Future Capable Company - Book Review

Future Capable Company written by James Tompkins explores the trials and tribulations that manufactures will inevitably face in the future. Tompkins tries to unravel the mystery of manufacturing in our constantly changing society, a daunting task for anyone. I was happy to find Tompkins has about 30 years under his belt in the manufacturing industry, the book content reflects his level of experience.

This book is basically a 12 step guide to prepare manufacturers for the future; Cost, Customer Satisfaction, Global, Speed, Certainty/Change, Control, Quality, Maintenance, Human Capital, Continuous Improvement and Synthesis; these are the 12 steps to success. At first glance many of you might feel the same way I did when looking at these 12 revelations; NO DUH! These seemingly obvious steps to success seem to be too often “buzz words” thrown around from one meeting room to another. A closer investigation of these steps reveals something truly horrific; they can not be achieved by simply discussing them over lunch. Tompkins does a good job of reinforcing this fact; it is not an easy goal to achieve. There is an incredible effort involved in attaining these goals. The logistics of implementing a process to achieve these goals could, for some companies become an engineering accomplishment of epic proportions. Tompkins clearly identifies the effort and processes required to becoming a future capable company, devoting an entire chapter to each of the 12 requirements.

As a service based company, I did not think that the principles in this book would apply to our “way of life” if you will. As I continued to go through the book, I found myself applying Tompkins ideas to my daily operation. These 12 requirements are sound business principles that should be used in any organization. The section on Human Capital really struck a cord with me as our company has been dealing with this issue for quite some time now (See February 01 issue, Letters to the Editor section, “The Tragedy of Training in North America”). “When a company begins viewing its employees as assets, then that company can begin to maximize their participation in its operation and success”. Tompkins does a great job of reminding us of this idea; in order to be a future capable company it is imperative to invest in the workforce.

Tompkins does an excellent job going through each of his 12 steps on the long road to becoming future capable. From his position on the Internet and its effect on the supply chain, to some basic business principles like Human Capital and cutting costs, Tompkins allows us to rediscover these fundamentals. I strongly recommend this book as great reference material; it is well organized and easy to read. Tompkins has not created a revolutionary formula for success nor does he profess to, he has however created a manual that reinforces, or perhaps reminds us of some basic principles that may have gone by the way side in this ever ch@nging world we live in.

Bill Valedis

Publisher = TOMPKINS PRESS
Date of Publication = June 2001
ISBN # = 1-930426-01-1
Cost = $24.95