Addressing the beliefs and attitudes that can be detrimental to your organization’s competitiveness, Popular Manufacturing Myths: Eliminating Widely Held Beliefs That Reduce Competitiveness offers time-tested insight into the most common myths encountered in manufacturing environments. It classifies these myths into management myths, shop floor myths, and if appropriate, shared management and shop floor myths. Explaining the reasons why these deeply ingrained beliefs exist, the book outlines remedies that can help to quickly dispel them within your organization. It presents case studies that examine these myths and includes numerous real-world examples that outline simple, yet effective, solutions. Some of the myths dispelled in this book include: Increasing line speed always decreases quality and creates more scrap Reducing the cost of raw materials will decrease the cost of manufacturing Increased inspection will boost quality If it is successful in R&D, it will be successful in production Process problems can only be solved by changing one process parameter at a time Covering the basics of data collection tools, techniques, and analysis, the text offers simple methods to structure your data to assist in communicating clear and logical conclusions across the organization. The author keeps the arithmetic and statistics to a minimum, so readers only require a basic understanding of averaging and normal variation. However, for those who wish to understand a little bit more about a particular concept, technique, tool, or procedure, the book includes an addendum chapter with more detailed explanations and sample calculations.

Over time, the lack of understanding, failure to apprehend concepts and inability to find solutions results in myths that are passed down from one generation to the other. The Apparel industry, which is still largely depended on experience rather than education in many key departments, also has been carrying forward certain ‘myths’ or ‘untruths’ in various operations and processes that have stalled the growth of organisations. The gamut of myths ranges from simple processes like measuring work time to use of technology as in the case of CAD to understanding the fine line between Ironing and finishing. Surprisingly, no one has really attempted to move beyond the myths to uncover the truth and unlock the true potential of the process, technology or concept. Dr. Prabir Jana, takes a closer look at some of the popular myths that have hindered growth of not only organisations but also the industry and debunks the truth that lies beneath.

Conventional wisdom holds that high wages, high capital costs, and worker inflexibility have cost America its ability to compete in the world manufacturing marketplace. This book demonstrates that U.S.-based manufacturing can compete in terms of quality, product features, and timely deliveryâ€"the real measures of competitiveness in the 1990s. The committee identifies attributes that attract manufacturers to given locations and assesses the attractiveness of the United States as a location for different kinds of manufacturing. The volume dispels myths that have guided management decision making in the past and offers recommendations to promote the United States as a manufacturing site. The volume discusses new approaches to understanding and controlling costs. With case studies from three important industriesâ€"consumer electronics, semiconductors, and automobilesâ€"the book explores factors in site location decisions, highlighting advantages the United States can offer as a manufacturing site over low-cost rivals.

The Myth of Popular Culture from Dante to Dylan is afascinating examination of the cultural traditions of the Americannovel, Hollywood, and British and American rock music which leadsus to redefine our concept of the division between "high" and "low"culture. A stimulating history of high and low culture from DanteAlighieri to Bob Dylan, providing a controversial defence ofpopular culture Seeks to rebut the durable belief that only high culture is‘dialectical’ and popular culture is not by turningTheodor Adorno’s theories on ‘pop’ againstthemselves Presents a critical analysis of three popular traditions: theAmerican novel, Hollywood, and British and American rock music Offers an original account of Bob Dylan as an example of howthe distinction between high and low culture is highlyproblematic A provocative book for any student, scholar or general reader,who is interested in popular culture

Contemporary popular culture is engaged in a rich and multi-levelled set of representational relations with austerity. This volume seeks to explore these relations, to ask: how does popular culture give expression to austerity; how are its effects conveyed; how do texts reproduce and expose its mythic qualities? It provides a reading of cultural texts in circulation in the present ‘age of austerity’. Through its central focus—popular culture—it considers the impact and influence of austerity across media and textual categories. The collection presents a theoretical deconstruction of popular culture’s reproduction of, and response to, mythical expressions of ‘austerity’ in Western culture, spanning the United Kingdom, North America, Europe and the Middle East and textual events from political media discourse, music, videogames, social media, film, television, journalism, folk art, food, protest movements, slow media and the practice of austerity in everyday life

Combining case studies with accessible but rigorous production models and historical background, this book challenges accepted views on Japanese production methods in the world car industry. The Myth of Japanese Efficiency casts a familiar debate in an unfamiliar light. It will strongly appeal to management and business strategy academics, political economists and industrial sociologists interested in the debate on Fordist versus 'post-Fordist' production methods/'lean and flexible' manufacture and Japanese post-war success in the world market for manufactured goods. Human resource management specialists interested in best production practice will also find much to interest them within this book.