Desarrollos Tecnologicos

MANUFACTURING IN AMERICA
The lecture is developed on the basis that in order to manage something effectively, one must first understand it. In order to understand the actual methods and management techniques, it is important to give a look to the past and establish what events played a fundamental role on their development.
THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
America, unlike the majority of the countriesof the Old World, had a fresh start, meaning that it took ideas from de Old World an adapted them according to their necessities creating a country resulting of their own decisions and perceptions. Besides, America started as a group of colonies with little sense of common identity, having as the strongest American culture icon the rugged individualist seeking freedom at the frontier. The myth ofthe frontier evolved into the myth of the self-made person making heroes out of the industrialists of the 19th century.
In time, the myth mentioned above influenced in marketing and finances being much more popular in American business schools the operations management. The common believe stated that while big accomplishments could be made in finance and marketing bye venturing and launchingnew products, only cents could be saved by optimizing the operations of a company.
Another force of the American forming identity was their faith on the scientific method, which favored the use of the reductionist method to improve the efficiency of operations. This method consists in dividing the system into smaller pieces and improving each piece. Even though many accomplishments where obtainedthanks to this approach, it is important to notice that going too far to the specific may darken the concept of the system.
On the other hand, Eastern societies focused on a more holistic approach, analyzing the individual pieces in terms of their interaction with the other parts of the system focusing the attention on improving the efficiency of the system as a hole. An example that may clearthe difference between both approaches can be set on the setup times in manufacturing operations. The American approach took them for granted as they focused on improving the individual procedures, while the Eastern philosophy paid much attention to reducing those times as they affected the system as a hole.

THE FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Before the first industrial revolution, production wassmall scaled and was carried out either by the domestic system or the craft guilds system. The first consisted on merchants hiring families to make products and paying them on a unit-produced basis. The second system consisted on dividing production into steps to be made each bye a “specialized” on that specific process.
With the first industrial revolution, which started on England during themid-18th century, inventions allowed to mechanize many manual operations, facilitating the substitution of capital for labor. The most important invention of the time, the Steam Engine, made it possible for industrial production to expand as it gave another resource to produce energy, freeing industries of the condition of developing only in places where water resources where easy to use to produceenergy. Besides, steam engine was also a cheaper way of producing energy, leading to lower production costs, lower prices and expanded markets.
England, with its new technology had a competitive advantage over America, which was protected, for example, by prohibiting exportation of models, plans or people that could reveal technological knowledge. These methods worked out until Samuel Slater(1768-1835), who had been apprenticed of Jedediah Strutt, managed to travel to America disguising himself as a farmer, where he made partnership with Moses Brown. With Brown´s capital support and Samuel´s knowledge, they constructed in 1793 the first modern textile mill in America.
Despite America´s use of England’s discoveries in the technological area, their industries developed in a very...