This publication is a memorial issue in honour of Professor Rintaro Muramatsu, who died on 24 March 1994. Professor Muramatsu was one of the greatest professors, not only at Waseda University in Tokyo, but also in the international field of production research. His achievements are remarkable in so many respects, and only part of them can be summarised in the following. At Waseda University he took charge as the leading professor in education and research in the Production Management Department for a considerable period. During his long academic career, he trained many full professors, associate professors and researchers, who now have taken on important roles in this field. Moreover, numerous business executives and engineers, for instance, in the automobile, mechanical, electronic, and chemical industries, reached their top positions thanks to his educational activities. Many students also found their careers in the non-manufacturing sectors of the Japanese economy due to his encouragement. His activities supported and strengthened the academic community and its links with the industrial environment.
The Japanese field of industrial engineering was developed during his period at Waseda. Later, he took on the pioneering and leading role in this field in the Japanese academic community. As a result, almost half of all doctoral theses in this area in Japan were written under his guidance. Rintaro Muramatsu's research focused on promoting the efficiency of the activities of the manufacturing industry, such as production management, production systems engineering, quality control, management systems, cost control, and many other fields which all gave support to Japan's