Lean Production—The End of History?
Lean Production—The End of History?
复制标题
精益生产——历史的终结？
DOI：
10.1177/095001709372001
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发表时间：
1993
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
C. Berggren
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
C. Berggren
近年来出版的最有影响力的书籍之一是麻省理工学院的研究《改变世界的机器》，作者是沃马克、琼斯和鲁什（1990）。这本书结合了详细的经验比较与大胆和全面的断言。沃马克等人认为，日本的管理体系或“精益生产”不仅是世界上最高效的汽车制造体系。它是组织各种工业生产的最佳方式之一，其特点是生产力的显著提高和工作条件的质量改善。据麻省理工学院的研究小组称，精益生产注定会成为21世纪标准的全球生产系统，他们认为：“精益生产是人类制造东西的一种上级方式。它以更低的成本提供更好的产品，更广泛的品种。同样重要的是，它为从工厂到总部的各级员工提供了更具挑战性和充实感的工作。因此，全世界都应该采用精益生产，并尽快“（Womack等人，1990：225）。这篇文章的目的是挑战这种观点的精益生产作为一个万能的系统和明确的祝福。首先讨论精益生产的工业极限，然后转向20世纪80年代的成功故事-日本汽车移植在北美的巨大扩张。这一过程的社会先决条件，在麻省理工学院的研究中，很大程度上被忽视，强调，在继续分析这些新工厂的高度模糊的工作条件。这些移植吸引了许多美国工人，但无情的生产制度导致雇员的幻想日益破灭，工会当地人的抵制日益增加，1992年9月至10月在CAMI举行的为期五周的罢工就是明证。最后，我讨论了日本国内目前的事态发展，汽车制造商面临着严重的招聘危机。在日本，工会和环保主义者都批评麻省理工学院研究中提出的JIT系统，汽车制造商已经开始根据新的原则设计工厂。由于许多原因，精益生产不会成为历史的终结！
One of the most influential books that has been published in recent years is the MIT study The Machine that Changed the World by Womack, Jones and Roos (1990). The book combines detailed empirical comparisons with bold and sweeping assertions. The Japanese management system or `lean production', Womack et al. argue, is not only the world's most efficient system for manufacturing cars. It is the one best way of organizing all kinds of industrial production, featuring both dramatic increases in productivity and qualitative improvements in working conditions. According to the MIT team it is predestined to become the standard global production system of the twenty-first century, and they contend: `Lean production is a superior way for humans to make things. It provides better products in wider variety at lower cost. Equally important, it provides more challenging and fulfilling work for employees at every level, from the factory to the headquarters. It follows that the whole world should adopt lean production, and as quickly as possible' (Womack et al., 1990: 225). The purpose of this article is to challenge this view of lean production as an omnipotent system and unequivocal blessing. Starting with a discussion of the industrial limits of lean production, I then turn to the success story of the 1980s - the dramatic expansion of Japanese auto transplants in North America. The social preconditions for this process, largely overlooked in the MIT study, are emphasized, before proceeding to an analysis of the highly ambiguous working conditions at these new plants. The transplants have attracted many American workers, but the relentless production regime has caused growing disillusionment among employees and increasing resistance from union locals, which was demonstrated by the five week strike at CAMI in September-October 1992. Finally, I discuss current developments inside Japan, where automakers face a severe recruitment crisis. In Japan, both unions and environmentalists criticize the JIT-system heralded in the MIT study, and car manufacturers have started to design plants according to new principles. For many reasons lean production will not be the end of history!