Perceptions of technological change : the attitude of managers towards group technology in the United States food equipment industry

In the center of today's continued and rapid technological change and ever competitive environment of the next millennium, manufacturers must realize that unless they are ready to consider and evaluate new technologies brought onto them, they may fail to adequately respond to the challenges that lie ahead of them. This research was designed to determine the consistency of the perceptions of technical and non-technical administrators, in manufacturing environment, towards technological change and group technology as an advanced manufacturing system. This research has included a review of literature with references to technological change, justification and implementation processes, and various manufacturing systems including group technology and its benefits. This research has used the research method of empirical analysis (quantitative) and case studies (qualitative) to research perceptions of technical and non-technical administrators towards technological change and group technology. Sixty-four (64) technical and fifty-one (51) nontechnical administrators from fifty (50) manufacturing organizations in the United States of America responded to the mail survey questionnaire used in this research. Responses were analyzed using the Repeated Measures ANOVA procedure to compare mean responses of each group. Two correlation analyses, Cronback Coefficient Alpha and Pearson Correlation Coefficient, were also performed to determine the reliability of the questionnaire as well as the degree of correlation of perceptions between these two groups. This research, through the empirical analysis, has found that perceptions of the technical and non-technical administrators towards group technology were not consistent. In other words, they did not perceive the benefits of group technology in the same manner to the overall organizational performance. This finding was significant since it provided the first clear and comprehensive view of the technical and non-technical administrators' perception towards group technology and technological change, in Food Equipment Manufacturer Industry, in United States of America. In addition, a number of cases were analyzed and the results have supported those of the quantitative analysis. Therefore, this research not only has provided basic data, which was unavailable prior to this investigation, but it also provided a basis for future studies.

Some aspects of system design for production management in the rolling-mill industry

Case studies in copper-alloy rolling mill companies showed that existing planning systems suffer from numerous shortcomings. Where computerised systems are in use, these tend to simply emulate older manual systems and still rely heavily on modification by experienced planners on the shopfloor. As the size and number of orders increase, the task of process planners, while seeking to optimise the manufacturing objectives and keep within the production constraints, becomes extremely complicated because of the number of options for mixing or splitting the orders into batches. This thesis develops a modular approach to computerisation of the production management and planning functions. The full functional specification of each module is discussed, together with practical problems associated with their phased implementation. By adapting the Distributed Bill of Material concept from Material Requirements Planning (MRP) philosophy, the production routes generated by the planning system are broken down to identify the rolling stages required. Then to optimise the use of material at each rolling stage, the system generates an optimal cutting pattern using a new algorithm that produces practical solutions to the cutting stock problem. It is shown that the proposed system can be accommodated on a micro-computer, which brings it into the reach of typical companies in the copper-alloy rolling industry, where profit margins are traditionally low and the cost of widespread use of mainframe computers would be prohibitive.

Minority enterprise in the clothing industry: an analysis of Asian jeans manufacturers in Birmingham

This thesis discusses and assesses the resources available to Asian entrepreneurs in the West Midlands' clothing industry and how they are used by these small businessmen in order to address opportunities in the market economy within the constraints imposed. The fashion industry is volatile and is dependent upon flexible firms which can respond quickly to shortrun production schedules. Small firms are best able to respond to this market environment. Production of jeans presents an interesting departure from the mainstream fashion industry. It is traditionally gared towards longrun production schedules where multinational enterprises have artificially diversified the market, promoting the 'right' brand name and have established control of the upper end of the market, whilst imports from Newly Developing Countries have catered for cheap copies at the lower end of the market. In recent years, a fashion element to jeans has emerged, thus opening a market gap for U.K. manufacturers to respond in the same way as for other fashion articles. A large immigrant population, previously serving the now declining factories and foundries of the West Midlands but, through redundancy, no longer a part of this employment sector, has ~5ponded to economic constraints and market opportunities by drawing on ethnic network resources for competitive access to labour, finance and contacts, to attack the emergent market gap. Two models of these Asian entrepreneurs are developed. One being somecne who has professionally and actively tackled the market gap and become established. These entrepreneurs are usually educated and have personal experience in business and were amongst the first to perceive opportunities to enter the industry, actively utilising their ethnicity as a resource upon which to draw for favorable access to cheap, flexible labour and capital. The second model is composed of later entrants to jeans manufacturing. They have less formal education and experience and have been pushed into self-employment by constraints of unemployment. Their ethnicity is passively used as a resource. They are more likely confined to the marginal activity of 'cut make and trim' and have little opportunity to increase profit margins, become estalished or expand.

Energy conservation in the steel industry

The last few years have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the price of energy available to industry in the United Kingdom and worldwide. The steel industry, as a major consumer of energy delivered in U.K. (8% of national total and nearly 25% of industrial total) and whose energy costs currently form some 28% of the total manufacturing cost, is very much aware of the need to conserve energy. Because of the complexities of steelmaking processes it is imperative that a full understanding of each process and its interlinking role in an integrated steelworks is understood. An analysis of energy distribution shows that as much as 70% of heat input is dissipated to the environment in a variety of forms. Of these, waste gases offer the best potential for energy conservation. The study identifies areas for and discusses novel methods of energy conservation in each process. Application of these schemes in BSC works is developed and their economic incentives highlighted. A major part of this thesis describes design, development and testing of a novel ceramic rotary regenerator for heat recovery from high temperature waste gases, where no such system is available. The regenerator is a compact, efficient heat exchanger. Application of such a system to a reheating furnace provides a fuel saving of up to 40%. A mathematical model developed is verified on the pilot plant. The results obtained confirm the success of the concept and material selection and outlines the work needed to develop an industrial unit. Last, but not least, the key position of an energy manager in an energy conservation programme is identified and a new Energy Management Model for the BSC is developed.

Product innovation in a medium size mature manufacturing company

This thesis is concerned with the management of product innovation inside the medium size, mature, manufacturing company. An academic perspective of innovation is integrated with an account of direct participation acquired over a two year period. The emergent synthesis provides fresh insight into some of the problems associated with producing and sustaining innovation. Product innovation is a very complex activity, and it presents particular difficulties for mature industry. However, the ability to innovate is fundamental to a company's continued survival. Three aspects of product innovation are examined in detail. Firstly, is the requirement to separate innovation activity from the on-going business interests; dependency between the degree of separation and novelty is supported. Secondly, a simple sequential model of the innovation process is tested and shown to be of considerable practical value. Thirdly a relationship is established between the age of the recipient market and the type of innovation to be found in that market All three aspects are found to have important implications for management in their pursuit of innovation. Management deficiencies which inhibited the successful resolution of innovation-linked problems are described and solutions which stress the need for commitment and coherency are proposed. The long existing management structure in the mature company which mitigates against successful and continuing innovation are examined in detail and a strategy is evolved which uses the intrinsic strengths of the mature company to promote innovation of a kind compatible with success in the market. A set of guidelines of practical value is presented for those managers wishing to pursue, and sustain, product innovation in the medium size mature company.

Investigative framework for research into the design of manufacturing processes

This paper is based a major research project run by a team from the Innovation, Design and Operations Management Research Unit at the Aston Business School under SERC funding. International Computers Limited (!CL), the UK's largest indigenous manufacturer of mainframe computer products, was the main industrial collaborator in the research. During the period 1985-89 an integrated production system termed the "Modular Assembly Cascade'' was introduced to the Company's mainframe assembly plant at Ashton-under-Lyne near Manchester. Using a methodology primarily based upon 'participative observation', the researchers developed a model for analysing this manufacturing system design called "DRAMA". Following a critique of the existing literature on Manufacturing Strategy, this paper will describe the basic DRAMA model and its development from an industry specific design methodology to DRAMA II, a generic model for studying organizational decision processes in the design and implementation of production systems. From this, the potential contribution of the DRAMA model to the existing knowledge on the process of manufacturing system design will be apparent.

Success factors in a forming strategic positioning of manufacturing operations within global supply chains

Managing supply chains effectively has become a critical element in enhancing company profitability and has been identified as the new frontier of competitive advantage. An important element of effective supply chain management is the strategic positioning of the company. The strategic positioning process is concerned with the choice of production-centred activities a company carries out internally and those provided externally. Strategic positioning within manufacturing supply chains however is a relatively recent research topic with apparently few articles currently available that explicitly address associated issues directly. Moreover there is no previous research working strategic positioning of manufacturing operations in global context. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to explore strategic positioning within global supply chains. This paper is based on three cases drawn from the cross industry sector manufacturing companies. It describes an exploratory analysis which is aimed at gaining insight into the success factor to form a strategic positioning within global supply chains.

Using empirical evidence of variations in worker performance to extend the capabilities of discrete event simulations in manufacturing

Discrete event simulation of manufacturing systems has become widely accepted as an important tool to aid the design of such systems. Often, however, it is applied by practitioners in a manner which largely ignores an important element of industry; namely, the workforce. Workers are usually represented as simple resources, often with deterministic performance values. This approach ignores the potentially large effect that human performance variation can have on a system. A long-term data collection exercise is described with the aim of quantifying the performance variation of workers in a typical automotive assembly plant. The data are presented in a histogram form which is immediately usable in simulations to improve the accuracy of design assessment. The results show levels of skewness and range which are far larger than anticipated by current researchers and practitioners in the field.

Human performance modelling as an aid in the process of manufacturing system design

Manufacturing system design is an ongoing activity within industry. Modelling tools based on Discrete Event Simulation are often used by practitioners during this design cycle. However, such tools do not adequately model the behaviour of 'direct' workers in manufacturing environments. There is an important need to expand the capability of modelling to include the relationships between human centred factors (demography, attitudes, beliefs, etc), their working environment (physical and organizational), and their subsequent performance in terms of productive routines. Therefore, this paper describes research that has formed a pilot modelling methodology that is an important first step in providing such a capability.

Which factors drive firm survival within an industry boundary over time?:the UK onshore oil and gas production industry 1984-1999

This thesis looks at the UK onshore oil and gas production industry and follows the history of a population of firms over a fifteen-year period following the industry's renaissance. It examines the linkage between firm survival, selection pressures and adaptation responses at the firm level, especially the role of discretionary adaptation, specifically exploration and exploitation strategies.Taking a Realist approach and using quantitative and qualitative methods for triangulation on a new data base derived from archival data, as well as informant interviews, it tests seven hypotheses' about post-entry survival of firms. The quantitative findings suggest that firm survival within this industry is linked to discretionary adaptation, when measured at the firm level, and to a mixture of selection and adaptation forces when measured for each firm for each individual year. The qualitative research suggests that selection factors dominate. This difference in views is unresolved. However the small, sparse population and the nature of the oil and gas industry compared with other common research contexts such as manufacturing or service firms suggests the results be treated with caution as befits a preliminary investigation. The major findings include limited support for the theory that the external environment is the major determinant of firm survival, though environment components affect firms differentially; resolution of apparent literature differences relating to the sequencing of exploration and exploitation and potential tangible evidence of coevolution. The research also finds that, though selection may be considered important by industry players, discretionary adaptation appears to play the key role, and that the key survival drivers for thispopulation are intra-industry ties, exploitation experience and a learning/experience component. Selection has a place, however, in determining the life-cycle of the firm returning to be a key survival driver at certain ages of the firm inside the industry boundary.

Reforms and entry:some evidence from the Indian manufacturing sector

Traditional research in the context of product market entry has explored the strategic reactions of incumbent firms when threatened by the possibility of entry, and have identified industry-specific factors that affect entry rates. However, following de Soto (1989), there has been increasing emphasis on regulatory and institutional factors governing entry rates, especially in the context of developing countries. Using three-digit industry-level data from India, for the 1984–97 period, we examine the phenomenon of entry in the Indian context. Our empirical results suggest that during the 1980s industry-level factors largely explained variations in entry rates, but that, following the economic federalism brought about by the post-1991 reforms, variations in entry rates during the 1990s were explained largely by state-level institutional and legacy factors. Past productivity growth affects net entry rates as well.

The innovation value chain and export performance:a study of Taiwanese manufacturing industries

This thesis involves the secondary data of 1806 innovative manufacturing firms derived from the database of 2nd Taiwanese Innovation Survey. Three topics are researched. The first topic investigates the innovation value chain (IVC) in Taiwanese manufacturing firms. Previous IVC studies are all done in developed countries such as UK, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Switzerland, and it leaves the gap of those non-developed countries. The result shows the overall knowledge sourcing pattern of Taiwanese manufacturing firms presenting a complementary relationship which is consistent to the previous IVC studies. The main innovation input is still derived from internal R&D which suggests more utilisation of external knowledge may boost innovation outcome. Product innovation does enhance firm growth while process innovation reduces a firm’s productivity. The second topic uses the lens of IVC to investigate the difference of the innovation process from knowledge linkages to value added between high-tech and low- tech sectors. The findings indicate (1) there are significant differences in the IVC between high- and low-tech sectors, however these are defined; (2) how you define ‘sector’ matters i.e. the nature of the high-tech and low-tech differences varies depending on whether the technology definition is carried out at the industry or firm level; and (3) the high uncertainty of innovation cause the difficulty to predict firm performance especially for those firms with high intensity of innovation. The third topic investigates the innovation-exporting relationship and explores the determinants of export performance. Product innovation enhances export performance once a firm enters international markets while process innovation affects negatively on a firm’s likelihood of being an exporter. Furthermore, IP protection is found to affect directly export performance positively.

Green supply chain performance measurement using the analytic hierarchy process:a comparative analysis of manufacturing organisations

The main purpose of this research is to develop and deploy an analytical framework for measuring the environmental performance of manufacturing supply chains. This work's theoretical bases combine and reconcile three major areas: supply chain management, environmental management and performance measurement. Researchers have suggested many empirical criteria for green supply chain (GSC) performance measurement and proposed both qualitative and quantitative frameworks. However, these are mainly operational in nature and specific to the focal company. This research develops an innovative GSC performance measurement framework by integrating supply chain processes (supplier relationship management, internal supply chain management and customer relationship management) with organisational decision levels (both strategic and operational). Environmental planning, environmental auditing, management commitment, environmental performance, economic performance and operational performance are the key level constructs. The proposed framework is then applied to three selected manufacturing organisations in the UK. Their GSC performance is measured and benchmarked by using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a multiple-attribute decision-making technique. The AHP-based framework offers an effective way to measure and benchmark organisations’ GSC performance. This study has both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically it contributes holistic constructs for designing a GSC and managing it for sustainability; and practically it helps industry practitioners to measure and improve the environmental performance of their supply chain. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. CORRIGENDUM DOI 10.1080/09537287.2012.751186 In the article ‘Green supply chain performance measurement using the analytic hierarchy process: a comparative analysis of manufacturing organisations’ by Prasanta Kumar Dey and Walid Cheffi, Production Planning & Control, 10.1080/09537287.2012.666859, a third author is added which was not included in the paper as it originally appeared. The third author is Breno Nunes.

Green operations initiatives in the automotive industry:an environmental reports analysis and benchmarking study

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on investigating and benchmarking green operations initiatives in the automotive industry documented in the environmental reports of selected companies. The investigation roadmaps the main environmental initiatives taken by the world's three major car manufacturers and benchmarks them against each other. The categorisation of green operations initiatives that is provided in the paper can also help companies in other sectors to evaluate their green practices. Design/methodology/approach: The first part of the paper is based on existing literature on the topic of green and sustainable operations and the "unsustainable" context of automotive production. The second part relates to the roadmap and benchmarking of green operations initiatives based on an analysis of secondary data from the automotive industry. Findings: The findings show that the world's three major car manufacturers are pursuing various environmental initiatives involving the following green operations practices: green buildings, eco-design, green supply chains, green manufacturing, reverse logistics and innovation. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of this paper start from its selection of the companies, which was made using production volume and country of origin as the principal criteria. There is ample evidence that other, smaller, companies are pursuing more sophisticated and original environmental initiatives. Also, there might be a gap between what companies say they do in their environmental reports and what they actually do. Practical implications: This paper helps practitioners in the automotive industry to benchmark themselves against the major volume manufacturers in three different continents. Practitioners from other industries will also find it valuable to discover how the automotive industry is pursuing environmental initiatives beyond manufacturing, apart from the green operations practices covering broadly all the activities of operations function. Originality/value: The originality of the paper is in its up-to-date analysis of environmental reports of automotive companies. The paper offers value for researchers and practitioners due to its contribution to the green operations literature. For instance, the inclusion of green buildings as part of green operations practices has so far been neglected by most researchers and authors in the field of green and sustainable operations. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.