Husaria wingLevinson Productivity Systems, P.C.
William A. Levinson, P.E.  Principal
570-824-1986
TheBoss at ct-yankee.com
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Levinson Productivity Systems, P.C.
Vision and Mission Statement
"To sell raw materials and buy finished goods makes one poor; to buy raw materials and sell finished goods makes one rich."
     Chancellor of the Convocation Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1764. (Zamoyski, The Polish Way, pp. 238-139)
Henry Ford, the real-world equivalent of Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee, believed that industry holds the solution to most of society's problems. Nothing has happened to change this; manufacturing, and only manufacturing, can create almost limitless wealth. Manufacturing is the foundation of the United States' affluence and national security, and our nation must preserve and expand its manufacturing base. Industrial methods can also reduce the cost of services while improving their quality, and this has critical implications for health care.
It is the mission of Levinson Productivity Systems to help clients achieve the above vision through lean manufacturing, statistical, and quality assurance methods. Success comes only from a systems approach, i.e. synergistic and mutually supporting management and technological techniques, as opposed to stand-alone programs-of-the-year.
NEW from Levinson Productivity Systems

Consulting and Training
  • Training and educational services, available for on-site presentation to your employees
  • Specialties and unique capabilities
  • Advanced industrial statistics, statistical process control
  • Lean manufacturing
    • Unique capability: the Henry Ford lean enterprise system (the model for the Toyota production system)
    • Six Sigma, as a subset of lean manufacturing
  • Green manufacturing
    • A subset of lean manufacturing, which seeks to eliminate all forms of waste (including waste of materials and energy) from the supply chain
    • Henry Ford's one-sentence definition of green manufacturing: "…we will not so lightly waste material simply because we can reclaim it— for salvage involves labour. The ideal is to have nothing to salvage."
  • ISO 9001:2000, ISO 9001:2008
Professional Resources
The Man Factory: Technology and Public Issues
Using technology to promote individual and economic freedom

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Henry Ford, the real-life counterpart of Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee
Then I went over to the great arms factory and learned my real trade; learned all there was to it; learned to make everything; guns, revolvers, cannon, boilers, engines, all sorts of labor-saving machinery. Why, I could make anything a body wanted— anything in the world, it didn't make any difference what; and if there wasn't any quick new-fangled way to make a thing, I could invent one— and do it as easy as rolling off a log.
Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Every thoughtful man has an idea of what ought to be; but what the world is waiting for is a social and economic blueprint.
…We want artists in industrial relationships. We want masters in industrial method, both from the standpoint of the producer and the product. We want those who can mold the political, social, industrial, and moral mass into a sound and shapely whole.
Henry Ford (the real-life counterpart of Mark Twain's one-man Industrial Revolution), Ford Ideals (1922)
The theme of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was the transformation of an entire society from medieval poverty to nineteenth century affluence. Mark Twain took the liberty of assuming that a factory superintendent could personally buld railroads, electrical dynamos, and Gatling guns with the aid only of medieval craft workers such as blacksmiths. The technology of the 19th century was perhaps still simple enough that this premise required only a slight suspension of disbelief on the reader's part. The motion picture version with Will Rogers was somewhat more ambitious, because it featured Model T automobiles. Even though Henry Ford did build a simple automobile by himself (the Quadricycle), it is doubtful that he could have re-created his entire assembly line and supply chain in a medieval infrastructure. What Ford achieved, however, was a real-world transformation as profound as Mark Twain's fictional one, and this makes Ford's methods (currently best known as the Toyota production system) as worthy of study today as they were 100 years ago.

Note: No information in this domain, or software-generated results from it, constitutes formal engineering advice. Engineering consulting must be performed in person by a qualified (registered, licensed) engineer. Prior to performing engineering consulting services, an employee of this company will need to acquire an engineering license in your state. Other forms of consulting, such as management and most forms of applied statistics, and employee training, are not considered the "practice of engineering."

Bumper stickers, coffee mugs, and more; show your pride as a lean manufacturing practitioner.
Products available from CafePress.com Also a Wall Clock (Theory of Constraints), lean manufacturing buttons and magnets, and more.

Lean Manufacturing Bumper Sticker (10" by 3") $3.99
Lean manufacturing bumper sticker


Coffee Mug: "The Boss" figure created with Poser 5 and Gothic Armor for Don from Valendar (click here for his Renderosity online store). Quote from Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: "I could make anything a body wanted... and if there wasn't any quick new-fangled way to make a thing, I could invent one."
Lean Manufacturing/ Yankee Ingenuity Coffee Mug $12.99
Connecticut Yankee coffee mug

Corporate Statement on the Financial Crisis: adopted 29 September, 2008
It is the official position of Levinson Productivity Systems P.C. that the root cause of the current financial crisis consists of institutional and individual attitudes to the effect that wealth can be created by means other than manufacturing, agriculture, and extractive industries (with transportation as a necessary adjunct). As stated by Henry Ford's My Life and Work,
The primary functions are agriculture, manufacture, and transportation. Community life is impossible without them. They hold the world together. Raising things, making things, and earning things are as primitive as human need and yet as modern as anything can be. They are of the essence of physical life. When they cease, community life ceases. Things do get out of shape in this present world under the present system, but we may hope for a betterment if the foundations stand sure. The great delusion is that one may change the foundation—usurp the part of destiny in the social process. The foundations of society are the men and means to grow  things, to make things, and to carry things. As long as agriculture, manufacture, and transportation survive, the world can survive any economic or social change. As we serve our jobs we serve the world.
Nowhere does Ford mention using houses as sources of cash (by taking out home equity loans on the expectation that the price of houses, like that of Dutch tulip bulbs, will rise indefinitely), "flipping houses" (unless one buys and renovates distressed properties, thus adding value to them), trading in carbon credits, and similar non-value adding activities. As stated by Ford, "The great delusion is that one may change the foundation—usurp the part of destiny in the social process," and it is this delusion that has led our country to today's sorry state of affairs.

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