The Quantum Leap In Speed To Market

This update of John R. Costanza's The Quantum Leap, a worldwide bestseller, examines the impact and implications of recent industry trends, new technologies, and emerging business practices. But the focus remains the same: how to build sustainable competitive advantage by responding to customer demand in real time, every day. To remain competitive in today's dynamic global economy companies must become demand-driven. This comprehensive desk reference provides a proven demand-driven formula for success.

The first edition of The Quantum Leap: Speed to Market, written by John R. Costanza in 1984, played a key role in communicating the manufacturing methods advocated by the use of Demand Flow(r) Technology (DFT). At that time John's documentation of the technology was new and implementation of the discipline produced a series of dramatic success stories as multiple manufacturing companies embraced the emerging business practices guided by Demand Flow(r) Technology. In 2005 The Quantum Leap: Next Generation book was released from Dean Gilliam and Steve Taylor-Jones to update the text and further document the Demand Flow(r) Business Strategy.Many practitioners obtained their initial exposure to the technology and business strategy by reading The Quantum Leap books and attending education classes provided by DFT Experts in the field. There was no detailed text book written previously to provide an explanation of the required implementation skills, including practical advice related to the organization and deployment of Demand Flow(r) Technology. This book provides the detailed explanation of each tool and technique comprising the body of knowledge of Demand Flow Technology and thus fulfils a guidance and reference role for the manufacturing engineering professional.

Today, a company's capability to conceive and design quality prototypes and bring a variety of superior products to market quicker than its competitors is increasingly the focal point of competition, contend leading product development experts Steven Wheelwright and Kim Clark. Drawing on six years of in-depth, systematic, worldwide research, they present proven principles for developing the critical capabilities for speed, efficiency, and quality that have worked again and again in scores of successful Japanese, American, and European fast-cycle firms. The authors argue that to survive, let alone succeed, today's companies must construct a new "platform" -- with new methodologies -- on which they can compete. Using their model for development strategies, Wheelwright and Clark show that firms can create a solid architecture for the integration of marketing, manufacturing, and design functions for problem solving and fast action -- particularly during the critical design-build-test cycles of prototype creation. They demonstrate further how successful firms such as Honda in automobiles, Compaq in personal computers, Applied Materials in semi-conductors, Sony in audio equipment, The Limited in apparel, and Hill-Rom in hospital beds have employed recent methodologies to bring new products to market at break-neck speed. Such innovations include design for manufacturability, quality function deployment, computer-aided design, and computer-aided engineering. Finally, Wheelwright and Clark emphasize the importance of learning in the organization. Companies that consistently "design it right the first time" and follow a path of continuous improvement in product and process development have a formidable edge in the crucial race to market.

The new digital economy has pronounced implications for corporate strategy, marketing, operations, information systems, customer service, global supply-chain management, and product distribution. This handbook examines most aspects of electronic commerce, including electronic storefronts, online business, consumer interface, business-to-business networking, digital payment, legal issues, information product development, and electronic business models. An indispensable reference for professionals in e-commerce and Internet business.

Supplies the most essential concepts and methods necessary to capitalize on the innovations of industrial automation, including mathematical fundamentals, ergonometrics, industrial robotics, government safety regulations, and economic analyses.

In this age of globalization challenges--from economic uncertainty to emerging markets--there are no mapped out answers for the international manager. Global Explorers guides the global manager from the periphery to the center stage of international business leadership. In a 1997 survey of Fortune 500 firms conducted by authors J. Stewart Black, Allen J. Morrison and Hal B. Gregersen, virtually all companies indicated there was a severe shortage of global leaders. The demand for competent global leaders far outstrips the supply. Global Explorers provides the skills and outlines the competencies future global managers need to fill the leadership gap. Using extensive research, real-life examples, and 130 in-depth interviews with senior executives representing 50 global companies, including IBM, Disney, Exxon and Sony, Global Explorers suggests the reasons for the global leadership shortage, and identifies the necessary skills to compete in the international marketplace. For managers who want to safeguard their corporate future in these changing times, Global Explorers will help them develop a personal program for developing and balancing the skills they need to become successful global leaders.