Manufacturing

There has been considerable hyperbole regarding world class manufacturing (WCM) and many articles and books have been written on the subject. There have been a number of interpretations of WCM. Some people associate WCM with working practices influenced by Japan's quality movement . Others understand WCM to be manufacturing at the highest level of performance.

We define WCM as the term applied to organizations who achieve dominance in their segment of the global market and who sustain this dominance against world class competition.

Up until about 1990 manufacturing strategy tended to focus on the local area, e.g. for manufacturers in the United Kingdom the concern was the domestic market and the near neighbours of Europe. The emphasis has now moved to the determination of either a global strategy or regional strategy, not only for marketing, but for sourcing. Sourcing includes materials and labour, and also includes the basic decision of whether to make or buy.

The globalization of manufacturing began with sourcing and a search for low labour costs. Manufacturing was transferred from the Western nations and Japan through the establishment of manufacturing facilities in Asia, the Indian...