The application of modern project management to the manufacturing industries is the focus of this issue. Our intent was to bring to the profession experience-based knowledge from the people who have been involved in the work. We have tried to avoid dissertations on what should be and focus on what is and what works. In some articles there is even mention of what wasn't working or what doesn't work.
The authors who have written here are people who have had several years of experience. These are articles about life in the trenches, and the authors know their topics well. Four of the authors are now executives who are reflecting on what they have been involved in or what they are involved in. The others are well-respected professionals. Five of the authors are PMPs.
Richard Ryder starts us with a fine article on bringing change to an automotive stamping plant. He graciously recognizes that many PM Network readers are not familiar with manufacturing processes and automotive stamping in particular, so he weaves a tutorial into his article. Douglas Reith elaborates on this theme by emphasizing that the dominant environmental influence in manufacturing is production. Therefore, all of our communications must be consistent with this environment in order to be effective, which means destroying some commonly held practices and sacred cows. Liwana Bringelson and Parviz Rad extend description of the manufacturing communications methods to communicating with remote plants, which is a common problem.
Bopaya Bidanda and David Cleland take us through the development of a manufacturing support facility where the process technology is advanced. Sture Karlsson and Ralph Maleus give us a broader view of manufacturing by taking us through the process with which a major food container manufacturer reengineered its process for development of new products. William Borowski takes a more personal approach to project management by telling us how he handled the responsibility of guiding the change to modern project management in a major automotive system manufacturing company. Harvey Levine gives us another one of his excellent articles on project management methods and tools, but this time focused on manufacturing. Dennis Bolles examines the persistent question in manufacturing companies of “why bother with all this management change; is there any value added?”
I want to express my gratitude for the time and effort these authors expended to share with us the valuable knowledge they have. Their contributions have added significantly to the knowledge of modern project management.