Suchergebnisse

Performance measurement systems, traditionally found within the
management accounting function and utilized for information and control
purposes, have more recently been used within the manufacturing function
as the basis for on‐going improvement programmes, particularly those run
at shopfloor level. Investigates the reasons behind this shift in
emphasis. In an attempt to understand the behavioural consequences of
performance measurement systems and identify their role in achieving and
sustaining competitive advantage within manufacturing enterprises,
analyses a "one‐best way" approach to shopfloor measurement
systems. Discards this in favour of an alternative approach outlined.

One strategic design parameter in capacity management is the
setting of a planned level of capacity utilization at which the
manufacturing operation will operate long term. Seeks to examine
systematically the implications of varying levels of capacity
utilization within an assemble‐to‐order firm through experiments with a
simulation model. Four performance measures and a total weekly cost
measure are analysed under nine capacity utilization levels, two demand
patterns, and 11 ratios of the costs of idle capacity to the costs of
late orders. The prescribed capacity utilization level is a function of
the firm′s competitive goals, demand pattern, and cost structures.

Each manufacturing public enterprise (MPE) in Egypt is required to
provide a limited set of labour productivity indicators as a part of its
annual financial and performance reports submitted to its own Public
Authority (PA). Through these indicators are used in several Government
reports, it is believed that they do not reflect the real productivity
of the firm. Therefore this study was designed to provide an integrated,
and easy to implement, model for measuring productivity in Egyptian
industry in real terms. The model is utilizing the great wealth of
information which is available within each MPE. This information is
created according to the unified accountancy system (UAS) implemented in
all MPEs in the country. Using USA as a base for the suggested model
will ensure that the contents of each term and measure in the model are
clear to the users. Otherwise any comparison will be meaningless.

The success of a manufacturing corporation mostly depends on its
production decisions. The selection of production levels is a primary
responsibility of management who should select production levels that
maximize the discounted value of the cash‐flow stream (NPV) resulting
from the production projects. As a result, the need to evaluate the
cash‐flow stream for various production levels is becoming more
frequent. Provides an explicit model for the economic evaluation of
various attainable production levels. The model, developed in this
study, under the condition of a time‐dependent elastic demand, for each
year compares a series of gross incomes G, that results from the
various attainable production amounts Q, with a corresponding
series of minimum annual revenue requirements R. Based on these
comparisons, it identifies the optimal production level and the unit
selling price for a particular year where G‐R is a maximum and
finally, based on the maximum G‐R values, it determines the NPV
value. A computer program (written in PASCAL) is provided to implement
the model on either a TI or IBM. The program is capable of displaying
and printing the results. Because of the use of several levels of
nesting, the top‐down programming technique is used in its design and
implementation.

Describes the manufacturing strategy implications of a two‐industry
study of manufacturing practices. A research team administered
questionnaires to managers in the machine tools and textiles industries
in China, Japan, Korea, the USA and Western Europe. Highlights of the
results include the superior Japanese delivery speed and the extensive
use of information systems in the USA. An overview of the relative
industrial strengths of each country provides a setting to discuss
manufacturing strategy. Each national industry is then classified
according to the Hayes and Wheelwright stages of manufacturing
competitiveness.

Asks how implementation management affects implementation
uncertainty, adaptation cycles and performance. Assesses retrospective
case studies of three Swedish FMS implementation processes. The cases
represent technically similar systems, but with different project
characteristics and degrees of success. Reports the study of timing and
source of latent uncertainty variables, where uncertainties are regarded
as being caused by misalignments in technology, organization, management
and strategy. Also studies the timing and nature of adaptation cycles.

Companies are increasingly adopting technologies that can promote
integration between functions and tasks. The implementation of these
technologies has largely concerned the tasks of installation and the
technical integration of the system. However, insufficient attention
appears to have been directed towards organizational and managerial
integration issues. Argues, based on empirical data from 15 UK
engineering companies, that effective implementation of integrating
technology requires a better understanding of issues concerning the
integration of functions/tasks involved. Focuses on the issues and
problems concerning managers involved with improving
engineering/production integration, and proposes alternative
organizational and technical mechanisms for implementing such
integration. Reviews these mechanisms by reference to the engineering
case companies.

Reports research which aimed to find the organizational conditions
required for companies considering innovating their operating core by
adopting any advanced manufacturing technology, and implementing and
operating this technology effectively. Describes a model of the
organization of manufacturing innovation which was used in longitudinal
case studies of the adoption, implementation and early operation of
flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), to analyse these processes and to
find the conditions affecting their level of success. It appears that
the activities, innovation roles, organizational arrangements and slack
resources which are required according to the model determine most of
the success of the innovation process. Concludes that the model
contributes to our understanding of how to organize and manage complex
processes such as manufacturing innovation.

An analysis of the strategies and structures of original equipment
manufacturer (OEM) firms, consisting mainly of automobile firms but also
including manufacturers of white goods and grey goods. The study has
been going on for the last ten years and included perceived strategies
on the management of technology. Concludes that networks are developed
as a major operating unit and are taking over as the managed unit from
the firms themselves. Globalization is a major trend where all kinds of
activities are allocated due to competences, prices, etc. on each
location. The firms and the networks which they are operating in are
building hierarchies of technology for best use of technical competence
globally. Other such hierarchical levels of technical competences are
being built between competitors in what are called "strategic
alliances, strategic bridging" and other concepts. The OEM firm
itself is concentrating on developing its competence in system
integration technology concerning the final product in question.
Competences in developing and building such optimally integrated final
products are focused while special technologies going into this system
are procured from different outside sources.

In a changing and more dynamic market of the 1980s, available
mathematical programming algorithms on which production planning in
process industries was based did not provide the required
responsiveness. Although it is suggested in the literature that a
variable cycle times policy will enable the system to react to
short‐term demand fluctuations, proposes the use of a fixed cycle times
policy. Presents simulation results which show a considerable
improvement in service level at a high level of utilization. Presents a
three‐tiered hierarchical model which is based on this fixed cycle times
policy, which gives insight into the influence that the demand manager
has upon the results in the production department. On the other hand, it
also reflects the commercial interests. Suggests that for both
departments which are this strongly intertwined, a common reference is
necessary to improve the general results of the business.

Presents some theoretical principles and empirical evidence
relating to the new Swedish production systems for final assembly of
motor vehicles. Contends that in these production systems it is possible
simultaneously to enhance efficiency and quality of working life.
Briefly sketches three production forms as they apply to the final
assembly of automobiles and discusses the societal environments in which
these different forms of production have evolved. Focuses on Volvo′s
Swedish Uddevalla plant as one of the main examples so far of a
reflective production system for final assembly of automobiles.
Amplifies the analysis of different production flow patterns for final
assembly and in particular addresses the issue of semi‐parallel
mechanistic production flow and parallel organic production flow as
alternatives to serial flow on a conventional line assembly.

The literature offers a variety of different views on the
investment decision process for flexible manufacturing technologies, but
there seems to be no consensus about what are really the key
characteristics of the decision‐making process which guarantee
successful advanced manufacturing technology projects. Describes and
analyses the investment decision process for a set of investment
projects, based on field research conducted in six manufacturing
companies, and reveals some of these critical determinants.

Claims that the most important demands on managers in
sociotechnical organized systems with more or less autonomous work
groups are generally that they must have a basic trust in their
subordinates and their capacity and development potential, that they
must be able to set goals for the activities within the groups and let
the group members be responsible for the fulfilment of the production
target and thus give up exercising a detailed control over the job
procedure, and that they must realize the necessity to provide the group
members with all kinds of basic data which are needed for the decision
making within the group. At the transition from a traditional to a
group‐based organization, the manager must display a real commitment as
change agent during the whole implementation period.

Details how to formulate improvement programmes within
manufacturing, what is current practice within several companies, and
how appropriate current practice is. Presents a model of the
manufacturing system together with a morphological representation of the
system. Uses this model to assess the configuration of the manufacturing
systems of ten companies (divided into three groups) and the efforts
they put into improving the performance of the system. Compares these
efforts, or action programmes, with the order winning criteria and the
internal performance criteria in each group. It appears that the order
winning criteria and the improvement programmes are often in line.
However observations suggest that the action programmes are not the
result of a conscious manufacturing strategy formulation and
implementation so we can speak of a strategic neglect. Distinguishes
some trends in managing manufacturing which result in an incremental
improvement of the performance of manufacturing systems: more quality
control process awareness; the decentralization of quality control and
planning processes while trying integratively to design a consistent
manufacturing system; and the creation of work cells throughout the
plant.