Navigating Automation in Manufacturing

In a recent podcast Phil suggested that bringing manufacturing home to America won’t necessarily create jobs, because most factories will be automated. They just need one man and a dog, he said. The man to turn the machine on, and the dog to make sure he doesn’t touch anything else.

That touched a nerve with Brian Hanley has spent his life refining manufacturing processes. The key ingredient suggests, is people. Elon Musk was the latest to try the lights out approach and realised it didn’t work.

Instead, if the US wants to succeed with a competitive manufacturing sector, it needs to look to post-war Japan. Workers were an integral part of the refinement and adaptive nature of manufacturing processes, in part  because of the company-based (rather than industry-speciifc) union structure. Listen in to find out how Japan’s adaptive approach is what’s needed if the US is to develop a successful manufacturing sector.

Two books related to this, that Brian says should be required reading or every economist:

-         Kanban Just-in Time at Toyota by Japan Management Association

-         The Sayings of Shigeo Shingo by Shigeo Shingo

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