ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on what features critical to continuing manufacturing excellence and discusses many paradigms from the literature that attempt to describe the new environment. Most would agree that the principle criteria for success under the next form of manufacturing is the ability to handle change proactively rather than simply reacting to changes. Few theorists have suggested methods for transforming existing manufacturers into those that will posses and excel in this long listing of success criterion. T. J. Hill provides reasons for manufacturing’s typically reactive role in corporate strategy. At the turn of the century when manufacturing was first studied as a science, most researchers were looking for one elusive generic strategy for manufacturing. Charles Handy applies the political concepts of federalism to manufacturing. He embraces the belief that autonomy releases energy. World Class Manufacturing is a nebulous term which reflects different shades of meaning to different individuals. Learning from experience has always been important to manufacturers.
