The Perfect Engine: How to Win in the New Demand Economy by Building to Order with Fewer Resources

Most manufacturing companies with batch-and-queue 'push' production systems have been blindsided by today's consumer who expects quality products and services delivered on demand and customized to individual taste. In The Perfect Engine, manufacturing experts Anand Sharma and Patricia E. Moody describe for the first time how leading 'pull' production pioneers build to order by reducing inventory, decreasing cycle time, minimizing floor space, and eliminating waste. Drawing on scores of examples and detailed case studies of three leaders in the demand economy field -- Maytag, Pella, and Mercedes-Benz -- Sharma and Moody demonstrate how these companies achieved astonishing results using the pathbreaking Lean Sigma SM Transformation. Combining lean production and quality elements from the famous Six Sigma process, Lean Sigma produces annual productivity gains of 15 percent to 20 percent. In addition, the authors show, inventory turns more than quadruple; cycle times drop by more than 70 percent; and floor space reductions of 30 percent to 50 percent are not uncommon. Sharma and Moody provide immensely readable explanations of key technical aspects of the process--for example, how cell-based one-piece flow can replace batch-and-queue with dramatically improved lead times and inventory turnover. A chapter on a revolutionary design technique the authors call Design for Lean Sigma or 3P (product and production preparation) shows how to build flexibility into the product design and the production systems at very low risk, which will be especially helpful when forecasts and customer orders deviate from original projections, as they usually do. Further, the Design for Lean Sigma method is devised to produce profitability at short-term volume projections, which makes it a perfect tool for the new demand economy. Essential, timely, and important, The Perfect Engine is perfect reading for this new manufacturing era.

About the Author :
Anand Sharma has spent the last two decades developing and manufacturing improvement programmes. Patricia Moody is a manufacturing management consultant with about thirty years of industry, consulting and teaching experience.

Review :
Art ByrnePresident, The Wiremold CompanyThe new bible for how to improve any manufacturing company...Advances the state of the art with the LeanSigma methodology and provides great insight on how to do it...The first book that makes it clear that in order to be successful, a company must adopt this approach as its overall business strategy. Gene BylinskyBoard of Editors, "FORTUNE" MagazineBrilliant insights into production methodology and the successes achieved. Harry D. SchulmanChief Operating Officer and President, Applica Consumer Products, Inc.Every manufacturing company executive should rush out and buy this book. Using LeanSigma methodology, Sharma is at the cutting edge of modern manufacturing processes. Our company has achieved dramatic results following his philosophy and we are successfully applying this concept to our back-office operations. Ian ParkerManaging Director, Sterling Hydraulics, Ltd.Clear advice, well supported with real-life examples, and expressed in easy to understand language...It will help us all better contribute to our lean transformation program. Jacques LegerCorporate Industrial Senior Vice President, ALSTOM, Paris HeadquartersExremely well presented and very rich in useful practices. Julie MurphreeEditor-in-Chief, iSource BusinessThe first book on production methodology that effectively combines Six Sigma and lean manufacturing. If you want to ensure competitive success in your organization's manufacturing operations, you need to read this book! Pat LancasterChairman, LantechSharma and Moody provide definition, understanding, and the clearest sense yet of how to proceed. Harry D. SchulmanChief Operating Officer and President, Applica Consumer Products, Inc. Every manufacturing company executive should rush out and buy this book. Using LeanSigma methodology, Sharma is at the cutting edge of modern manufacturing processes. Our company has achieved dramatic results following his philosophy and we are successfully applying this concept to our back-office operations. Ian ParkerManaging Director, Sterling Hydraulics, Ltd. Clear advice, well supported with real-life examples, and expressed in easy to understand language...It will help us all better contribute to our lean transformation program. Gene BylinskyBoard of Editors, "FORTUNE" Magazine Brilliant insights into production methodology and the successes achieved. Jacques LegerCorporate Industrial Senior Vice President, ALSTOM, Paris Headquarters Exremely well presented and very rich in useful practices. Julie MurphreeEditor-in-Chief, iSource Business The first book on production methodology that effectively combines Six Sigma and lean manufacturing. If you want to ensure competitive success in your organization's manufacturing operations, you need to read this book! Pat LancasterChairman, Lantech Sharma and Moody provide definition, understanding, and the clearest sense yet of how to proceed. Art ByrnePresident, The Wiremold Company The new bible for how to improve any manufacturing company...Advances the state of the art with the LeanSigma methodology and provides great insight on how to do it...The first book that makes it clear that in order to be successful, a company must adopt this approach as its overall business strategy.