Japanese Factory Productivity Advantage: Overhead vs. Line Workers

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Japanese factories in the 1980s had a productivity advantage attributed to their culture and worker management relations.
The productivity advantage in Japanese factories came from overhead rather than direct labor.
Japanese factories achieved high productivity through small batch production, short setup times, limited material movement, and on-the-floor scheduling.
Becoming a time-based competitor requires more than just reducing time; it involves using time strategically against competitors.

George Stalk Jr., business strategist and author of the book Competing Against Time, reveals the surprising ways companies can harness the power of time to blow past competitors, boost productivity, and send profits soaring.

Competing Against Time is the ONE book that Apple CEO Tim Cook makes all his executives read.

In this episode, you’ll learn the proven ‘hardball’ strategies that market leaders like Toyota use to win and discover the counterintuitive approach of paying more to ship and manufacture faster – and how those time advantages translate into unassailable market dominance.

George shares eye-opening examples of how relentlessly reducing time and variance through the entire value chain creates an avalanche of competitive advantages nearly impossible for rivals to copy. But it’s not just about speed – it’s about building a fast-moving, low-variance organization primed to adapt, innovate, and seize opportunities others can’t even see.

Whether you’re a business leader, entrepreneur or ambitious professional, this episode will give you a radical new lens for gaining an unbeatable edge in any industry. After listening, you’ll never think about business strategy or competition the same way again.

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