A significant characteristic of the recent times has been that the different economies of the world are getting increasingly integrated with each other. For the emerging economies of the world—that have been of late showing rapid rates of economic growth – such as India, Production and Operations is a vital management discipline. This new edition of the book catches the flavour of the changing business climate and culture.

The second edition of the book was written about five years ago. I have now improved it further. First, I have added new chapters dealing with Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, Product Design including Design for Manufacture, Supply Chain Management and Cellular Manufacturing. Second, I have made additions to some of the earlier chapters with a view to orient them with the new concerns. The culture of increasing inter-relationships, enhanced customer focus and corporate social responsibility has to percolate into production and operations management as a discipline. I have tried to bring in these changes in the orientation. The reader may, therefore, see a lot more human relations emphasis in this book. The ‘epilogue’ to this book has a few pages dedicated to the environmental and ecological concerns. The third modification to this edition has been the reorganization of the chapters—old and new—into thematic sections for the convenience of the reader. Each section represents a predominant aspect of production and operations management and starts with an Introduction which describes the theme behind the group of chapters in that section. I think the six Introductions is a window on the concerns and the philosophy of the present day Production and Operations Management.

There are several success stories of the Indian business organizations. I thought that at least a few of the successful practices should find a place in the book. The brief ‘Highlights’ provided at the end of some of the chapters try to capture the essence of these practices. The highlights, besides providing the practical angle, also mention some of the innovative practices followed in these remarkable business corporations.

For the preparation of the ‘Highlights’ I had to meet the concerned executives of the companies, have discussions, obtain relevant material, write the text and get their approval of the final draft. I thank these companies viz. Reliance Industries Limited, Titan Industries Limited (twice–once for Tata group of companies and the other for Titan Industries) and TVS Motor Company Limited and the executives.

The book is written for the readers of management literature who could be an MBA or other Master’s level student of Business, or a student of the professional courses such as ICWA and IIB, or an Engineering student or a practicing executive. Several professional technical and engineering courses have, these days, management topics—particularly production and operations management—as a part of the curriculum.

This third edition has enhanced universal appeal. While it is written with Indian cases and examples, it will certainly be useful in various countries in all the continents.

While writing this book I have referred to several books, papers and articles. I take this opportunity to thank the authors and publishers of all the publications that I have referred to and some of whom I have quoted in this edition.

S N CHARY