![]() ![]() Chapters on social problems with lean production and recent developments in Japanese car manufacturing also contribute to an understanding of where the car building industry and the organization of industrial production is heading. In comparative chapters the NUMMI and Saturn plants in the US and European car manufacturers are contrasted to the Uddevalla model and also to Volvo’s Kalmar plant with still another form of group work. Enriching Production explains the design of the Uddevalla plant and tries to understand its closure against a background of organizational politics and Volvo’s production structure. ![]() ![]() In spite of its good performance the plant was closed after only a few years without having developed its full potential. With a work content of several hours they built cars according to customer order, with a short delivery time, thus avoiding stocks. Skilled workers in autonomous teams could altogether abandon the assembly line. Enriching Production proposes a radically different alternative, which was put into practice at Volvo’s Uddevalla plant during its brief life span. Abstract Both researchers and practitioners in industrial organization ask themselves today whether lean production is the only possible model for the future. Scandinavian perspectives on management in the new working life, to be published by SNS förlag, Stockholm, 2007/2008. ![]() There will also be follow up articles on Volvo and alternative production systems in a forthcoming reader Absolut management. The papers were collected in a special issue of Economic and Industrial Democracy, Vol. Enriching Production was followed up by a symposium on the general theme of ‘Good work and productivity’. Enriching Production was edited by professor Åke Sandberg, Arbetslivsinstitutet/ National Institute for Working Life and KTH The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. The book was quickly sold out and is now made available again. Enriching Production was first published by Avebury in 1995. ![]()
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