Production planning in practice

The changes and pressures facing the manufacturing and engineering industries today are increasing the importance of effective aggregate manpower and production planning. Several different theoretical optimisation models to tackle this problem have been described in detail in the literature but there have been few applications of them in practice.The reasons for this are many but include: the difficulty in expressing managements' conflicting and mixed objectives in an objective function; the necessity to oversimplify real life systems to enable these methods to be used; the simplistic approach to manpower planning used in these models; the difficulty in gaining managements' acceptance and finally the fact that what management actually wants is a tool to assist them in planning and decision making.What is being used by many managements is a case-study deterministic simulation model. Many companies are adopting this type of model for all types of planning and twelve out of twenty-seven companies visited in a research project described in this paper were using this type of model for aggregate manpower and production planning. It is proving to be an effective management tool and is being readily accepted principally because modern specialised financial modelling languages are enabling these models to be built, understood and used by non-specialist managers.     

A descriptive model of electricity consumption

The purpose of the model is to give corporate planning personnel, particularly ratemakers, or marketing people, a tool to evaluate quickly how many customers are included in a definite block of energy consumption within some limits of power demand. This will allow them to evaluate the number of customers that will be affected by any proposed rate schedules and, then, to evaluate the resulting effects on utility's revenue. Moreover, this model can, in any time, become a part of a larger model that could be used for financial planning, market analysis, or any other econometric model.     

A decision support tool for planning bills-of-material

In this paper, the framework for a decision support tool for planning bills-of-material is presented. This tool generates a set of modular planning bills-of-material from the manufacturing bills-of-material for a company. The tool attempts to consolidate options in a product family which are specific. The force with which the tool attempts to consolidate two or more options is dependent on the financial control parameters. As well as having a minimum amount of common material, the financial value of such a match must also be of sufficiently high value to be worth planning together. The tool also examines the long-term inventory effect of planning two or more options as common.     

Strategic planning in Tanzania

The Tanzania Wood Industry Corporation is one of the very few parastatal organizations that have developed and introduced a strategic corporate planning process. The novelty of the idea, the many operational problems that surround the managers and the lack of adequate training are some of the problems that have retarded the development and introduction of corporate planning in Tanzania. In 1980 the new CEO of TWICO contracted a Finnish management consulting firm to audit the whole corporation and to recommend a better management practice. Systems manuals were then developed and a grassroots based strategic corporate planning process was then introduced. Now in its third year, the impact on management is very encouraging.     

The Tradeoffs of Inclusionary Zoning: What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know?

Inclusionary zoning (IZ), a controversial planning tool for supplying affordable housing, grew significantly during the 2000s' housing boom in the USA. We review the resultant scholarly literature on IZ. Our key reading is that IZ can include both tradeoffs and practical efforts to address them. There is also a need for additional research. More specifically, we find that IZ programs (i) have many components and vary considerably; (ii) can increase affordable housing production and social integration, but there can be a tradeoff between these goals; and (iii) can have slight adverse market effects, but cost-offsets can help mitigate the outcomes. Finally, we discuss the need for more research, particularly in-depth case studies and make suggestions.     

Effect of economic planning on business decisions

The fact that the United States has not faced an economic perplexity of current dimensions since the depression days hardly needs any emphasis. The current economic slowdown is significant because no recovery measures which may be applied to cure the economy are in sight. Since the Great Depression, especially after World War II, Keynes' economic theories have successfully been applied in the U.S., as also in other countries of the Free World, to put the economy back on path to recovery. Unfortunately, Keynesian measures do not seem to cope with the current economic woes. Apparently, new ways need to be sought and employed to get the economy back on track. Among many new ideas that have been advanced to restore economic growth, one is national economic planning by which the Government would play an active role in setting goals for the economy and devising means to reach them.The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study that the author undertook to probe the opinions of chief executive officers of the largest U.S. corporations on the whole idea of national economic planning in the United States. This study is based on interviews with 23 chief executives officers (CEOs) in different industries. Table 1 shows the background of these CEOs. Specifically, the author refers to such questions as: What positive and negative attitudes do the chief executive officers maintain toward national economic planning; what difficulties do they think will have to be surmounted to accomplish national economic planning in the U.S.; what influence may national economic planning have on various business decisions; and how may national economic planning affect corporate strategy?     

The uses and abuses of experience curves

Unit costs decline by a constant percentage each time the accumulated production, or ‘experience’, of the firm doubles. This observation, known as the experience curve phenomenon, has been widely taught and written about during the past 15 years. Yet, few companies use the experience curve as a planning tool. This article shows that even if experience curves can be unreliable and unwiedly at times as a technical planning tool (though a computer model can facilitate their use), they remain a very helpful conceptual tool for competitive analysis.     

Portfolio theory—A planning tool

Portfolio theory is a relatively new development in the area of asset selection and diversification. Nevertheless, many articles, books and dissertations have been written to elaborate on the original concepts to such an extent that portfolio theory is now accepted doctrine in the field of finance.Portfolio theory deals with the rules for the intelligent selection of assets under conditions of risk. In this respect it is similar to planning, part of which consists of examining alternative courses of future action. Most of the research concerning portfolio theory has been directed toward the securities markets. Therefore, some of the terminology is investment oriented. Nevertheless, the concepts developed in portfolio theory can be applied to decisions concerning investments or to decisions that are part of a corporate plan. Think of investing in a security as being analogous to investing in a subsidiary, division, or product line. This article explains the major features of portfolio theory with the hope that corporate decision makers will use portfolio theory as a planning tool.     

Comprehensive planning for libraries

In the area of planning, the literature has been almost entirely concerned with planning in the business (i.e. profit) setting. Some literature does exist on planning in the nonprofit sector, but it usually deals with tactical planning of the short-term character. This is specially true in the area of libraries and many librarians have developed and do administer large, complex organization— where conprehensive, long range planning is almost completely untreated in the literature.The current paper discusses the various steps in the strategic planning process, and relates them to a situation in which comprehensive long range plans for a new health sciences library have been developed, and to a considerable degree, implemented. In this framework, the steps of developing purpose and objecives, forecasting and policy formulation, developing and choosing growth strategy, determining resource requirements and provions, developing an organizational structure, and control system utilization are discussed both in the general framework of comprehensive planning, and with respect to actual experience in the development of a health sciences library. The roles of tactical planning and the implementation of plans are also treated.     

Should you have a payment system based on added value?

Payment schemes based on added value ratios are not prevalent in the U.K. There is suspicion of them on both sides of industry. Management fears that disclosure of information may be used against them and employees regard them as schemes over which they have no control and which are the tool of management. The author advocates that there is room for a joint agreement between the two sides to use added value schemes on a way that narrows the area of conflict and is mutually beneficial.     

Risk Analysis in Developing Countries1

In summary, risk analysis is not yet well practiced in developing countries, although there are numerous, diverse environmental and other risk-related issues and concerns that need attention. A few initiatives have been taken, but, so far, they have created only relatively small impact in a few areas. Many risk issues may not be addressed, partly as a result of lack of resources and inadequate knowledge by policy makers. Risk analysis is an essential tool for the planning and implementation of development projects. To enhance its use, however, risk analysis approaches and methods must be adapted to developing countries, and this requires research. Unfortunately, funds for research, in general, are hard to find. There are other problems in the implementation of risk analysis. Trained professionals on risk analysis are few. Existing institutions that are tasked with resolving environmental and other risk issues are overburdened. Risk-related data are sorely lacking. Resources are very limited for addressing numerous natural and technological hazards. In most developing countries, political and economic stability is still threatened by both internal and external forces, hence, that is what receives priority attention. Activities like risk analysis, which generally lead to long-term results and benefits, do not get enough interest. In addition, there is still little public awareness of risks even among those who have passed the stage of survival; thus, there is little public concern about them. We cannot afford this lack of concern for long. In the Philippines, the government was the first to recognize after our peaceful revolution in 1986 that “the environmental issues can add fuel to the insurgency; they can also hamper efforts towards national recovery”.⁽⁴⁾ To this point, I have added that risk management (including risk assessment and risk communication), like attainment of peace and freedom, is a social imperative because risk issues affect our health, safety, and both our physical and economic well-being.⁽⁷⁾ Many of such issues in developing countries have not only local, but also global origin and impacts. They thus deserve the interest of each of us.     

A conceptual framework for nurse staffing management

Hospitals are under increasing pressure to contain cost and nurse staffing has been singled out as an area with high potential for efficiency improvement. Despite the multitude of nurse staffing studies conducted, many important aspects have been neglected and few innovations have been successfully implemented. This paper presents a framework that includes all management tasks that affect staff effectiveness including systems design, forecasting, planning, coordination, and performance monitoring. A consistent terminology is developed and several previously ignored dimensions of the nurse staffing process are discussed. Finally, an outline for a decision-oriented information system is presented.     

Framework for making resource use decisions: An application to subdivision development

Resource use decisions such as those involving subdivision development often have been made with limited consideration of socioeconomic and physical resource impacts. Indeed, many social and environmental difficulties have stemmed from the narrow confines of decision criteria which have centered on immediate production costs with a lesser regard for physical and biological effects and social costs. How, then, do we incorporate total resource assessment into the decision making process?To date, many have suggested what must be done. Yet, few have attempted to illustrate with specific examples. The authors of this article in suggesting two major dimensions to traditional benefit cost analysis have attempted to consolidate various concepts currently developing from regional efforts in techniques for land use planning.     

Corporate planning in local government: Some measurement problems

A corporate planning system makes measurement demands on an organisation which it may not have met before. This paper describes these in the context of corporate planning in local government, and discusses some typical examples, especially as far as needs for services and the effects of providing them are concerned. It also deals with the extent to which choices can be measured, and with the constraints that a real-time decision system puts on the planner.     

Evaluating alternative approaches to strategic planning

The question which, unfortunately, often goes unanswered, is whether a company's process of corporate planning is optimal. Furthermore, even if they wished to answer such a question there is little in the literature which can provide them with a direct, and explicit evaluative model. This paper examines the development of planning and the many different contributors towards its theoretical underpinning. Whilst recognizing that planning is a field which is a ‘semantic's jungle’ the authors carefully pick their way through the mine-field of misunderstanding and misquotation and clearly establish a base-line for evaluation and indeed propose a detailed methodology. It is hoped that this paper will be a fore-runner of many which will assist the executive in his important evaluative role concerning alternative planning approaches.     

SOLVING A COMBINED PART-SELECTION,MACHINE-LOADING,AND TOOL-CONFIGURATION PROBLEM IN FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS*

Loading too many or too few copies of tools may result in waste of tool magazine slots and unnecessary machine shutdowns. This is a consequence of not integrating the tool-configuration problem with other flexible manufacturing system (FMS) planning problems. Solving part-selection, machine-loading and tool-configuration problems independently may cause entire solutions to be infeasible. We propose both an approach to the explicit formulation of tool configuration problems and the simultaneous solution of part-selection, machine-loading and tool-configuration problems. We developed and solved sequentially some associated bicriteria models sequentially. We also discussed the effects of considering some secondary objectives on system performance and described the concepts of critical magazine size and critical machining time using an example problem. Unnecessary allocation and under-use of tool magazine capacity and machining time could be reduced by considering the critical magazine size and machining time. Finally, we suggest using a method based on Lagrangian relaxation for solving large size problems.     

Life after retirement. Interview by Barbara J. Linney

Are you thinking about retirement? Here are interviews with four physician executives who have made the transition. Some are recently retired, while others have been retired for many years. The good news is that all of them are productive and exploring interests and hobbies that their careers had taken precedence over. All of them were asked the following: (1) How have you felt about retirement? (2) What are some interesting things you've done? (3) What advice would you give to others who are planning for it?     

Managing key interfaces in production planning and control

Detailed observational research, undertaken in two large and complex manufacturing businesses, identified ways in which work groups interface to employ knowledge to perform production planning and control activities. Eleven interfaces were observed and methods were established to classify them into types based on how knowledge is communicated and shared. Characteristics of the decision-making environment on either side of each interface were identified to explore their impact on interface type. Key differences in decision-makers’ predominant modes of decision-making, their agendas, and the form and scope of their knowledge were found to influence communication and decision-making processes. These findings have implications for production planning and control organisation and process design. In particular, it is seen that the effectiveness of interfaces may be improved through the alignment of decision-making approaches, agendas and knowledge across interfaces and/or through the effective use of interface tools that enable decision-makers to understand the consequences of decisions made.     

控股股东代理成本、纳税筹划方案抉择及其市场价值:基于J有限公司的案例研究

纳税筹划是实务界与学术界共同关心的领域,现有研究大量讨论了公司纳税筹划行为的决定因素及其经济后果,但仍存在巨大争议。一方面,纳税筹划节约了现金流,提升股东价值;另一方面,代理问题使企业的纳税筹划方案更可能有利于控股股东或管理层,而非上市公司利益最大化,从而可能降低企业价值,最终纳税筹划方案的经济后果取决于上述两方面的共同作用。本文基于某上市公司(J有限公司)收购大股东土地案例,分析了代理成本影响公司税务决策的路径及其经济后果。本文发现,控股股东构造了较为复杂的股权转移交易方式,为上市公司和控股股东节约了大量税务成本。但由于代理成本的存在,在多种纳税筹划方案中,控股股东并未选择对上市公司最为有利的方案,而选择了能够取得现金最多,控股股东利益最大化的方案。进一步的研究发现,市场非常关注该企业的纳税筹划行为,与本文搜集的对照样本相比,尽管J公司的控股股东未选择最优的方案,但投资者仍给予了该纳税筹划行为以积极反应,提升了企业价值。本文为研究代理成本影响公司税务决策的机理提供了重要参考。     

OPTIMIZING UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS PLANNING

The crucial issues in the administration of higher education embody the very purpose, function, and concept of each institution. The institution's administrative policies are based on the combined philosophy of many conflicting interest groups such as taxpayers, donors, administrators, faculty, students, staff, and users of university services. A function performed by the university which is receiving increasing attention and outside pressure is the formulation of admissions policy for newly entering students. This paper investigates problems involved in the admissions planning and presents a goal programming model as an optimization tool for the problem.