What Tool? When?

This book describes several of the more common and popular methods, including case studies, being used by manufacturing companies to improve their business. Even before we cover these tools and strategies, we cover several fundamental issues-if present, almost any tool will be effective, but if absent, almost not tool will work, i.e., the need for leadership and several models thereto for creating an environment that brings out the best in people, the need for innovation throughout the organization, including what I call "big innovation" - R&D and new product/process development, but also "little innovation"- using the proper tools in a disciplined way to lower our costs and improve quality so that we have higher margins to pay for the big innovation. We will also cover the use of cross-functional teams in applying these methods, and a process for managing change, as well as a model for measuring performance and demonstrating that operational and business goals have been achieved.