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The numba-mpi package offers access to the Message Passing Interface (MPI) routines from Python code that uses the Numba just-in-time (JIT) compiler. As a result, high-performance and multi-threaded Python code may utilize MPI communication facilities without leaving the JIT-compiled code blocks, which is not possible with the mpi4py package, a higher-level Python interface to MPI. For debugging or code-coverage analysis purposes, numba-mpi retains full functionality of the code even if the JIT compilation is disabled. The numba-mpi API constitutes a thin wrapper around the C API of MPI and is built around Numpy arrays including handling of non-contiguous views over array slices. Project development is hosted at GitHub leveraging the mpi4py/setup-mpi workflow enabling continuous integration tests on Linux (MPICH, OpenMPI & Intel MPI), macOS (MPICH & OpenMPI) and Windows (MS MPI). The paper covers an overview of the package features, architecture and performance. As of v1.0, the following MPI routines are exposed and covered by unit tests: size/rank, [i]send/[i]recv, wait[all|any], test[all|any], allreduce, bcast, barrier, scatter/[all]gather & wtime. The package is implemented in pure Python and depends on numpy, numba and mpi4py (the latter used at initialization and as a source of utility routines only). The performance advantage of using numba-mpi compared to mpi4py is depicted with a simple example, with entirety of the code included in listings discussed in the text. Application of numba-mpi for handling domain decomposition in numerical solvers for partial differential equations is presented using two external packages that depend on numba-mpi: py-pde and PyMPDATA-MPI.

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Copyright of Environmental Medicine / Medycyna Srodowiskowa is the property of Witold Chodzki Institute of Rural Medicine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

For more than four decades, Lean Manufacturing (LM) has delivered in terms of waste reduction, productivity and sustainability for the benefit of manufacturers, customers and society at large. In the present era of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), the integration of physical and digital systems is providing huge scope for enhancing the performances of conventional lean tools and practices. Although recent literature has emphasized the integration of lean and Industry 4.0 as Lean 4.0, the mode of integration and basis for selecting technologies need to be explored more. The present paper aims to address this gap and presents a novel Tool-Input-Process-Output (TIPO) approach in which ‘Inputs’ required for the implementation of conventional lean tools are identified and mapped with core characteristics of I4.0 technologies to develop the ‘Process’ for the integration. Exemplified on three prominent lean tools; Just-In-Time (JIT), Jidoka and Heijunka to illustrate the proposed framework.

For more than four decades, Lean Manufacturing (LM) has delivered in terms of waste reduction, productivity and sustainability for the benefit of manufacturers, customers and society at large. In the present era of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), the integration of physical and digital systems is providing huge scope for enhancing the performances of conventional lean tools and practices. Although recent literature has emphasized the integration of lean and Industry 4.0 as Lean 4.0, the mode of integration and basis for selecting technologies need to be explored more. The present paper aims to address this gap and presents a novel Tool-Input-Process-Output (TIPO) approach in which 'Inputs' required for the implementation of conventional lean tools are identified and mapped with core characteristics of I4.0 technologies to develop the 'Process' for the integration. Exemplified on three prominent lean tools; Just-In-Time (JIT), Jidoka and Heijunka to illustrate the proposed framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the efficacy of specific Lean tools such as 5S, Kanban, JIT, and Poka-Yoke in enhancing operational efficiency. It provides an analysis of how these tools contribute to improved production times, waste reduction, and process optimization, supported by real-world case studies. The article emphasizes the significance of Lean tools in contemporary business environments, their impact on strategic innovation, and the benefits of integrating Lean thinking into organizational culture for sustained growth and improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid‐19 pandemic and other recent disruptions in the early 2020s led to sections in the business press blaming just‐in‐time (JIT) practices for operational failings. Consequently, there are calls for moving away from JIT toward holding more inventory as preparation against future disruptions, which is referred to as just‐in‐case. The academic community is also divided. Some scholars argue that JIT is not resilient, while others maintain that JIT can continue providing superior performance even with disruptions. Motivated by this debate, we discuss various misconceptions about JIT that underlie this debate. Furthermore, we present different ways to adapt JIT for turbulent environments and argue that companies can improve their supply chain performance if JIT supply chain segments are chosen fittingly—even more so—during disruptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug shortages are not a new phenomenon in the United States. Current policies and regulations can be improved to better utilize drug compounding facilities to ensure patient safety, provide practical standards for the interstate market, and focus on patient needs in the marketplace. Adjustments in regulation and incentives such as performance-based bonuses are necessary to encourage registration for 503B outsourcing facilities and address shortages for less profitable drugs. Diversity of drug supply sources is also of the utmost importance to secure the trade of essential medicines in times of drug shortages through a globally diverse supply chain along with a strong system for domestic drug manufacturing and compounding facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ERP systems provide important benefits to institutions, such as improved processes, improved data, supplier–customer integration, better planning and control, as well as real-time insight and just-in-time (JIT) management that can put a business organisation in front of the competition. In this study, the change and transformation experienced by establishing an ERP system are explained for an automotive supplier that was not using an integrated ERP system for a real-world problem. The pre-implementation situation, the problems of the existing system, the necessary reasons for such an application, the determined deficiencies of the installed system and the post-implementation situation are explained in detail. Thanks to the real-time information and integrated data generated by the reports, along with a more sophisticated business understanding, the risk to employees was lowered. As a result of a changeover to real-time Materials Requirement Planning, the decrease in inventory levels, stabilisation in delivery time and efficiency of control over the production processes were increased in addition to real-time tracking and reporting advantages. As a result of this work, the production processes were transformed into JIT. The inventory level was reduced to zero and a formerly used warehouse was no longer required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the problem of two-machine no-wait flowshop scheduling with learning effect and convex resource-dependent processing times. Under the condition of the due-date assignment with common flow allowance (i.e. slack (SLK) due-date assignment), we provide a bi-criteria analysis where the first criterion is to minimise the scheduling criteria (i.e. the weighted sum of earliness, tardiness and flow allowance costs), and the second criterion is to minimise the resource consumption cost (i.e. the weighted sum of resource consumption cost). The objective is to determine the optimal job sequence, resource allocations and common (flow allowance) slack time that minimise the three different versions of the two criteria. We prove that these problems can be solved in polynomial time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La gestión de inventarios es un tema común cuando se estudia la gestión empresarial como elemento clave para optimizar el costo de operación de cualquier proceso productivo y/o prestación de servicio. Los modelos de inventarios tradicionales abordan la optimización de los niveles de inventarios para una organización individual, sin importar la relación de ésta, con el resto de la cadena de suministro de la que forma parte. En este aspecto, en la gestión empresarial la satisfacción del cliente final se logra mediante el cumplimiento de los flujos básicos de la cadena de suministros, de manera que se requieren niveles de cooperación e integración entre los participantes de la cadena en términos de inventario, con el objetivo de disminuir las pérdidas para cada parte y las mejoras en los costos totales de operación de sus sistemas de gestión. En este trabajo se estudia la optimización de los inventarios con un enfoque colaborativo, en empresas de servicios, mediante una visión justo a tiempo, de manera conjunta comprador-intermediario-proveedor. Se hicieron comparaciones con métodos tradicionales y se determinaron las ventajas de este enfoque colaborativo en los costos de inventario de la cadena de suministro y su incidencia en la satisfacción del consumidor final, a través de un caso de estudio.

Nowadays, industrial products are getting increasingly complex, and time-to-market is significantly shorter. Modeling and simulation tools for cyber-physical systems need to keep up with the increased complexity. This paper presents OpenModelica.jl, a modular and extensible Modelica compiler framework in Julia targeting ModelingToolkit.jl and supporting Variable Structured Systems. We extended the Modelica language with three new operators to support continuous-time mode-switching and reconfiguration via recompilation at runtime. Therefore, our compiler supports the Modelica language and variable structure systems via the aforementioned extensions. To our knowledge, there are no other Modelica tools available that support both standard Modelica and variable structure systems. We evaluated our framework using a standardized benchmark suite, in terms of simulation, compilation and recompilation performance. The results concerning compilation and simulation time performance were compared with the results of running the existing OpenModelica compiler with the same set of models. A custom benchmark was devised to estimate the cost in terms of recompilation when simulating variable structure systems. The performance experiments showed that OpenModelica.jl is currently about four times slower in terms of compilation time when compiling a transmission line model with tens of thousands of equations and variables. The difference in simulation performance between the two compilers was negligable. Furthermore, the impact of recompilation during the simulation was usually small compared with the simulation time for long simulations. The results are promising for a prototype, and we outline approaches to further improve both compilation and simulation performance as future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketing has a significant impact on logistics systems and corporate performance, so it is nowadays necessary to define a marketing logistics strategy in the lives of larger companies so that logistics decisions are not distorted by the marketing strategy. According to the current direction of development, smaller and smaller quantities of goods are constantly being moved, with ever shorter deadlines. Therefore, companies prefer to use the Just In Time (JIT) system, which results in a gradual reduction in inventory costs, but increases the burden on the environment. In this article, we analyze the interaction between marketing and logistics and the logistics environment required to implement a JIT system. For research we have used the matrix of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) technique to evaluate the needs of the customer with respect to the JIT system, thus clarifying the logistics strategy applicable to the introduction of the specific product.

Although many firms report large benefits from lean implementation, a lot of scepticism still remains regarding attainable results and the possibility to apply Lean approach outside high-volume manufacturing and stable context. In this work, combining field interviews with literature review, theoretical connections have been developed among Lean manufacturing techniques, operational responsiveness and company growth performances. A conceptual model has been proposed for investigating the network of influences among lean practices (supplier management, human resource management, just-in-time and total quality management practices), operational responsiveness (Product mix variety, Product innovation and Time effectiveness) and company growth performances in Italian companies. Using structural equation modelling, a second-order confirmatory factor analysis has been used to test the hypothesised relationships in the structural models. This study highlights that the operational responsiveness is only partially connected to a Lean strategy of a company. Indeed, the lean practices implementations are negatively influenced by product mix variety and innovation, while positively influenced by time effectiveness variables. Moreover, product mix variety and time effectiveness are the main characteristics of the operational responsiveness that positively influences company growth performances. So time effectiveness could be considered as a mediator between Lean best practices and firm growth. Moreover, no direct relationship has been found between lean bundles and firm’s performances. Lack of resources and mainly poor communication and managers’ commitment and support seem to be the main obstacles of lean implementation and success. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The selection and implantation of sufficient and appropriate continuous improvement strategy are the key success factors for improving firm performance and enhancement of competitive advantage on manufacturing industries. As a result special role are given to Continuous improvement programs such as Supply Chain Management (SCM), Six-Sigma, Total Quality Management (TQM), Kaizen, Just-in-Time (JIT) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) in a production system, which attain sustainable business environment and competitive advantage. Thus, the aim of the study is to study the challenges and trends of global competitiveness of basic metal industries, investigates the way of integrating continuous improvement tools and then developed an integrated continuous improvement model from TQM, JIT, and SCM to improve the global competitiveness of steel and metal industries. From numerous contentious improvement programs, we have to emphasize integrated SCM, JIT and TQM implementation on basic metal industries to improve competitive performance. Mainly the study was conducted through field observation, questioner, company reports used as primary data and literature review of research articles, books, manuals, magazines, and electronic-sources, which used as secondary data. The survey data is analyzed using descriptive analysis, SPCT (fishbone diagram).The result found that poor supply chain system, workforce, raw material uncertainty, energy fluctuation, outdated technology, manufacturing systems, financial and logistics problems were identified as the obstacles and influence the Ethiopian basic metal industry performance and global competitiveness. Thus, to tackle the problems an integrated continuous improving model was developed to improve the performance and global competitiveness of basic metal industries.

Just-in-time (JIT) delivery is one of the key delivery strategies that enable the right quality product to reach the point of demand at the right time without creating unnecessary costs in the supply chain network. The concepts of quality and time are two main factors to be considered in this issue. Particularly because the variability in quality directly affects cost and time, it is very important for JIT delivery. In this study, the effect of raw material quality within the supply chain network which tries to ensure JIT delivery is examined. For this, a multi-stage, multi-period mixed-integer mathematical model is proposed in the study. The model aims to minimize the total supply chain cost by trying to balance the purchasing and quality costs for manufacturers. In addition to standard constraints, the stock balance and time constraints have been developed for JIT delivery. As a result of the model resolved with the GAMS Distribution 21.6 program, 34.5% of the raw material supplied from suppliers is provided from 1st quality raw materials, while 65.5% is provided from 2nd quality raw materials. Despite its low purchasing costs, 3rd quality raw material has not been preferred by the producers in any period because it causes a delay in JIT delivery. Besides, it is seen that deliveries are made very close to the maximum delivery time of distribution centers, depending on the variability in raw material quality. It is understood that raw material quality is an important concept in a JIT supply chain network due to its significant impact on time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product sequencing in a mixed-model production system is an operational level problem and is computationally hard. This necessitates the use of non-traditional optimisation methods to solve it in a short time. In the first phase, this study addresses the mixed-model sequencing problem with the objective of minimising production rates variation (PRV) which is a just-in-time objective. We formulated a mixed integer quadratic assignment model for this problem. LINGO 14.0 solver could solve this model for small- and medium-size problems. The study presents a bit-wise mutation algorithm to solve the sequencing problem with the same objective. This algorithm uses a single unary operator which makes it simpler and faster. Computational results show that the algorithm succeeds in solving large-size PRV problems in a reasonable time, for which the algorithms reported in the literature could only get near-optimal solutions. In the second phase, we consider both PRV and one of the system performance measures, makespan as objectives for the mixed-model sequencing problem. A mathematical description of the underlying model is provided. The bit-wise mutation algorithm is modified to generate a set of non-dominated solutions which provide the decision-maker with the opportunity to trade-off between the two objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Monden Problem, also known as the Output Rate Variation Problem, is one of the original formulations for mixed-model assembly line-level scheduling problems in a just-in-time system. In this paper, we develop a new branch-and-bound procedure for the problem that uses several new and previously proposed lower and upper bounds. The algorithm also includes several dominance rules that leverage the symmetry in the problem as well as a new labelling procedure that avoids repeated exploration of previously examined partial solutions. The branching strategy exploits the capabilities of current multiprocessor computers by exploring the search tree in a parallel fashion. The algorithm has been tested on several sets of instances from the literature and is able to optimally solve problems that are double the size of those addressed by other procedures previously reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gold cyanidation leaching process (GCLP) as the central unit operation in hydrometallurgy, which suffers from the problem of the optimal setting point based-model is difficult to reach the optimal working point in actual GCLP due to model error, which leads to lower economic benefit. Meanwhile, the process data contains noise and uncertainty on account of the fluctuation of raw material properties. Therefore, how to take the most of that data to make the production process run in the optimal state of economic benefit under the premise that the quality index meets the production requirements is an urgent problem to be solved. In this paper, a data-driven iterative optimization compensation strategy is proposed to solve aforementioned problems. Firstly, probabilistic principle component analysis (PPCA) method is used to preprocess process data for eliminating the effect of noise and uncertainty; Secondly, two relevant models are established between the operating variable increment and the economic benefit increment, the quality index increment based on just in time (JIT) and partial least squares (PLS) method; Finally, the optimal operating variable increment that maximizes the economic benefit increment can be optimized under the condition of quality index satisfies the production requirements and iterated at the new working point, which is constantly close to the optimal working point to improve the economic benefit. Simulation studies have verified the validity of proposed method.

Evidence suggests that lean methods and tools have helped manufacturing organisations to improve their operations and processes. However, the real effect of these methods and tools on contemporary measures of operational performance, i.e. cost, speed, dependability, quality and flexibility, is still unclear. This paper investigates the impact of five essential lean methods, i.e. JIT, autonomation, kaizen, total productive maintenance (TPM) and value stream mapping (VSM), on these measures. A linear regression analysis modelled the correlation and impact of these lean practices on the operational performance of 140 manufacturing organisations around the world. In addition, structural equation modelling (SME) was used to cross verify the findings of the regression and correlation analyses. The results indicate that JIT and automation have the strongest significance on operational performance while kaizen, TPM and VSM seem to have a lesser, or even negative, effect on it. This paper provides further evidence regarding the effects that lean practices have on the performance of organisations and thus the research offers companies, and their managers, a better understanding of the relationship between the lean strategy and the performance of their operations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We propose a new optimisation approach to address a multi-period, inventory control problem for an assembly system under stochastic environment. Significant drawback in a construction of a real-life model for a multi-product, multi-component assembly system is the fact that the shortage cost is typically known for a final product while the optimisation is carried out on assembly components. In the cases when the same type of components assemble different types of finished products, this becomes insuperable obstacle for most of the known approaches. In addition, restrictive assumptions about component demand are common for number of published models. Therefore, we develop a framework, which has the ability to incorporate real shortage costs of the final products within the optimisation process and to incorporate more realistic assumptions about product demand. The aim is to define a completely new optimisation approach in the case of complex component’s interdependencies in assembly systems. The inclusion of the proposed model in the optimisation process is shown by the example of a known simple stochastic demand model. Simple SQL procedures have been presented which benefits from the relational structure of the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The value creation process in a company and the competitive position are critically influenced by corporate resource allocation and proper valuation of investment alternatives. After the Second World War, capital budgeting and strategic planning emerged as two complementary but different systems for resource allocation. The real options approach developed in the ’80s may provide a useful tool for making a connection between capital budgeting and strategic management. Real options are implicit managerial and operating flexibilities embedded in many non-financial assets and liabilities. In a wider sense: “A real option is the investment in physical assets, human competence, and organisational capabilities that provide the opportunity to respond to future contingent events” (Kogut-Kulatilaka, 2001). This paper shows that Just-in-Time (JIT) system as management philosophy can be regarded as a knowledge-based or capability-based implicit strategy rather than a simple, easy-toimitate best practice approach. Moreover, implementation of JIT can be considered as a strategic investment. The presentation focuses on how the relation among strategic investments, developed technological systems and corporate strategy can be expressed through the real options view.

The level scheduling problem is concerned with the final stage of a multi-stage just-in-time production system so that different models of a product are evenly distributed in a discrete production sequence, thereby making the problem practically an unconstrained optimisation problem. The car sequencing problem, on the other hand, is a constraint satisfaction problem based on a number of options constricting the final assembly schedule. The combined car sequencing and level scheduling problem aims to find the optimal production schedule that evenly distributes different models over the planning horizon and satisfies all option constraints. This paper proposes a parametric iterated beam search algorithm for the combined problem that can be used either as a heuristic or as an exact optimisation method. The paper includes a computational study based on a 54-instance test bed that proves the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We investigated inventory reduction and firm performance in US manufacturing firms during the period 1990 to 2009. Our findings show that, the practice of JIT principles in US manufacturing has reduced the difference between the top 10% performers and the bottom 10% performers when they are compared on total inventory/sales ratio. We offer a few explanations for this empirical finding in the conclusions section. This study was motivated to investigate the counter-intuitive findings reported by Swamidass (2007. The effect of TPS on US manufacturing during 1981–1998: inventory increased or decreased as a function of plant performance. International Journal of Production Research 45 (16): 3763–3778) regarding the JIT effect on the relationship between inventory reduction and firm performance. We replicated Swamidass’s procedures by using Altman’s Z score and all firms in SIC 3400–3990 whose annual data were available from the Compustat database between 1990 and 2009. In contrast to Swamidass’s findings, we found that the mean estimate of total inventory/sales ratios of the bottom 10% group showed significant inventory reduction over the test period, and such reduction mainly occurred during the 1990s. We also found that the bottom 10% group was very successful in reducing work-in-process inventory and such reduction mainly occurred during the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Empirical evidence shows that profitability does not always rise when lean management (LM) is implemented. This paper reviews the literature that has empirically analysed how LM impacts financial performance in order to identify the most used assessment model and the direction and significance of the findings. We have found that the most comprehensive models, those considering financial and operational indicators and contextual factors, find a positive and significant impact of LM on financial performance. These findings can benefit managers requiring an assessment of LM and the building of an evaluation system and can serve as a guideline for monitoring LM implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The research aims to find a direct relationship between interior design and time management for creating an integrated work system that improves the quality of interior design projects. The research evaluates some stages of an interior design project through a case study; furthermore, the deviation from ideal time planned to affect adversely the efficiency of interior design stages. Besides, the research focuses on the problems which face the quality management in interior design projects, in addition providing some suggested solutions that contribute to avoiding these problems. The research also presents an applied project for the layout of a space in a factory by modifying the movement paths, and furniture, equipment positions؛ in addition studying the relationship between the quality of interior design and time management within one of the organizations’ teams that concerned with factories development. Consequently, activating time management is one of the main determinants that contribute to improving the quality of interior design projects.

The philosophy of this paper is to build up a strong bond between a producer and a buyer. In this respect, an integrated producer–buyer inventory model with constant demand and small lot size is framed in two different production environments: an EMQ (economic manufacturing quantity)-based production environment and a JIT (just-in-time)-based production environment. Imperfect production with rework is considered for the producer while shortage and backlogging are introduced for the buyer. The joint total cost of the producer and buyer is minimised to determine the optimum rate of production and optimum shortage period for both cases. A comparative study is performed between these two cases using the numerical results in order to make a decision concerning the choice of a more convenient production system for small lot sizes. Sensitivity analyses are carried out together for both cases. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lean production is proved to be an effective tool for companies to improve continuously and is widely studied from both practical and theoretical perspectives. However, most previous studies of lean production are limited to internal operations of a company. The research in this paper aims to explain the relationship between electronic-enabled supply chain integration and the adoption of lean production. A theoretical model with six hypotheses was proposed based on the innovation diffusion theory (IDT). The model was empirically tested with data from 558 manufacturers. The results show that: (1) IDT can explain lean production adoption; and (2) electronic-enabled supply chain integration positively influences the perceived relative advantage of lean production and consequently leads to its long-term adoption. This study uses IDT to explain lean production adoption with the influence of electronic-enabled manufacturing supply chain (EMSC). The study also has a practical implication that may change the supply policy in future practices, as companies may require their suppliers to implement EMSC as part of the lean production requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is intuitively appealing to measure downtime in terms of total time lost (i.e. frequency times duration). However, the same total downtime can be produced by an infinite number of frequency/duration combinations. This study reports the findings of a computer simulation study on the impact of varying combinations of downtime frequency/duration pairs on performance of serial production systems. The research reported here clearly shows that different downtime frequency/duration combinations affect serial production lines differently even when the total downtime remains equal. Analysis suggests that long duration, infrequently occurring variation has a much more negative impact on system performance than short duration, frequently occurring variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional kanban system with a fixed number of cards does not work satisfactorily in an unstable environment. With the adaptive kanban-type pull control mechanism, the number of kanbans is allowed to change with respect to the inventory and backorder level. It is required to set the threshold values at which cards are added or deleted, which is part of the design. Previous studies used local search and meta-heuristic methods to design an adaptive kanban system for a single stage. In a multi-stage system the cards are circulated within the stage and their presence at designated positions signals to the neighbouring stages details concerning the inventory. In this work, a model of a multi-stage system adapted from a traditional and adaptive kanban system is developed. A genetic and simulated annealing algorithm based search is employed to set the parameters of the system. The results are compared with a traditional kanban system and signs of improvement are found. The numerical results also indicate that the use of a simulated annealing algorithm produces a better solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 1980s, manufacturing philosophies such as manufacturing resource planning (MRP), just-in-time (JIT), and theory of constraints (TOC) have emerged as distinct, viable, and competitive planning and control systems for improving the organisational performance. Comparative literature outlines many similarities and differences among these philosophies and attempts to answer the question: what is the best choice? With this question in mind, this paper reviewed the journal articles comparing TOC with MRP and JIT and provided specific future research directions. Although TOC is shown to compete effectively against MRP and JIT and thereby, holds promise, the results are still inconclusive primarily because the majority of journal articles lack in one respect or the other in terms of realistic examples modelled, breadth of characteristics considered, rigorous methodology employed, and depth of statistical analysis performed. In terms of future research directions, we develop a comprehensive list of characteristics by drawing on the literature reviewed and suggest some specific empirical as well as analytical research streams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]