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Gunnar Sohlenius
Productivity + Quality = Effectiveness
The
industrial production system is a living system that has to be actively
managed. It is our main motor of wealth, and relies on the productive
use of machines to amplify human effectiveness.
Effectiveness
requires both quality and productivity. Quality is understood as
meeting customers´ requirements, or going beyond to surprise
and delight those customers. Quality requires innovation in order
to dynamically adapt to changes in customers´ expectations.
Productivity is necessary in order to achieve quality with an optimal
use of resources.
Viewed in
this way, productivity improvement can be seen as a main strategy
in obtaining wealth and prosperity.
Furthermore,
conflicts arise from threat; and poverty is a serious threat to
many people. Therefore Productivity Improvement emerges as a significant
and necessary strategy to obtain Peace.
All human
activities must be first properly planned and then executed. In
industrial processes planning is design and marketing and execution
is production and distribution. Design is primarily an information
and knowledge development process employing our cognitive abilities.
Action and production is dependent on our human emotions and has
to be stimulated by leadership within the context of the company
culture to develop competence, confidence, interest, belonging and
joy. Action without knowledge is waste and can even be dangerous.
Knowledge without action is waste.
Sustainable
industrial production must satisfy customers, shareholders and employees
without harming nature or being hazardous to humans. Innovation,
quality and productivity are elements in a strategy to raise industrial
production as our engine to drive Wealth, Prosperity and Peace.
Influential
Readings
- Sohlenius,
G. "The Manufacturing System - Our Motor of Welfare,"
Preprint of Book, KTH (2000).
- Sohlenius,
G. "Concurrent engineering," CIRP Annals Vol.41/2/1992.
Key-note Paper CIRP General Assembly (1992)
- Sohlenius,
G. Kjellberg, A. Holmstedt, P. "Productivity, System Design
and Competence Management," World XIth Productivity Congress,
Edinburgh (1999).
- Moestam-Ahlström,
L. Kjellberg, A. Sohlenius, G. "Principles and Experiences
concerning Sustainability in Product Realization," World
XIIth Productivity Congress, Hong Kong (2001).
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Gunnar
is a professor emeritus in manufacturing systems engineering
and past vice president of KTH in Stockholm, Sweden. He started
the Stockholm branch of the Swedish Institute of Production
Engineering Research, IVF in 1965 and he was engaged as its
scientific advisor until 2000. He has served on the boards of
directors and scientific advisory boards of several companies
including Ericsson. He was the chairman of two large national
research and development programs in Sweden. He is a gold medal
recipient of SME and elected member of engineering academies
in Sweden, Finland and USA as well as CIRP and a Fellow of WAPS.
He is a past president and Honorary member of CIRP |
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