Maximizing Profit: How to Measure the Financial Impact of Manufacturing Decisions

Rating:
Summary: An Engineer's Perspective
Review: As an engineer in a manufacturing environment I loved the book because it quantitatively expresses the contribution that engineers make to the bottom line. This book will definitely be popular with SME and AIIE. I have been fighting the standard cost battle for years, knowing that it didn't work, but not knowing exactly why or be able to offer an alternative. This book nails both of these issues down in succinct fashion. This book is a real winner!

Rating:
Summary: An Engineer's Perspective
Review: As an engineer in a manufacturing environment I loved the book because it quantitatively expresses the contribution that engineers make to the bottom line. This book will definitely be popular with SME and AIIE. I have been fighting the standard cost battle for years, knowing that it didn't work, but not knowing exactly why or be able to offer an alternative. This book nails both of these issues down in succinct fashion. This book is a real winner!

Rating:
Summary: Improved Profitability in These Economic Times?
Review: Imagine having a tool that could make quantum leaps in company profitability with no added capital investment, cost reduction, or product price increases. It's about working smarter, not harder. It's about using existing manufacturing resources to make the most of the one resource every manufacturing operation shares: time. Within this text lies that tool, evidenced not only in my reading of the book, but in my application of its concepts. Like any tool, it will only be effective when the reader moves past reading the directions to putting the tool into action.

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Summary: ASQ "Must Read"
Review: This easy-to-read book offers a refreshing new look at non-traditional methods to measure manufacturing performance in terms all decision makers can understand...profit! Armed with readily available computer tools, Walt Thrun confidently and logically assaults conventional thinking and methods in performance measurement and leads the reader to obvious conclusions about the relationship between constraints and profitability. Such measures as "overhead absorbtion, cost allocation and plant utilization" are replaced with "profit optimization, contribution maximation and return on investment". He demonstrates, in detail, how to quantitatively measure the impact of strategic decisions and manufacturing improvements on the bottom line. The concept that local optimization results in global optimization is effectively debunked. The concepts of this book are consistant with the body of knowledge described by the American Society for Quality for Quality Engineer and Quality Manager certification. This book is a "must read" for ASQ members and other quality professionals interested in quantifiable measurement of process improvements.

Rating:
Summary: Do you know your Maximum Profit?
Review: Using the Profit Maximization Techniques developed by Walt Thrun will allow any production facility to calculate their maximum profit obtainable. Now there is no need to guess what your optimum product mix should be for your plant, what Capital Projects to implement, what your budget and forecast should be. This has the potential to revolutionize productivity as we measure it today. Let's quit getting better at doing the wrong things and start doing the right things.

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Summary: A Great New Teaching Tool for Today's Decision Makers
Review: Walt's book brings together some important elements of Engineering Economy, Operations Research, and more recent works that stem from the The Goal and Theory of Constraints. However, Walt concentrates primarily on the strategic planning facet and leaves detailed scheduling and capacity analysis to other works. He uses "total contribution" and "total system ROI" as the criteria and introduces "integrative reasoning" as a philosophy to optimize product mix and evaluate a variety of tactical and strategic options. This philosophy is presented in a single, continuous case that extends through the entire book, becoming stronger as it flows from example to example and chapter to chapter. The progressive case study is a chain of tightly related examples which evaluate and rank strategies for product mix, productivity improvements, outsourcing, contract manufacturing, capital planning, budgeting, acquisitions, and multi-plant synergy.

After reading lots of of other current works and spending time on the job, one still may not learn the key lessons carried in this one book.