Nu har den kommit, Lars Medbos och Hikari Nohara imponerande bok “Technology Convergence and System Divergence”. En bok om Volvos då banbrytande fabrik i Uddevalla, och jämförelser inte minst med utvecklingar inom Toyota. Uddevalla där ett lag av arbetare stationärt byggde en hel Vovo-bil inom en socioteknisk ansats och med stort inflytande för de arbetande. Det är en gedigen och välkommen uppdatering av vad vi vet om ‘human-centered’ bilbyggande.
Boken av Nohara och Medbo ges ut av Springer. Glad vara bland dem de japanska forskarna tackar.
Now it has arrived, Lars Medbo and Hikari Nohara’s impressive book “Technology Convergence and System Divergence”. A book about Volvo’s then groundbreaking factory in Uddevalla, and comparisons not least with developments within Toyota. Uddevalla where a team of workers stationary built an entire Vovo car within a socio-technical approach and with great influence for the workers. It is a solid and welcome update of what we know about ‘human-centered’ car construction.
The book by Nohara and Medbo is published by Springer. Glad to be among them the Japanese researchers thank. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-96-1910-8
When it started in the early 1990s, there were many of us researchers, Swedish, Japanese, international, who analyzed the factories and tried to influence Volvo management not to close Uddevalla, and also Kalmar. The trade unions at the two factories fought against the closures, Even the managers there were against it. It did not succeed. The book, ed. Åke Sandberg:
Enriching production. Perspectives on Volvo’s Uddevalla Plant as an Alternative to Lean Production. Aldershot: Avebury 1996, digital edition with new foreword 2007. “Enriching Production” may be downloaded for free. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-96-1910-8