The term "world-class manufacturer" is popularly used to denote a standard of excellence: the best of the best manufacturers at the international level. It came into prominence following the 1986 publication of World Class Manufacturing: The Lessons of Simplicity Applied by Richard J. Schonberger, which was his follow-up to Japanese Management Techniques: Nine Hidden Lessons in Simplicity.

World marketplace events during the 1970s and 1980s caused competition to grow to such an intense level that many firms were forced to re-examine their concept of manufacturing strategy, especially in terms of the tradeoffs among the four competitive priorities: cost, quality, delivery/service, and flexibility. Managers began to realize that they no longer had to make these tradeoffs but could instead compete on several competencies.

Some of those excited by the concept describe it as capturing the breadth and the essence of the fundamental changes taking place in larger...