Flexible manufacturing systems performance in U.S. automotive manufacturing plants: a case study

Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) philosophy is a key weapon in achieving global manufacturing competitiveness. It encompasses a wide range of dimensions to improve all aspects of operational performance metrics. The aim of the study is to examine the current state of flexibility adoption in U.S. automotive manufacturing facilities and its impact on operational performance metrics. It utilizes survey questionnaire developed based on previous work in U.S. manufacturing industry. The survey was originally distributed to 420 facility managers in the U.S. domestic automotive industry. It was revealed that 70% of the respondents had implemented all 15 flexibility dimensions listed in the questionnaire. The data analysis conducted shows that implementation of certain flexibility dimensions will lead to significant improvement in specific operational performance metrics. This considerable finding can be used as a guide for manufacturing managers to achieve certain objectives in operational performance improvement in a rapidly changing environment.     

The Implementation of an International Market Servicing Strategy in UK Manufacturing Firms

This paper presents results from an empirical investigation into the impact of foreign market servicing strategies on the competitiveness of UK manufacturing firms in five industry sectors. Competitiveness is defined by performance, competitive potential and management process. Although the choice of foreign market servicing mode is highly constrained, there is a range of choice available to firms, although this choice is often reactive rather than proactive. The impact of market servicing switches on competitiveness is often profound, although it is not always positive. Moreover, these effects may be in different directions on the three components of competitiveness. Attention to foreign market servicing policies is crucial for achieving international competitiveness.     

Implementation of new technology: towards greater manufacturing flexibility

Changes in market characteristics over the past several years are forcing firms to eliminate/minimize dependency on costly buffers of capacity, lead time, or inventory. One way to accomplish this is via appropriate adaptation and enhancement of existing technological infrastructure. Recent technological advances present firms with a wide array of alternative technologies. In this paper, we discuss the impact of new technology on the manufacturing environment and the problems associated with its implementation. We present an integrated framework for implementing such technology based on a consistent hierarchy of organizational objectives and a general foundation of constraint theory.     

Planning for manufacturing technology

It is charged that many U.S. and European manufacturers have neglected to invest in new manufacturing technology. Consequently, these manufacturers have sacrificed their long-range competitiveness. This problem has occurred partly due to the lack of a normal planning process for investment in manufacturing technology that can alert managers to the need for the modernization of manufacturing technology before it is overdue.This article recommends the use of a new approach for manufacturing technology planning based on a process that monitors the deterioration of manufacturing technology over time.     

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.     

THE USE OF INDUSTRIAL SOFTWARE TO CREATE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT COURSES

Computer-based manufacturing planning and control (MPC) systems are widely used in industry to gain competitive advantage through integration and coordination of managerial activities. In collegiate business schools, important operations management activities are taught and studied, often by sequential examination of discrete topics such as aggregate production planning, master production scheduling, capacity planning, material planning, and production activity control. This paper explores the potential use of industrial MPC software in the classroom to create experiential learning activities that address the dynamic and integrative nature of operations management. Experiences with this pedagogical approach over the past decade are reported.     

A structural analysis of greening the supplier,environmental performance and competitive advantage

A clear research need has been identified to confirm the structural relationships between greening the supplier, enhanced environmental performance and improved competitive advantage, to provide an impetus for firms to green their suppliers. A mail survey was conducted and empirical data of 119 ISO 14001 manufacturing firms in Malaysia was gathered for this study. Structural equation modelling technique was applied in this research article. Results from the analysis, reveal the existence of a positive and significant linkage between green suppliers with both environmental performance and competitive advantage. At the same time, environmental performance has also been shown to positively and significantly affect competitive advantage; while environmental performance plays a partial mediating role between greening the supplier and competitiveness. Such significant finding is especially essential for the manufacturing sector registered with ISO 14001 who intend to enhance their environmental performance and carve a niche competitive edge in the business arena.     

Aspects of manufacturing strategy

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly important for manufacturing organizations to articulate clear and coherent manufacturing strategies that support their long term business objectives. In particular, manufacturing strategy should take conscious account of the competitive posture adopted by the organization in each of the product/market segments in which it has decided to participate. This paper discusses the various ways in which a systemic manufacturing strategy can contribute to an organization's competitiveness, and the processes by which such a strategy can be developed. Some important and often neglected issues concerning the development of the individual components of a manufacturing strategy are examined and the problems and issues of strategy implementation are discussed.     

German,French and British manufacturing strategies compared: A growth towards each other

Manufacturing has gained over the last years in attention as a tool to create competitive advantage. For fou years now a survey has been carried out by a research team at Insead to build a database on the manufacturing strategies as they are defined and implemented by large European companies. In this paper some of the 1987 data are presented, and a comparison of manufacturing strategies of large companies in the three most important European countries is made. Though the most important conclusion is that there are only slight differences between the three countries, one can see some difference in emphasis. The French companies seem to invest heavily to catch up with respect to quality, the German manufacturers invest heavily in technology, and the British seem to pay more attention to the improvement of the labour/management relations. The data on the manufacturing strategies of these groups of companies is also analysed in function of an increased need for flexibility, as it was perceived in previous surveys.     

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.     

A modularised typology for flow design based on decoupling points – a holistic view on process industries and discrete manufacturing industries

Management of production activities covers a wide range of decisions. In this paper, a modularised approach is suggested that, through configuration, generates a case-specific flow design. The approach is based on identification of decision categories that are generic and fundamental in the flow design, covering both discrete manufacturing industries and process industries. Each decision category identifies a unique property of the flow which changes at a particular point: this is termed a ‘decoupling point’. A three-dimensional modularised typology is developed by combining three different decision categories. Cases from the steel industry and the tooling industry are used to illustrate how the typology can be applied. The modularised approach provides a typology for the application of both qualitative and quantitative methods for flow management, including planning, control and performance management.     

Enhancing competitive advantage by constructing supply chains to achieve superior performance

This paper studies the impact of configuring supply chain design strategies on performance using real-world example of aligning different supply chain practices to supply chain strategies to achieve competitive advantage. The paper first carries out a synthesis of literature categorising the supply chain strategies, practices and linking them to contexts and competitive advantage. The paper then uses a case study methodology to explore the process of adjusting supply chain strategies and aligned practices to gain competitive advantage in different contexts. The paper reports two case examples of a leaf tobacco company and a mosquito coil manufacturer from India facing different demand characteristics and implementing different supply chain strategies for enhancing performance objectives. Both companies faced a change in their business environment and competitive priorities. In both the examples, companies used a combination of practices for implementing appropriate supply chain strategies to gain competitive advantage. This paper contributes to the academic discipline of supply chain management through developing theory showing the transition of supply chain strategies for achieving superior performance in different business environments. The paper has wide managerial implications by reporting real-life implementation of different supply chain strategies thus bridging the practice-theory gap.     

中国农产品国际竞争力的估计

本文系统介绍了研究出口商品国际竞争力的等市场份额 (CMS)模型 ,用该模型对中国农产品整体国际竞争力的长期变化趋势进行了研究。研究表明 ,中国农产品国际竞争力呈下降趋势 ,出口值绝对量的增长掩盖了这一趋势。出口农产品结构不优、市场结构单一是制约中国农产品国际竞争力提高的主要因素。采用显性比较优势 (RCA)法 ,对不同类型农产品的具体国际竞争力进行了研究。结果显示 ,土地密集型农产品的比较优势已基本丧失 ,而劳动密集型农产品具有较强的比较优势。鲜活原料型农产品的比较优势呈下降趋势 ,而深加工型农产品的比较优势在显著上升。并指出了相应的政策含义。     

The Role of Culture as Driver of Quality Management and Performance: Infrastructure Versus Core Quality Practices*

Increasingly, scholars and practitioners recognize the importance of understanding organizational culture when implementing operations management practices. This study investigates the relationships among organizational culture, infrastructure and core quality management practices, and manufacturing performance using two alternative models. Understanding these relationships is important because culture can provide insight into the context dependence of quality management practices and shed light on the mixed results of past studies concerning the link between quality management and performance. Analysis of manufacturing plants from six countries indicates that organizational culture has a stronger influence on infrastructure quality management practices than on core quality management practices, regardless of whether the plants are located in Eastern or Western countries. In addition, infrastructure quality management practices have a significant effect on manufacturing performance. These results contribute to the quality management literature by emphasizing the importance of accounting for culture when making decisions to implement quality management practices to achieve a performance advantage. Finally, we also contribute to the literature on the culture–performance linkage by finding support for a direct link between culture and manufacturing performance.     

Creating a manufacturing strategy to suit your business

The development of manufacturing strategy requires approaches and techniques different from those used in the past. To play its proper role in establishing competitive advantage, the contribution of manufacturing must be recognized explicitly and exploited in conjunction with marketing, design and purchasing. Strategy and implementation are inseperable, and are a vital force in overcoming resistance to change.     

人工智能、技术进步与低技能就业——基于中国制造业企业的实证研究

人工智能重塑中国制造业核心竞争力的同时,也加剧了行业内低技能型劳动力被取代的危机。本文以技术进步影响劳动力技能结构的理论机制为分析框架,聚焦人工智能与制造业的融合对低技能就业比重的因果效应。基于2011-2017年制造业企业的面板数据,首先将人工智能与制造业的融合定义为"AI产业化"和"产业AI化",基于定义、逐家判断人工智能企业名单并定位人工智能的初始时间,再采用双重差分法围绕人工智能对低技能就业比重的因果效应及效应的传导机制展开实证分析。实证结果表明:(1)制造业企业融合人工智能显著降低了低技能的就业比重,即在一定程度上制造业内低技能潜在的就业机会被人工智能所挤出;(2)人工智能对低技能就业比重的负向效应具有动态异质性,即企业融合人工智能的时间越长,低技能就业比重下降的越多;(3)人工智能虽然通过刺激当期资本积累和收入扩张补偿了部分低技能就业比重的减少,但同时降低了低技能劳动力的相对边际产出,促使企业最终减少低技能员工的就业比重。     

A multicriteria model for supporting setup reduction investment decisions

One critical manufacturing challenge of the 1990s is for firms to effectively apply new operations management techniques while embracing wider philosophies such as total quality management (TQM) and computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), etc. Setup cost and/or time reduction is one such technique capable of producing many benefits for manufacturing firms, including reduced inventory, better equipment utilization, and improved quality. It is thereby viewed as an important component of just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing practice. Existing problems with the setup reduction decision include the many factors that must be considered, as well of an absence of validated and usable models for estimating potential benefits from setup reduction investment made in different contexts. This paper discusses the attainment of gains from setup reduction mainly by improving existing equipment and work practices rather than purchasing new equipment or technology. The model proposed in this paper is based on the application of the analytic hierarchical process (AHP) on seven weighted factors to obtain a preliminary indication as to whether investment in setup reduction is desirable in a given manufacturing context, and the expected benefits of such investment. A flexible scaling system, thus obtained, allows the model to handle a wide range of managerial predispositions to setup reduction.     

A model for an integrated manufacturing system implementation in China: a case study

This paper describes a process which a company adopted to enhance her manufacturing system in a step-by-step manner. In order to increase the competitiveness of the company, the authors have identified a number of improvement strategies which were specific to the economic and political environment in China. The center of the strategies is a vision of an integrated manufacturing strategy. The detailed design and implementation of this vision is conducted through the proposed systematic manufacturing strategic analysis. The integration process encompasses various elements such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRPII) and Real-Time Monitoring System (RTMS), it emphasises not only the use of appropriate modern technology but also the management of technology change. In this paper, a concept model is used to describe the integration process, the detailed implementation is also elaborated using a proposed implementation process model. By adopting the integrated manufacturing system, and through continuing improvement, the productivity and hence the profitability of the company is increased. It is anticipated that the integrated approach to the design and implementation of manufacturing systems will be an important contribution towards the manufacturing strategy in a labour intensive environment such as China.     

Measuring the Congruence Between Market Requirements and Manufacturing: A Methodology and Illustration*

This paper presents a measurement methodology, based on existing research in the manufacturing strategy and general strategy areas, for evaluating the congruence between market needs and manufacturing plant capabilities. The proposed methodology has several important advantages over current approaches. First, the methodology uses available data and statistical techniques to measure market-manufacturing congruence. As a result, it is not dependent on assumptions about “classic” process choices. Second, the proposed methodology can evaluate the strategic fit between market needs and manufacturing in light of one or more performance criteria. Third, the methodology can be used to derive scalar measures of market-manufacturing congruence, allowing users to evaluate congruence for a large number of products, customers, or market segments. The theoretical basis, research objectives and major steps of the methodology are discussed, followed by an illustrative example from a North American manufacturer. Finally, the applicability of the methodology to a wide range of strategic manufacturing decisions is discussed.     

竞争驱动战略转型的人力资本视线研究——以天津中小制造业企业为例

转型升级阵痛中的中国制造业企业,唯有基于人力资本"视线"实施差异化战略、推进激进式创新,才能变革成功,进而在激烈市场竞争中存活下来并形成核心竞争力。以天津市各大工业园区154家中小制造业企业的问卷调查数据为样本,采用结构方程模型对制造业企业创新逆驱战略转型的人力资本"视线"进行统计检验。结果显示,战略层面的"视线"有一个:外部环境竞争性、差异化战略、激进式创新与企业绩效。资源层面"视线"有两个:差异化战略、HRM系统、人力资本、渐进式创新、激进式创新与企业绩效;差异化战略、HRM系统、知识共享与企业绩效。这三条"视线"为中国制造业企业指明了战略转型、创新变革的具体方向。