ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on technical communication and rhetoric to take advantage of the opportunities inherent in the postindustrial world. It introduces the Braun Corporation in Winamac, Indiana, placing it within networks of automotive manufacturing, medical devices, and advanced materials research. The book describes an emergent cluster of photovoltaic glass technology centered on the research and development hub of Toledo, Ohio. It also focuses on a small town that hosts a large energy storage site. Ludington, Michigan, is an old mining and lumber town that rose to prominence around its harbor through which raw materials were shipped to factories in larger southern cities around the Great Lakes. The book presents Deming's kairotic presentation of a new management philosophy to Japanese stakeholders in the aftermath of the World War II, a philosophy that has challenged American automobile manufacturing.
