at Boston University, the University of Chicago,
and Stanford University.
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