Scholarship, Practice, and Leadership in the Manufacturing Industry

Essay by louie369University, Master'sA, September 2008

download word file, 6 pages 3.0

This paper will discuss the application of information literacy as it pertains to the manufacturing industry. Due to globalization, the world appears to be getting smaller, no longer are countries confined to certain segments of the world when it pertains to manufacturing or sales. In today's global market commonality to outsource components from numerous third world countries such as China, India, and Latin America. Today's manufacturing environment is changing at such a rapid pace that many people find difficulty keeping up with all the current technology.

No other change in American society has offered greater challenges than the emergenceof the Information Age. Information is expanding at an unprecedented rate, andenormously rapid strides are being made in the technology for storing, organizing, andaccessing the ever growing tidal wave of information. (Ambach, Bainbridge,Breivi, Brown, Eaton, & Imig, 1989, p.1)The Presidential Committee on Information Literacy on July 10, 1989 places a considerable amount of emphasis on our country's lack of information literacy.

The committee noted that the lack of information literacy is affecting our manufacturing abilities in this country because the average workers are not prepared to deal with the high-tech equipment.

Today the majority of the major U.S. companies and their suppliers work with their employees and train them in problem solving techniques such as Six Sigma. Companies like General Motors whose "Global Manufacturing System Division implemented five structural lean principles throughout every plant in North America to teach members to be lean producers and lean leaders." (Sharrock, 2007, p.1) These lean principles have been very beneficial to General Motors by enabling the company to produce goods through the removal of waste and implementing a more efficient process flow to reduce there cost structure.

Ford and General Motors both concur with the Presidential Committee on Information Literacy as they promote their employee...