Manufacturers Books

Warfare is characterized by material consumption on a grand scale. Maintaining an army in the field necessitates extensive manufacturing and logistical support. It is no different today than in 1861 when Colonel Abraham C. Myers was appointed quartermaster general of the Confederate States. Wilson explains Myers basic responsibility as quartermaster general was to keep the army properly clothed and shod but the exigencies of modern warfare expanded the boundaries of his bureaucratic fiefdom. Under Myers leadership the military suffered from dire shortages but not necessarily, Wilson argues, as the result of a lack of Southern industrial capacity. In the fall of 1963 charges of profiteering, ineptitude, and mismanagement led to Myers being replaced by Brigadier General Alexander R. Lawton.

Lawton was able to more efficiently mobilize production for military purposes but unfortunately not in time to reverse the fortunes of war. When he took over as Quartermaster General, Lawton needed accurate information on the extent to which the government was exploiting the South's manufacturing capacity. Lawton ordered George W. Cunningham, quartermaster for the Army of Tennessee, to conduct a survey of mills in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. Cunningham's "Statement of Factories Inspected" and other reports showed that, to alleviate military shortages, the government could increase the number of contracts awarded. While wartime expansion was built on an antebellum industrial foundation to meet the needs of total war, changes ultimately led to a new appreciation for the value of manufacturing.

Wilson uses Cunningham's study as evidence of mismanagement as the cause of supply shortages rather than the scarcity of Southern manufacturing. Focusing on raw materials, conscription of skilled labor, and parts shortages Wilson presents a penetrating view of the South's manufacturing capacity. He argues that the experience broke the power of the planter class' opposition to industry and permitted a new more favorable attitude toward industrialization and urbanization. This only became clearer in the war's aftermath.

New information, beautifully revealed!
A must read for Civil War enthusiast.........

When the Civil War began, the Confederacy, with a few exceptions, possessed the resources to logistically support war. However, the South lacked the organization, operational doctrine and planning needed to meet their army's growing supply needs. To correct this problem, in March1861 Jefferson Davis appointed Major Abraham C. Myers, a West Point graduate and career staff officer, Quartermaster General. The author, Harold Wilson, narrates the supply problems that developed as "Myer's strict adherence to.... antiquated regulations earned few friends among field officers." In addition, Myers "failed to grasp modern notions of efficiency and system" plus "he lacked ability to plan." In contrast the Ordnance Bureau under Josiah Gorgas was well organized and properly administered.

The text recounts the numerous problems in the Quartermaster Department and with the textile manufacturers who had problems maintaining their workforce. Some manufacturers were accused of "illicit rewards" while at the same time they faced run-away inflation. Despite the concession of vast martial powers to Myers, the Confederacy had limited ability to clothe its troops. For example, the battle of Gettysburg was participated by Rebel troops attempts to secure badly needed shoes in the town of Gettysburg.

"When Myers could not provide the necessary refit for the army, he lost any remaining confidence in his leadership among the line officers." In July 1863, Brigadier General Alexander R. Lawton was appointed quartermaster general. After failing to sustain Longstreet's army in Tennessee, Lawton initiated a survey of available Confederate resources and reformed the production operations of the bureau. His reforms met great success in Virginia and Georgia; however, strong opposition developed in North Carolina." The account of Governor Vance and North Carolina's opposition to Lawton's policies is most interesting.

"By the end of 1864, Lawton's reputation as a supplier stood high." However, pressing clothing shortages continued, as the naval blockade limited imports and Federal troops burned factories and raw materials. It was found "that large quantities of government clothing are possessed by persons in civil life, and by dealers" as these articles were sold by troops who hadn't been paid in months, or the articles had been abandoned in the field or the dealers had purchased direct from the manufacturers. Most interesting, the Confederacy in 1862 had initiated a "scoured earth policy" to prevent useful assets falling under Union control so that as Sherman and other Union generals marched through the South, both the Union and Confederate armies were destroying facilities.

The author's account of blockade running to supplement domestic supplies is interesting. The text notes "Until the end of the war, most garments and goods provided to the Confederate army came from domestic resources through Alexander Lawton's mobilization of manufacturing." Most intriguing, was the fact that the Confederate government entered into an agreement with William Crenshaw to build and operate blockade-runners. Private vessels were eminently more profitable than Crenshaw's operation, nevertheless Crenshaw continued to operate after heavy loss of ships. Since domestic sources supplied many goods and garments, in addition the runners brought in critically needed new machinery and spares. "As Confederate funds in Europe dwindled, the export of cotton became more critical." So that blockade running became a two-way process with the blockade- runners leaving with cotton to pay for items received.

When Wilmington , North Carolina fell, blockade running ceased. "When Lee surrendered at Appomattox on April 9 and Johnston at Durham's Station on April 26, Confederate quartermaster and commissary stores were mostly depleted....General Lawton's system of supply was in shambles." The text now relates the tortuous process of reconstruction which under President Johnson adhered "to a `white man's country' philosophy and the adoption of a lenient policy toward the defeated South...." Johnson worked with the manufacturers, railroaders, former Confederate officers, etc to revive the South's economy based on manufacturing and technology. Also, to forestall greater chaos, President Johnson quickly moved to restore civil government in the south. By 1870 manufacturing approached it 1860 level.

The author devotes several pages to the problems of Radical Reconstruction that followed President Johnson's lenient policies. Radical Reconstruction produced years of violence and political uncertainty. The book notes "Only a token number of southern manufacturers braved the threats of violence and participated in the new Radical state governments." Most violence was initiated by southerners who resisted giving equal political and social rights to the freemen. Wilson observes that after the end of reconstruction, in the emerging New South there were the problems of discriminatory freight rates, the growth of trusts that violated the practices of the free market economy, the lack of credit for farmers, and the failure of the states to properly control working conditions. Sadly, the author notes "As grievous as the problems were, they were far more amenable to solution than had been the slavery controversy."

This is a well-researched and heavily documented work. However, it is not a very readable book. The author tends to become repetitious by presenting far too many examples for each point that he makes when he could have given just a few examples and included the balance in appendices. In addition, the author basically limits this work to the textile and clothing manufacturers in the South, essentially ignoring critical metal working, foundry and munitions manufacturing operations. The strategic Tredegar Iron Works is only listed in the Introduction. However, serious students and Civil War "buffs" will find much useful information as the text provides the other side of the story about supply shortages suffered by the Confederate armies in the field.

Although living in Belgium and being Belgian, I have always being fascinated by the logistical aspects of the American Civil War, especially on the Southern side, because they had to fight this war with such limited resources. There are only a few books on the subject. "Ploughshares into swords" by Frank Vandiver (published in 1940's), that I recently found on Amazon (ten years ago I had vainly tried to order it through more traditional means) which is a biography of the Chief of Ordnance of the CS Army. Another book is called " Confederate Supply" by Richard Goff (published in the 60s)and is nowadays out of print (my copy is a xerox). It deals with the whole supply problem, not least that of feeding the army.
This book is focused on confederate textile industry as it was before the war, as it went through the war and how it successfully recovered from the War. Covering the war period, it basically describes three phases in the mobilization of these resources to clothe the army: the reign of improvisation at the level of the confederate authorities (Quartermaster department) until 1863, the reorganization of their efforts along more rational lines and the increased use of imports from Europe and thirdly the destruction of most of the southern mills by the Union army. This book is well researched, goes deeply into primary sources and adds real value.
I really enjoyed it too because it is well written. Being a trained historian myself it is not difficult to see how much time and effort has been put into it. Not an easy task but a task well done !

For those with an interest in the Civil War, this book gives new insight into the efforts of the Confederacy to keep its armies in the field during four years of Union onslaughts. Harold Wilson, an English professor at Old Dominion University, looks largely at the textile industry but also focuses on armaments and other production. He also discusses the Confederacy's efforts to supply itself from Europe with blockade-running ships, and the efforts of Northern armies - especially under Sherman - to destroy the Confederacy's industrial base. He also examines the rise of Southern industry in the decades after the war.
This is a solid, well-researched book that covers an important area of Civil War history in unprecedented depth.

The Lean Assessment for Job Shops worked for our organization. It was simple to understand and very easy to use. We complimented the recommendations called out by the NAJS with our own material. This was the first assessment that I have seen that allowed us to be specific in Lean tool implementation. This was created by those that understand how Lean must work in job shops and small manufacturers!

I found the book to be extremely helpful. I've used it with several of my job shop clients as part of their lean transition and it was an invaluable, easy-to-grasp tool. It has a solid understanding of the particulars that job shops face and I highly recommend it.

As a Manufacturing Manager at a small assembly plant, I found that this assessment allowed us to communicate with the common lean purpose and language. I highly recommend it and found nothing else on the market that compares.

As an owner and CEO of a small shop I found this assessment to be very useful. We conduct this assessment every 6 months. Even though the NAJS in this assessment refers mostly to their curriculum it still is an acceptional lean compass. We use this to refer to general categories of lean where we can apply a particular tool. I have tried the numerous free lean assessments, even Shingo's and realized you get what you paid for. The assessment cost of $10 is worth every cent.

This assessment is the best one available. Our organization has been implementing Lean for over 10 years. The assessment is an excellent analysis tool to assist your organization in going to the next level. Our score was not as high as we had thought, however, the assessment gave us insight into our next level of lean implementation. We will be using this assessment every 6 months. I suggest to The Lean Store for the next version references are made to other books and resources when given a particular score. Overall, a high endorsement for manufacturing to use this!

Seems to be everything they claimed it would be. It's well done & as up to date as you can ask for in an industry that is changing every day. The photos are extremely well done. I work for an aviation publishing company & I'd have to say it's a tremendous asset for the price.

It has complete information on almost every General Aviation aircraft. It specifies detailed information on "series" for the large manufacturarers (i.e. Cessna, Beechcraft), and gives the year that series was manufactured and the serial numbers range in those series.
This is "The" reference book for any professional in the aviation business and/or any general aviation buff.

During the period between the world wars there were a tremendous number of companies that decided that they could build airplanes. Most of them are long gone now. What I found surprising in this book is the number of companies that have decided they could build airplanes since WW II.

That's what this book is, a compendium of manufacturers from Adam Aircraft to Zlin Aviation (Czech Republic). There are truly an amazing number of manufacturers represented, most of which have at least one color photograph. Each manufacturer also gets a bit of history, when formed, by whom, who then bought them, and for many when tehy went out of business.

You will be surprised at how many companies around the world have introduced the basic high wing, piston engined airplane since the war. Likewise surprising is the number of specialized agriculture planes, low wing with the pilot sitting up quite high and the hopper located in front of the pilot.

At the one extreme the bigger companies (Cessna, Piper) get a lot of coverage because they have had so many different designs. But a lot of companies built only one model, and perhaps that for a short period of time. All are listed, far more companies than you can imagine. The coverage is world wide in its listing, with companies listed from such unexpected countries as Chili, Brazin, India, and of course Russia who had quite a number of smaller civilian aircraft.

This book is superb! The most comprehensive book covering coaches throughout North America.This is a history of many well known coach builders,the imported coaches and the companies who set up production in North America.
If you are a bus and coach enthusiast,driver,owner you will love this book.Photographs throughout the book are good quality and will appeal to everyone.
A must have book for any bus book collector.
The author also published the book:
"Beginner's guide to converted coaches".

Plachno offers a diverse range of makes and models from well known and not-so-well known companies, accompanied by quality black and white prints. If you'd like to get to know "Big Cars" better, here is an extensive guide to Intercity Buses used by large and small carrier companies throughout the U.S. While Plachno goes out of his way to be specific and provide a lot of information about the manufacture of each OTR coach, some of it is repetative...my only complaint, should not lessen the usefullness and uniqueness of this book. Roll On...

I just got this book and I'm totally impressed with it's detailed information. Any bus fan would love this book. TONS of details about GMs,Flxibles,MCI & others. Crown fans: it's gotta small Crown chapter that covers the company's history. Book is loaded with b/w pics, including some great ol rare shots like prototypes and rare buses like the Flxie Starliner. Well worth it, go for it bus fans!

estoy interesado en comprar este libro, pero deseo saber elk contenido, mi e mail es el JCisneros@gloria.com.pe

This book provides a broad range of equations, calculations, data, and information useful to the cement process engineer.

Everything from plant chemistry, burning, grinding, engineering formulas, and environmental aspects are provided.

Everything you need to from performing a routine check to a detailed investigation is included in this book.

A must have for the cement process engineer!

The Kaizen Blitz is a excellent book. It is helpful for studying about lean manufacturing. It is a excellent guide to do improvements in the factories.

This is a book that is useful to those people who may wish to implement Kaizen Blitzes. The Kaizen Blitzes are a series of educational initiatives developed by the Association for Manufacturing Excellence. The book explains how organizations can accelerate the process of achieving rapid breakthrough success in productivity and performance. This can be achieved with good leadership and support at the top and a motivated workforce working to achieve clear targets.

Although the book was written by authors without hands on experienced on running Kaizen Events, nevertheless, they carried out extensive research on companies that successfully implemented the concept, that the information they provide is very enlightening and useful.

The book provide a good overview on the Kaizen blitz and explains how a company can eliminate waste, focus on valuable activities, create an efficient, lean operation whilst explaining how this can be quickly achieved. The book is written in a simple and easy-to-follow style that should make it readable to specialists and non-specialists alike.

Three contributers, three more "experts" trying to tell us how to do something that they have never done themselves.
A lot of references and notable people and companies are mentioned, but where is the real hands-on "How to do it?"
This book is a story book and should be classified as FICTION.
This trio are writers, not "Lean Manufacturing" implementers.

Did NOT help us run Kaizen events. An overview and story.
Author has never implemented Kaizen, only told about others' successes.
Not a "how to do it" book.

As you probably know already, the word "kaizen" is a Japanese term meaning "to make better" with the implication that such effort should be continuous, indeed intensive and unrelenting. Since 1994, the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) has developed a series of educational initiatives known as the "Kaizen Blitz." In the Introduction to this volume, Jon Brodeur observes: "We think non-consultant-driven events -- training and on-the-floor work by the experts, the hands-on employees who have experienced the power of the Kaizen Blitz -- will continue to be a welcome addition to any organization's arsenal of improvement approaches. Small- and medium-sized companies can do it as well as larger ones and they may have an advantage if operations are small enough in scope to get their arms around." However, positive and significant results can only be achieved with an appropriate combination of leadership at its highest level, acceptance (indeed enthusiasm) throughout all other levels, and tenacious involvement about attaining 20 percent to 50 percent improvement (or greater) in performance in a short time and in narrowly targeted areas. The effective Kaizen process must be top-down, initiated and sustained by teamwork, and focused entirely on doing "whatever needs to be done" ASAP. The authors of this book explain both how and why.

The material is organized within 11 chapters whose titles correctly suggest the nature and extent of coverage: The Power of AME's Kaizen Blitz: Learning by Doing; The Roots of Kaizen; Improvement Strategy: Implementing the Big Picture; Getting Ready for Kaizen; Time Prints and Takt Times; How to Tell If There Is Improvement: Adding Value, Subtracting Waste: Uncovering the Flows: Establishing and Clarifying Process Flows; Forms, Charts, and Measurements; Sustaining the Gain: Lean Leadership; and finally, Never Look Back. Throughout the book, the authors reiterate the imperative that Kaizen Blitz initiatives must be sharply focused, task oriented, results driven, measurable and -- meanwhile -- FAST. Hence the relevance of the concept of "blitz," which gained worldwide prominence prior to and then during World War II when Fascist and then Allied forces attacked enemy positions with unprecedented velocity. As the AME Kaizen Blitz has demonstrated so convincingly, the same strategy (with obvious modifications) can effectively be implemented within any organization, regardless of size or nature.

Obviously I think highly of this book because it offers a sensitive, flexible, thoughtful and rigorous program to achieve what the subtitle correctly describes as "accelerating breakthroughs in productivity and performance." If these brief comments suggest that this is a program your organization needs, I strongly recommend that all of its decision-makers read it. Then, schedule an offsite meeting during which the book becomes the agenda for collaborative efforts to formulate and implement a Kaizen Blitz appropriate to your organization's specific needs and interests. If there is a need for additional resources, I strongly suggest Breyfogle's two books as well as one written by Pande and his co-authors.

An original book (yes there are with e-something) about dedicated "click and mortar" companies approach to the web.

It comes with a full set of tools (tests, frameworks, ...) that are very useful to practicionners

Most of the facts at the detailled level are relevant and informative the only pitfaall is that most analysis are initiated not truly deepens.

There is some valuable info in this book, but nothing you wouldn't find in any other eCommerce publication. The problem here is run on sentences, improper grammar, typographical errors, and a huge rally around business in the UK (rather than the US or international). If you are looking for a great visionary book on eCommerce try Tom Siebel's "Cyber Rules." This book isn't worth the money!

There is some valuable info in this book, but nothing you wouldn't find in any other eCommerce publication. The problem here is run on sentences, improper grammar, typographical errors, and a huge rally around business in the UK (rather than the US or international). If you are looking for a great visionary book on eCommerce try Tom Siebel's "Cyber Rules." This book isn't worth the money!

De Kare-Silver wrote "E-Shock" to help retailers and manufacturers understand the online marketplace evolution. Full of case studies and examples, he provides practical guidelines, tools, checklists, and strategies for decision-makers.

This book gives you the information to make informed choices, formulate heads-up sales strategies, and create savvy 21st century marketing plans.

This book stood out when I first saw it at an American Management Association book store. The author focuses on the successful pioneers of the E-commerce revolution, and he helps us anticipate the future. A number of practical e-commerce business strategies are also offered for aspiring Web-preneurs. You can't ask for much more!

I'm starting a new men's clothing label Disco Valante, http://www.discovalante.com. I am manufacturing in China and I wanted to get my hands on some information to aid my efforts. I have been all over Asia including Hong Kong but never to main land China. I think this book is a very good read. I will have to wait to apply the principles this August on my first trip to China. I will document my trip on my company blog http://discovalante.wordpress.com

Nice resource but a little too much theory and not enough practical data. Good background but short on day to day nuts and bolts resource.

This book is chock-full of information about the cultural differences that can give rise to friction or business losses. Enlightening introduction to eastern thought and how it WILL affect your business dealings. The book gives concrete suggestions to forestall, avoid, or mitigate problems that commonly arise when these two cultures (western and eastern) interact. Targeted at any size business, from very large to small. Four stars instead of five because the book would have benefitted from tighter editing (repetition, long blocks of text unbroken by subject headers) and it lacks an index. Overall, this book's purchase price is small compared to the advice and insights contained within.

This book really lifts the lid on Chinese business practices; having this information significantly enhances your ability to anticipate and prevent problems in China. Without this information you can blunder along with Chinese companies for years and not even realise the mistakes that you are making. While so many books about China focus on China's economic success or the enormous potential of the consumer market, this book gives you down to earth, practical advice that makes a difference when working with China. It will definitely change the way you do business in China!

I have been looking for a source of information for a long time to help me understand the Chinese and how to deal with them. And I have finally found it. This book has opened my eyes to what the game is all about. It is not full of vague theory, you get page after page of specific information and strategies how to win in China. There is a great chapter on how to negotiate in China, and others that clearly explain the importance of relationships and "face". The chapter on "behind the scenes at a Chinese manufacturer" is a real eye-opener! All in all, I always considered doing business with China difficult. Now things are much clearer. If you are buying from China, it really is a MUST read.

The book is a great starting point for someone who is interested in beginning a collection of hot sauce. There is a lot of information that is useful in helping someone who may not know where to look to start a collection. Some of the information however is out of date. For example I was searching for a particular hot sauce that was listed and the address of where to get it was a man's home address and he did not collect or have any of the hot sauce that he was referred to as having. There are not many of those mistakes and if someone is really looking for a particular sauce there is plenty of information and locations listed within the book to call or email for additional information or to have a brochure sent to you personnally. This book was given to me as a gift and it was how I was started in collecting hot sauce. Because of this book I have met many neat and interesting people as well as visited the sites and activities that are listed within.

An excellent short-cut to locating any of the hundreds of sauces seen in Thompson's well-known posters. Mfrs' name/address/phone, even E-mail address (for many). US & international. A must-buy: the cool way to collect hot stuff.

This is a fun book that categories hot sauce by region and gives a heat rating from 1 to 4 chilies. While the flavors and ingredients are included, and the rating system is generally accurate, this book would be more useful if it included a better comparison to well known hot sauces (such as Tabasco) and if the authors included a short list of sauces that would serve as an introduction to various regional hot sauces.

This is a small reference book, full of names, addresses & contact info for hot sauce vendors. But, don't expect an eye-popper, there's not much more to it than your local yellow pages. I bought this as a stocking stuffer for a hot sauce enthusiast, and wound up not giving it. Based on the photo, I expected a colorful book, full of pictures of hot sauce bottles, chilis, and what-not. There are no pictures, just listings. It has all the excitement of the local phone directory. The paper is newsprint-like, adding to the "yellow pages" tone of the book. It is very small in reality, pocketbook size, and thin. The content is not ~remotely~ exciting as I'd hoped.
But,,, if you're just looking for a small portable directory to find names & addresses for hot saucing, this little ... book could be handy.
.......

This book is very well written. It has lots of info on the history of the different aircraft manufactures but not a lot on the different types of planes. Lots of great colour photos of many different aircraft. It is a great book for anybody interested in planes.