Decision support tool for lean product and process development

Lean and concurrent engineering (CE) are widely acknowledged business process improvement strategies. These strategies can improve processes, reduce costs, and cut waste enabling organisations to remain competitive. Lean manufacturing offers an enterprise-wide methodology that improves reliability and flexibility while reducing lead-times and inventory carrying costs. Companies in manufacturing and service sectors are focusing on integrating lean manufacturing methodology with other applications, so that, all their systems and processes are aligned. This article proposes a CE framework based on application of information technology and object-oriented methodology for lean manufacturing. This approach expected to give manufacturing companies an extra edge in today's competitive market. A case study is presented in this article to demonstrate the effectiveness of CE framework in a machine tool manufacturing company. CE practice was adopted for new products, to align the systems and processes of the company. Product development lead-time was found to decrease by more than 50% compared to similar development projects carried out by the company. The need for rework was found to be negligible and the development cost was reduced considerably.     

行业竞争力导向的在线大规模定制产品族规模优化方法

客户导向的产品族规模优化方法在与竞争对手产品族相比时并不一定能使在线定制服务提供商获得竞争优势,还需要考虑竞争对手产品族对其产品族规模的影响。产品族规模优化应该在满足工程技术约束和制造规模经济性的基础上,引入产品功能配置元和结构配置元,结合客户需求强度和偏好分析,构建了行业竞争力导向的在线大规模定制产品族规模优化方法,最后结合案例证明该方法的有效性。     

Editorial Another milestone

A Master Production Scheduling Decision Support System within a multi-product medical supplies market has the dual task of providing good customer service levels while maintaining minimum reasonable levels of finished goods stock in the face of considerable internal manufacturing lead time and customer demand uncertainty. This paper examines the critical design parameters within an adaptive model highlighting how the total system orders in the internal pipeline are utilized in the decision-making process for assessing how much to load the internal manufacturing pipeline. Two different methods for tracking manufacturing lead times within the adaptive loop are also considered. Classical control concepts are applied within the Decision Support System (DSS) to avoid any long-term drift in finished stocks. Finally scenario analysis is performed via simulation for a set of design parameters and a range of stimuli typical of company operating situations. An effective decision support system design in terms of architecture and parameter settings is recommended based upon the ability of the model to maintain high customer service levels. The DSS readily interfaces between marketing and production functions to enhance company competitive advantage across a wide range of products.     

Visualizing the factory through meta- manufacturing processes

Milestone or deadline driven production management is predominant in most manufacturing companies. Problems and other disturbing occurrences tend to see their first daylight during phases where plans are implemented into reality, for example, when production commences, prototypes enter manufacturing and deliveries are expected. Conventional control routines fail to depict the true progress and procedures of the company on an on-line basis, which means that instead of being proactive they serve as means to react to already existing problems. This paper studies the application of advanced visualization techniques to the already existing information embedded in a comany's information infrastructure, and how it can help management to anticipate probable near future pitfalls. By studying those daily operations of a company which share a document relationship with the true manufacturing process, that is, the meta-manufacturing processes, a completely new perspective on the company's value-adding activities is drawn. By mining the existing data reservoirs of a company traditionally difficult management processes, such as product development, vendor integration, production planning, can be analysed and the problems identified in a novel way to react in advance. The paper displays several empirical examples from bulk to one-of-a-kind production where the method has been successfully implemented.     

Deciding manufacturing priorities: Flexibility, cost, quality and service

Traditional manufacturing planning focuses first on understanding the realities of the product marketplace and then aligning the production processes to match those realities. By conforming to that independent-market dependent-production model and simply implementing the determined tactics, manufacturing misses the opportunity to create competitive advantage by adopting a strategy that enhances the firm's position. To illustrate how manufacturing can incorporate strategic objectives into its planning, we add a third dimension to the traditional two-dimensional form of the product—process matrix. Along the new axis we show how four key competitive thrusts relate to the stages of the product—process life cycles. The thrusts of flexibility, cost, quality, and service are made explicit by plotting them, in turn, against the stages in the evolution of the product and the process. Each plot reveals new ways for manufacturing to plan for and realize competitive advantage through the application of computer-integrated manufacturing principles.     

Linking IT Applications with Manufacturing Strategy: An Intelligent Decision Support System Approach

Research has indicated the importance of matching Information Technology (IT) applications or manufacturing systems with the competitive strategy of a company. Selection of the right type of IT application is, however, a challenging task. When a company with a given dominant process structure emphasizes two or more competitive priorities, such as quality, product flexibility, etc., an unaided manager faces a complex decision problem in choosing from alternative IT applications available in the areas of product design through distribution. In this paper, we develop an Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS) to assist managers with assessment of the relative importance of competitive priorities in their organization, evaluation of the fit between the competitive priorities and their dominant process structure, and identification of the IT applications that are consistent with both the competitive priorities and the process structure. The IDSS is comprised of an interactive user interface, a knowledge database, a decision model, and a Knowledge-Based System (KBS) that was developed using the 1st Class KBS shell. Validation of the system illustrates that its performance is as good as the human expert, and it has the potential to facilitate effective and swift decision making in the selection of appropriate IT applications that best match an organization's manufacturing strategy. The choice and use of the right type of IT application should provide a company with a competitive edge.     

Economic Lot Scheduling Problem with Returns

Motivated by a case study of a company that produces car parts, we study the multi‐product economic lot scheduling problem for a hybrid production line with manufacturing of new products and remanufacturing of returned products. For this economic lot scheduling problem with returns (ELSPR), we consider policies with a common cycle time for all products, and with one manufacturing lot and one remanufacturing lot for each product during a cycle. For a given cycle time, the problem is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming (MIP) problem, which provides the basis for an exact solution. The application of this model for one of the core products of the case study company indicates a 16% reduction in cost compared to the current lot scheduling policy.     

Approaches to Manufacturing Regeneration: Some Empirical Data1

The study examined the efforts of 11 manufacturing companies to regenerate competitiveness through implementing improvement programmes. Data were collected about the activities seen to constitute improvement programmes as well as the reasons and intentions given for their implementation. Companies were found to have shared a common set of strategic intentions whilst having used differently constituted improvement programmes to achieve them. This similarity in strategic intent was seen as evidence of companies using improvement programmes to facilitate movement from mass to lean production paradigms. AU of the 11 companies studied exhibited widespread use of improvement activities. However, significant differences in individual company choice was interpreted as contra-evidence of improvements being driven solely by manufacturing fashions. This together with their similarities in strategic intent was seen as evidence that companies tailored their regenerative efforts to suit individual circumstances in pursuit of a generic strategic recipe. Some companies had discovered they had developed new capabilities through their regenerative efforts and these were seen as providing a distinctive competitive advantage. All of the companies set out with strategic intentions which centred on catching up with or imitating the best of their competitors – over a half discovered en route a means for changing the rules of the game.     

MADE IN THE WORLD: THE GLOBAL SPREAD OF PRODUCTION

We are moving rapidly into an age of transnational manufacturing, where things made in one country are shipped across national borders for further work, storage, sales, repair, remanufacture, recycle, or disposal; but our laws, policies, and management practices are slow in adjusting to this reality. They are often based on inaccurate premises. This article examines these premises and suggests what they imply for management of manufacturing. First, a common view is that manufacturing investment in the industrialized nations is declining and shifting to the developing countries. This is not true. Investment in manufacturing in both industrialized and developing nations is increasing and, in absolute value, there is a lot more investment in industrialized countries than in developing countries. Second, a related view argued by many is that manufacturing does not have a bright future in the rich countries. I argue that manufacturers can thrive in the industrialized countries if they learn how to add more value for the end users. They must go beyond productivity improvement to producing more technologically advanced and customized products, responding faster to changing customer demands, and appending more services to their products. Doing all this is easier in the industrialized countries because the needed skills and infrastructure are more readily available there. Third, another potentially misleading notion is related to why companies invest in manufacturing abroad. Access to low-cost production is not the main motivation in most cases; rather it is access to market. Superior global manufacturers use their foreign factories for much more: to serve their worldwide customers better, preempt competitors, work with sophisticated suppliers, collect critical marketing, technological, and competitive intelligence, and attract talented individuals into the company. They build integrated global production networks, not collections of disjointed factories that are spread internationally. Thus their investment in manufacturing abroad is not a substitute for investment at home, it is a complement. Building and managing such integrated global factor networks is the next challenge in manufacturing.     

Production planning and inventory control in a company manufacturing PC parts: A case study

In this paper, we present a case study on the production planning and inventory system in a company manufacturing personal computer (PC) parts. In the case study, the targets are specified for developing a system for production planning and inventory control. The current state of the company is analysed for clarifying the points necessary to achieve the targets. Also, a system based on the analysis is proposed and its effects are estimated.     

Selecting IT applications in manufacturing: a KBS approach

The use of the right type of Information Technology (IT) applications or manufacturing systems is expected to usher in a competitive advantage. Selection of the right type of IT application is, however, a challenging task. When a company, with a given dominant process structure, emphasizes two or more competitive priorities, such as quality, product flexibility, etc., an unaided manager faces a complex decision problem in choosing from alternative IT applications available in the areas of product design through distribution. In this paper, we present a Knowledge Based System (KBS) that would assist managers with the identification of IT applications that are consistent with both the competitive priorities and the process structure. Validation of the system illustrates that its performance is consistent with the human experts, and it has the potential to facilitate effective and swift decision-making in the selection of appropriate IT applications that best match an organization's manufacturing strategy.     

An Empirical Study of the Alignment Between Manufacturing and Marketing Strategies

It is widely recognised that manufacturing can be a formidable competitive weapon if equipped and managed properly, and that to achieve this success a company must have the correct alignment of manufacturing and marketing strategies. The authors considered there to be a need for empirical research into the effect of such methods within industry today. Their research was based on two questionnaires: the first was sent to 319 companies looking at levels of integration, the second to 20 of the responding companies concentrating on the development process and content of their individual strategies. Known models, internal integration and formal procedures were also investigated, none of which seem to be fully functional within any of the companies contacted. It became evident that the size of the company must be taken into consideration when formulating development plans, and that communication, cross-functional teams and formal product development techniques are essential to the success of any marketing strategy.     

Strategic information management in global manufacturing

Responding to new forces on the competitive landscape, global manufacturing companies are restructuring corporate cultures, organizational cofigurations and management coordination channels and styles. The emergence of flexibility as a prime competitive parameter for manufacturing is paralleled by companies shifting toward flexible, adaptive structures. A major challenge is to develop and deploy information technologies linking organizational subgroups for a streamlines process of new product/service creation and delivery. This article describes the convergence of information management and manufacturing activities over the past 30 years and suggests what the future will hold.     

制造战略研究:现状、问题及趋势

制造战略从战略的角度审视企业的制造职能,认为企业的制造竞争力是企业赢得竞争优 势的有力武器. 对制造战略的概念、研究领域进行了总结,分析了制造战略研究和实践中存在 的问题,结合战略管理研究的趋势和企业竞争新的特点,提出了制造战略研究的趋势.     

Development of supplier relationship including cost of defectives in the cyclic production

In the supply chain situation, a decision regarding supplier relationship is of high importance. This usually happens on the basis of supplier company parameters. In order to satisfy the demands, a buyer company often expects the supplier company to expedite their operations, i.e., to enhance the related production rate. In this context, presently the focus of this article is on the cyclic production environment at the supplier company premises. Any practical production process is expected to generate defective products also along with the normal usable products. After an estimation of this and the costs concerning defectives, it needs to be modelled in the cyclic manufacturing. This article incorporates specifically the cost of defectives along with the other relevant costs. After developing an interest in the inclusion of these costs, the supplier company is categorised. A contribution of this article is the development of supplier relationship in the discussed environment.     

An expert system for a semiconductor manufacturing environment

We developed an expert system to analyse and suggest solutions to problems commonly encountered in the production of integrated circuits. We wrote a PC-based program to implement the expert system. Our goal is to enable interested readers to relate some of the accomplishments realized by a high tech manufacturing company to their own production, manufacturing or maintenance environment. We discuss the difficulties encountered when implementing an expert system as well as the great benefits derived from its use.     

Partner selection for reverse logistics centres in green supply chains: a fuzzy artificial immune optimisation approach

The design of reverse logistics networks has now emerged as a major issue for manufacturers, not only in developed countries where legislation and societal pressures are strong, but also in developing countries where the adoption of reverse logistics practices may offer a competitive advantage. This paper presents a new model for partner selection for reverse logistic centres in green supply chains. The model offers three advantages. Firstly, it enables economic, environment and social factors to be considered simultaneously. Secondly, by integrating fuzzy set theory and artificial immune optimisation technology, it enables both quantitative and qualitative criteria to be considered simultaneously throughout the whole decision-making process. Thirdly, it extends the flat criteria structure for partner selection evaluation for reverse logistics centres to the more suitable hierarchy structure. The applicability of the model is demonstrated by means of an empirical application based on data from a Chinese electronic equipment and instruments manufacturing company.     

A reactive approach to material procurement in an SME

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a more reactive approach to material procurement in a small manufacturing enterprise (SME). The approach involves a hybrid top-down and bottom-up approach to the issue of material procurement. The implementation of the approach in the test site is discussed and we show how the company can benefit from its implementation. The approach requires that there is a good interaction and transfer of information between an SME and both its customers and suppliers. The approach also requires a manufacturing firm to have control of the shopfloor and to have access to relevant and accurate information from the shopfloor. This hybrid approach to material procurement coupled with improved production activity control has helped a local manufacturing company to increase its reactivity. A decision support software tool is available which supports this approach and is described in the paper.     

Decision model for product rollover in manufacturing operations

The purpose of this study is to investigate critical decisions when planning for product rollover at a manufacturing company, and how to organise these decisions. A literature review and a case study are used to develop a decision model. The findings indicate that product rollover can be organised in a five-phase decision model. The research quality is strengthened by a structured literature review, but it can be argued that more empirical research is needed for validation. For researchers, this paper contributes with the identification of critical decisions and a model for product rollover. For practitioners, the study highlights the need to acknowledge the importance of product rollover and its role as a competitive weapon. In earlier studies, product rollover has mainly been investigated from a market perspective, so that this study contributes by investigating the issue from a manufacturing perspective.