Integrated manufacturing, empowerment, and company performance

There is controversy over whether integrated manufacturing (IM), comprising advanced manufacturing technology, just-in-time inventory control and total quality management, empowers or deskills shop floor work. Moreover, both IM and empowerment are promoted on the assumption that they enhance competitiveness. We examine these issues in a study of 80 manufacturing companies. The extent of use of IM was positively associated with empowerment (i.e., job enrichment and employee skill enhancement), but, with the minor exception of AMT, bore little relationship with subsequent company performance. In contrast, the extent of empowerment within companies predicted the subsequent level of company performance controlling for prior performance, with the effect on productivity mediating that on profit. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Modelling and benchmarking business processes: The supply-line example

Benchmarking techniques have evolved over the years since Xerox’s pioneering visits to Japan in the late 1970s. The focus of benchmarking has also shifted during this period. By tracing in detail the evolution of benchmarking in one specific area of business activity, supply and distribution management, as seen by the participants in that evolution, creates a picture of a movement from single function, cost-focused, competitive benchmarking, through cross-functional, cross-sectoral, value-oriented benchmarking to process benchmarking. As process efficiency and effectiveness become the primary foci of benchmarking activities, the measurement parameters used to benchmark performance converge with the factors used in business process modelling. The possibility is therefore emerging of modelling business processes and then feeding the models with actual data from benchmarking exercises. This would overcome the most common criticism of benchmarking, namely that it intrinsically lacks the ability to move beyond current best practice. In fact the combined power of modelling and benchmarking may prove to be the basic building block of informed business process re-engineering.

Aspects of the design and operation of production control systems in manufacturing industry

Computerised production control developments have concentrated on Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP II) systems. The literature suggests however, that despite the massive investment in hardware, software and management education, successful implementation of such systems in manufacturing industries has proved difficult. This thesis reviews the development of production planning and control systems, in particular, investigates the causes of failures in implementing MRP/MRP II systems in industrial environments and argues that the centralised and top-down planning structure, as well as the routine operational methodology of such systems, is inherently prone to failure. The thesis reviews the control benefits of cellular manufacturing systems but concludes that in more dynamic manufacturing environments, techniques such as Kanban are inappropriate. The basic shortcomings of MRP II systems are highlighted and a new enhanced operational methodology based on distributed planning and control principles is introduced. Distributed Manufacturing Resources Planning (DMRP), was developed as a capacity sensitive production planning and control solution for cellular manufacturing environments. The system utilises cell based, independently operated MRP II systems, integrated into a plant-wide control system through a Local Area Network. The potential benefits of adopting the system in industrial environments is discussed and the results of computer simulation experiments to compare the performance of the DMRP system against the conventional MRP II systems presented. DMRP methodology is shown to offer significant potential advantages which include ease of implementation, cost effectiveness, capacity sensitivity, shorter manufacturing lead times, lower working in progress levels and improved customer service.

Team working in intensive care:current evidence and future endeavors

Purpose of review: It has recently been argued that the future of intensive care medicine will rely on high quality management and teamwork. Therefore, this review takes an organizational psychology perspective to examine the most recent research on the relationship between teamwork, care processes, and patient outcomes in intensive care. Recent findings: Interdisciplinary communication within a team is crucial for the development of negotiated shared treatment goals and short-team patient outcomes. Interventions for maximizing team communication have received substantial interest in recent literature. Intensive care coordination is not a linear process, and intensive care teams often fail to discuss how to implement goals, trigger and align activities, or reflect on their performance. Despite a move toward interdisciplinary team working, clinical decision-making is still problematic and continues to be perceived as a top-down and authoritative process. The topic of team leadership in intensive care is underexplored and requires further research. Summary: Based on findings from the most recent research evidence in medicine and management, four principles are identified for improving the effectiveness of team working in intensive care: engender professional efficacy, create stable teams and leaders, develop trust and participative safety, and enable frequent team reflexivity.

An algorithm for FHR estimation from foetal phonocardiographic signals

The long-term foetal surveillance is often to be recommended. Hence, the fully non-invasive acoustic recording, through maternal abdomen, represents a valuable alternative to the ultrasonic cardiotocography. Unfortunately, the recorded heart sound signal is heavily loaded by noise, thus the determination of the foetal heart rate raises serious signal processing issues. In this paper, we present a new algorithm for foetal heart rate estimation from foetal phonocardiographic recordings. A filtering is employed as a first step of the algorithm to reduce the background noise. A block for first heart sounds enhancing is then used to further reduce other components of foetal heart sound signals. A complex logic block, guided by a number of rules concerning foetal heart beat regularity, is proposed as a successive block, for the detection of most probable first heart sounds from several candidates. A final block is used for exact first heart sound timing and in turn foetal heart rate estimation. Filtering and enhancing blocks are actually implemented by means of different techniques, so that different processing paths are proposed. Furthermore, a reliability index is introduced to quantify the consistency of the estimated foetal heart rate and, based on statistic parameters; [,] a software quality index is designed to indicate the most reliable analysis procedure (that is, combining the best processing path and the most accurate time mark of the first heart sound, provides the lowest estimation errors). The algorithm performances have been tested on phonocardiographic signals recorded in a local gynaecology private practice from a sample group of about 50 pregnant women. Phonocardiographic signals have been recorded simultaneously to ultrasonic cardiotocographic signals in order to compare the two foetal heart rate series (the one estimated by our algorithm and the other provided by cardiotocographic device). Our results show that the proposed algorithm, in particular some analysis procedures, provides reliable foetal heart rate signals, very close to the reference cardiotocographic recordings. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding and improving the manufacturing and changeover process in Saudi Arabian business - a multiple case study approach

The importance of the changeover process in the manufacturing industry is becoming widely recognised. Changeover is a complete process of changing between the manufacture of one product to manufacture of an alternative product until specified production and quality rates are reached. The initiatives to improve changeover exist in industry, as better changeover process typically contribute to improved quality performance. A high-quality and reliable changeover process can be achieved through implementation of continuous or radical improvements. This research examines the changeover process of Saudi Arabian manufacturing firms because Saudi Arabia’s government is focused on the expansion of GDP and increasing the number of export manufacturing firms. Furthermore, it is encouraging foreign manufacturing firms to invest within Saudi Arabia. These initiatives, therefore, require that Saudi manufacturing businesses develop the changeover practice in order to compete in the market and achieve the government’s objectives. Therefore, the aim of this research is to discover the current status of changeover process implementation in Saudi Arabian manufacturing businesses. To achieve this aim, the main objective of this research is to develop a conceptual model to understand and examine the effectiveness of the changeover process within Saudi Arabian manufacturing firms, facilitating identification of those activities that affect the reliability and high-quality of the process. In order to provide a comprehensive understanding of this area, this research first explores the concept of quality management and its relationship to firm performance and the performance of manufacturing changeover. An extensive body of literature was reviewed on the subject of lean manufacturing and changeover practice. A research conceptual model was identified based on this review, and focus was on providing high-quality and reliable manufacturing changeover processes during set-up in a dynamic environment. Exploratory research was conducted in sample Saudi manufacturing firms to understand the features of the changeover process within the manufacturing sector, and as a basis for modifying the proposed conceptual model. Qualitative research was employed in the study with semi-structured interviews, direct observations and documentation in order to understand the real situation such as actual daily practice and current status of changeover process in the field. The research instrument, the Changeover Effectiveness Assessment Tool (CEAT) was developed to evaluate changeover practices. A pilot study was conducted by examining the CEAT, proposed for the main research. Consequently, the conceptual model was modified and CEAT was improved in response to the pilot study findings. Case studies have been conducted within eight Saudi manufacturing businesses. These case studies assessed the implementation of manufacturing changeover practice in the lighting and medical products sectors. These two sectors were selected based on their operation strategy which was batch production as well as the fact that they fulfilled the research sampling strategy. The outcomes of the research improved the conceptual model, ultimately to facilitate the firms’ adoption and rapid implementation of a high-quality and reliability changeover during the set-up process. The main finding of this research is that Quality’s factors were considering the lowest levels comparing to the other factors which are People, Process and Infrastructure. This research contributes to enable Saudi businesses to implement the changeover process by adopting the conceptual model. In addition, the guidelines for facilitating implementation were provided in this thesis. Therefore, this research provides insight to enable the Saudi manufacturing industry to be more responsive to rapidly changing customer demands.