1st Edition
Manufacturing Technology Transfer A Japanese Monozukuri View of Needs and Strategies
Based on a bestselling book originally published in Japanese, Manufacturing Technology Transfer: A Japanese Monozukuri View of Needs and Strategies offers time-tested methods and little-known tips for achieving successful transfer of technology along with the skills required to operate that technology. Designed to support a series of lectures on technology transfer within a master’s course on the management of technology, it presents the results of years of research carried out at Hiroshima University.
The book delves into the authors’ decades of experience transferring technology between Japan and the rest of the world, particularly to developing countries from where much of the world’s future economic growth is expected. It contains case studies of successful technology transfers from both the ship building and food equipment industries. Its wide-reaching coverage examines methods of skill transfer, production management, and manufacturing company classification.
Introducing readers to the engineering activities that occur within the manufacturing industry, the book illustrates the engineering technology activities involved in manufacturing, along with the production management activities required to support them. It also explains how job simulators can help shorten learning times in the manufacturing industry in the same way that flight simulators are used to teach flying skills to pilots.
The book outlines a framework for teaching and learning processes that can be visualized in terms of an S-shaped learning curve. It explains how technology transfer overseas should be supported by contractual agreements between the parties concerned. Detailing the legal/contractual responsibilities for all parties involved, it also describes what you should do if problems arise during the transfer.
Integrating previously unpublished research results with illustrative case studies, this book is suitable for a wide audience within the manufacturing industry—including manufacturing engineering students in both developed and developing countries, those responsible for the development of manufacturing engineers in industry and elsewhere, and anyone interested in the international activities of Japanese manufacturing companies.
Manufacturing Industry
The Machine Tool Manufacturing Process
Design
Production Engineering
Machining
Assembly
Information and Object Flows in Manufacturing
Compatible Manufacturing Methods
Changes in Processing Accuracy
Classification of Manufacturing Industry and Products by Number of Parts and Processing Accuracy
Industrial Field and the Type of Technical Skill Required
Abilities Required by Engineers and Technicians
Discussion Questions
Learning Curves and Their Utilization
The Learning Curve
Engineering Equivalents to the Learning Curve
Specification of Skill Levels by Means of Learning Curves
Specification of Skill Levels and Its Benefits
Individual Learning Curves and Learning Curves According to Work
Evaluation of Individual Skill Levels
Evaluating a Company’s Technical Competence
Learning Curves and the Lifetime Employment System
Industry Field Surveys
Skill Levels and Learning Times
Age and Service Years of Staff
Companies’ Technical/Skill Level Estimated from Service Years
Skill Level and Standard Deviation
Proficiency Measurement
Skill Level and Standard Deviation
Discussion Questions
Skill Transfer in Manufacturing Industries
Skill Transfer from the Time of Chuang Tzu
Technical Skill Classification
The Teaching of Technical Skills
Learning Curve Time Reduction
The Early Period
The Fast Learning Period
The Maturity Period
Work De-Skilling
Historical Examples
Limits to De-Skilling
Mechanization and Automation of Skillful Work
Skill Level and Automation
The Security of Technology Transfer
Human Resources
Material Things
Information
Turnover Rate and Technology/Skill Transfer
Discussion Questions
Virtual Manufacturing to Speed Up Learning
Hand Scraping
An Experimental Study of Expert Scraping Judgments
Hand Scraping Strategy
Computer Simulation of Scraping
High-Point Marking
Interpretation and Judgment
Scraping
Computer Simulation and Education
Discussion Questions
Production Management and Technology Transfer in Manufacturing
Production Management
Production Activities and Management
Production Systems and Their Features
The Product Life Cycle
Management Technologies in the Product Life Cycle
Production Strategy in the Product Life Cycle
Technology Transfer and Management of Technology
Appropriate Technology Transfer and the Role of Management
Importance of State of Development
Importance of Human Resources
Importance of Market Competition
Importance of Strategic Factors
Technology Strategy and Issues of Management Technology
Offensive Strategy
Defensive Strategy
Imitative Strategy
Dependent Strategy
Traditional Strategy
Opportunity Strategy
Strategic Technology Transfer and Sustainable Development
Discussion Questions
Overseas Expansion and Technology Transfer
Special Features of Technology Transfer Overseas
Historical Background to Overseas Technology Transfer
Overseas Expansion and Conditions of Technology Transfer
Strategy in Technology Transfer
Statistics of Overseas Expansion
The Content of Technology Transfer
Important Considerations in Overseas Technology Transfer
Procedures of Technology Transfer
Future Trends in Overseas Technology Transfer
Discussion Questions
Technology Transfer and Legal Affairs
Function of Legal Affairs in Technology Transfer
Example Framework of Agreement Covering Technology Transfer
The States of Technology Transfer
The Basic Agreement
The Technological License Agreement
The Technical Staff Dispatch Agreement
The Technical and Operation Staff Training Agreement
The Engineering Agreement
The Plant Construction Agreement
The Machinery Procurement Agreement
Common Points to Note in the Various Agreements’ Legal Affairs Articles
Party to the Agreement
Signer to the Agreement
Effective Period
Agreement Transfer (Assignment)
Governing Law
Controlling Text
Entire Agreement
Supplement to or Amendment of Agreement
Force Majeure
Termination of Agreement
Settlement of Disputes
Arbitration
Discussion Questions
Technology Transfer from Participants’ Viewpoints
Background of Technology Transfer
The Scope of This Chapter
Japan’s Needs for Technology Transfer
Asian Nations’ Needs for Technology Transfer
New Technology Transfer—Issues That Should Be Tackled
A Technology Transfer Survey
Purpose of the Investigation
Survey Outline
Results from the Survey
Issues as Seen by Receiving Sides
Issues as Seen by Transferring Sides
Country-Specific Issues
Road Map for Resolving Problems
Differences between the Transferring and Receiving Sides
Issues Arising at the Individual Level
Cause 1: The Personality of the Individual in Charge
Cause 2: Not Understanding the Technology Transfer Agreement and Its Range
Cause 3: A Language Barrier
Cause 4: Insufficient Basic Learning and Skills on the Receiving Side; and also
Cause 5: Inherent Problems in the Transfer Process
Issues Arising at Transferring Company Level
Cause 1: Unclear Agreement Documents and Lack of Mutual Understanding
Cause 2: Inadequate Risk Management
Cause 3: Agreement Documents Not Anticipating All Problems
Cause 4: Difficulties in the Management of Technology (MOT)
Issues Arising at an Educational Level
Cause 1: Insufficient Basic Education
Cause 2: Shortage of Cultural Exchange Education
Cause 3: A Language Barrier
Issues Arising at Local and National Levels
Cause 1: The Business Environment and Laws of the Receiving Country
Cause 2: Insufficient National Support
Communication and Language Barriers
Discussion Questions
Overseas Expansion Technology Decision Making
Overseas Expansion and the Learning Curve
A Way of Thinking to Underpin Overseas Expansion
Is the Learning Speed Different Overseas?
Decisions to Be Made When Expanding Overseas
Problems after Transfer
Overseas Expansion Decision Making Using Block Diagrams
Benefits of Block Diagrams
A Costing Example, with Quality and Defect Rate Constraints
Discussion Questions
Example of Shipbuilding Industry in Overseas Technology Transfer
General Survey of Shipbuilding Transfers and Selection of Successful and Unsuccessful Cases
Comparison Measures
Survey Results
Selections of Successful and Unsuccessful Cases
Case Study 1: Tsuneishi Heavy Industries
Background to Overseas Expansion
Selection of the Place
Selection of Local Partners
Technology Transfer in THI
Case Study 2: Technical Cooperation in Shipbuilding to Indonesia
Outline of Indonesia’s Shipbuilding Industry
Development of Indonesian Shipbuilding Industry
An Initial Success Story (the Origin of the Indonesian Shipbuilding Industry)
The Caraka Jaya, Mina Jaya, and Other Projects
Japanese Assistance to Indonesian Shipbuilding Industry
Problems of Indonesian Shipbuilding Development
Problems of National Projects
Problems of Alienation from the Needs of the Shipping Industry
Management Problems
Methods for Introduction of Technology
Conclusion
Tacit Knowledge
Construction Strategies
Supply Chain Problems
Motivation and Management Problems
Discussion Questions
Example of Overseas Expansion (Food Machinery)
The Subsidiary Companies’ Products
Manufacturing Effectiveness and Costs
Other Factors to Consider
Overseas Expansion Example: Thailand
Summary
Discussion Questions
Index
Biography
Yasuo Yamane received his undergraduate engineering education from Hiroshima University before taking a position as a machine tool designer with the Toshiba Machine Tool Company. He gained his doctoral degree, again from Hiroshima, in 1980, before commencing an academic career. He has been a professor (1983-present), Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering (2005-2009), and the Director of Hiroshima University’s Venture Business Laboratory (2000-2003) and Collaborative Research Centre (2003-2005). He is currently (2009-present) the Vice President of Hiroshima University with a special responsibility for international affairs. It is this broad background experience, added to his career-long special researches in metal machining, machine tool design, and technology transfer, that has given him the insights and desire to develop the present book’s scope and contents. He is also a co-author of the advanced level text book Metal Machining: Theory and Applications.
Tom Childs was the lead-author of the book Metal Machining: Theory and Applications. He received his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from Cambridge University. From 1989 until his retirement in 2008 was Professor of Manufacturing Engineering in the School of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Leeds. He has published some 200 papers in the areas of metal machining and more generally on friction and wear in engineering components. He has spent three extensive periods as guest scholar / visiting professor in Japan, at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Osaka University and most recently Hiroshima University. It is these and other exchanges that have given him an interest and insight into the origins of Japanese manufacturing skills and culture (sometimes described by the word ‘monozukuri’ in Japan) and which underpin his co-authorship of this book.
I am on a committee to start a new program in manufacturing engineering on our campus this fall and this book will help us define the types of student outcomes and research goals we need to have. We are now having to move to a more holistic, modeling, optimization and global manufacturing view which includes more management and strategy which is covered in this book.
—Mark Henderson, Arizona State University
Very nice topic and I especially enjoyed Chapter 9 with its model and thinking-processes for how (or not) to expand overseas and outsource—well done.
—Paul Wright, University of California, Berkeley