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The Machine That Changed the World
Book

The Machine That Changed the World

The Story of Lean Production – Toyota’s Secret Weapon in the Global Car Wars That Is Revolutionizing World Industry

Free Press, 2007
First Edition: 1990 more...


Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Well Structured
  • Background
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

This management classic, taught in business schools worldwide, has remained relevant since the day of its first publication in 1990. It speaks to the timeless cycles of innovation, disruption and change, including the struggles that industries and firms face in adapting to rapidly changing markets and technologies. In this 2007 update, authors James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos offer lessons from the lean revolution for 21st-century transformations around digitization and advanced computing.

Take-Aways

  • The lean production method, invented by automaker Toyota after WWII, borrows from the best of craft production and mass manufacturing.
  • Competitively priced, high-quality cars vaulted Toyota to the top of the industry.
  • Lean beats mass production in manufacturing and across each step in the making of an automobile.

About the Authors

James P. Womack founded the Lean Enterprise Institute. Daniel T. Jones founded the Lean Enterprise Academy. Daniel Roos is a professor emeritus of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.