The Newsletter of Lean Manufacturing Strategy
June
3,
2003
www.strategosinc.com
Manufacturing
Strategy
In
May, 1974, Wickham Skinner published a classic article in the
Harvard Business Review called "The Focused Factory." In
this seminal work, Skinner contends that most
factories are too large and diverse for effective performance.
Professor
Skinner summarizes it best:
"A
factory that focuses on a narrow product mix for a particular market niche
will outperform the conventional plant, which attempts a broader mission. Because
its equipment, supporting systems and procedures can concentrate on a
limited task for one set of customers, its costs
and especially its overhead are likely to be lower than those
of the conventional plant. But, more important, such a plant can become a competitive
weapon because its entire apparatus is
focused to accomplish the particular manufacturing task demanded by the
company's overall strategy and marketing objective."
Our
new web page The
Focused Factory summarizes Professor Skinner's thoughts on focused
factories. It also links to the original paper. (still available
from Amazon.com after 29 years)
Our
next several issues will expand the theme of Manufacturing Focus with
quantitative studies, broader views and how to identify the Key
Manufacturing Task. See you then.
Quarterman
Lee
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