My Top 20 Business Books A selection of recommended books for manufacturing professionals

Lifelong learning is the attitude of mind needed to remain competitive in the job market. You have to take personal responsibility to invest in your own growth in the same way companies invest in research and development. External training provides you with occasional feasts of information and snacking on articles is important but a regular diet of books must be the main food for your personal development. I have selected books here that I have found both interesting and useful.

Book	Comment	Link to purchase
Business Excellence - the integrated solution to planning and control  Phil Robinson  £24.90	Essential reading for managers at all levels in manufacturing companies to get everyone working towards one common goal.  Invaluable for companies who are implementing or want to get the most from their MRPII or ERP systems.  Click here for contents, reviews, extracts, free trial or click here to purchase. A 2006 edition of Business Excellence is now available in e-book format in addition to the paperback version. For the advantages and disadvantages of e-books versus paperback see "Which Format?". In addition to purchasing the whole book, you can also purchase short e-books such as Sales and Operations Planning, Stock Record Accuracy, Bills of Material, World Class Manufacturing or How to Master Schedule by Phil Robinson for just £4.95 (about US$9). Click the links above for more details and application forms or the link on the right for the full list.
The Neglected Firm - every manager must manage two firms : the present one and the future one  Jorge Vasconcellos e Sá  Amazon price £22.40	Jorge stresses the need to have people committed to future planning but within the context of day-to-day efficient management. See Jorge's web site for details of all his books.	Amazon link
How to Transform your Company and Enjoy It Ken Lewis and Stephen Lytton Amazon price £12.99	Excellent little book, amusingly illustrated, about how Ken Lewis (MD) transformed Dutton Engineering with an imaginative use of the Kaizen principles etc.	Amazon link
The Goal - Beating the competition Eliyahu M Goldratt and Jeff Cox Amazon price £14.99	The easy to read definitive book on Optimised Production Technology in the style of a novel.  More details	Amazon link
The Machine that Changed the World  James P Womack, Daniel T Jones & Daniel Roos  £12.99	The definitive 1990 book on Lean Manufacturing that compared Japanese and American car industries based on a MIT study.	Amazon link
The Pyramid Principle - Logic in writing and thinking  Barbara Minto  Amazon price £36.99	If you have been frustrated trying to make sense of reports, let the culprit have a copy of this book!  It really helps to get a logical order into writing	Amazon link
Zapp - The lightning of empowerment  William C Byham  Amazon price £8.00	A crazy science fiction style story of a guy that could transport himself to the 12th.dimension.  A simple way to get the empowerment message across.	Amazon link
Cause and Effect Lean - The essentials of Lean Manufacturing John Bicheno Amazon price £6.95	A very useful 71 page booklet on the essentials of Demand Management, Total Maintenance, Total Quality, layout, changeover reduction, lean supply, lean design etc.	Amazon link
Japanese Manufacturing Techniques - Nine Hidden Lessons in Simplicity Richard Schonberger Amazon price £30.63	Although first written in 1982, this book contains a wealth of ideas on Just in Time.	Amazon link
JIT - Making it Happen William A. Sandras £47.50	This book was my bible when applying the Just in Time principles at Knowles.  The proof is it worked for me! See Bill's web site for more information	Amazon link
A Revolution in Manufacturing - The SMED system Sigeo Shingo £45.00	Not the easiest read but the best there is as far as I know on set-up time reduction.  I am afraid you just have to read this.	Amazon link
Quality is Free William A. Crosby £35.99	I wish I could think of a title like that, how can you resist.  Higher quality is not exactly free but higher quality can cost less.	Amazon link
Today and Tomorrow Henry Ford & Samuel Crowther £16.95	Amazing book, written in 1926 but it could have been written yesterday.	Amazon link
The Quality 60 - A guide to Gurus, Tools, Wastes and Techniques John Bicheno £6.95	Another excellent little booklet with outlines on gurus, quality tools, the 7 wastes (muda), and quality techniques	Amazon link

Other books worth a read

BookTitle & Author	Description	ISBN & Amazon link
Total Quality Control - Armand Feigenbaum	Definitive book on Total Quality	0070203547
Primer on the Taguchi Method - Ranjit Roy	A must for every engineer and designer	087263468x
Frederick W Taylor: Father of Scientific Management - F.B. Copley	History book for students	0678004617
MRPII The Standard System - Landvater & Gray	The bible for the functionlity required by ERP or MRPII software but strictly for the software developers.	0939246120

Checkout Profit Advisors for a long list of great articles on how to improve and promote businesses, and reviews of books every executive should read.

And finally - something for the family.
 

The pocket money book - a parents guide  by Phil Robinson £1.49 Downloadable e-Book	An e-book for harrassed parents on that thorny problem of pocket money . How much to give, when and why. . . more details	Click for more details
Cooking to impress - Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puddings  by Phil Robinson £1.49 Downloadable recipe sheets	A "dummies guide" to cooking the perfect Roast Beef meal from shopping to presenting the meal including Yorkshire puddings and proper gravy.(more details)	Click for more details
Perfect Yorkshire Puddings  by Phil Robinson £1.49 Downloadable e-book	The ideal accompaniment to the Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding sheets above. The e-book contains detailed instructions for you to be able to make perfect Yorkshire Puddings just like the picture. The e-book also includes may ideas to solve the common problems with Yorkshire Puddings. As well as the tradional recipe there are many other recipies for snacks, starters, main course and puddings based around Yorkshire Puddings. (more details)	Click for more details
Science Magic  Richard Robinson £3.99 Amazon price £3.19 Illustrated "Science Magic in the bedroom" (4 books in the series)	Self working "magic" tricks using everyday objects in the kitchen, bathroom, living room and bedroom. The tricks are based on scientific phenomenon such as gravity, inertia, friction, light, heat and maths. The book explains the science behind the magic in simple english. Illustrated is "Science Magic - Laboratory in the living room". Richard can also come and demonstrate science magic for your school or party (more details)	Click to buy

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Phil Robinson - www.bpic.co.uk