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This paper presents a two-objective mixed binary integer linear programming model and a search routine solution method is proposed using a service factory environment with multi-processor workstations and a constant daily workload, for employee scheduling, number of machines per station, and makespan minimisation objectives. The search routine is simple enough to be implemented by managers using readily available spreadsheet programs. Solution of the four-station service factory formulation yielded results for improvement in the makespan of the shop. This search routine can be used by management in streamlining and optimising the service factory production environment as exemplified in the four-station case, and could also be applied to multi-processor flow shops.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the use of a product‐oriented layout and a work‐cell strategy in order to maximise efficiency. These two categories of layout strategies are discussed separately, and are then used collectively in an analysis of the company. The aim is to understand how improvements on layout design could positively impact the future efficiency of the case study company.Design/methodology/approachA model was developed and measured using 26 weeks of data between the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010 during layout transformations at the case study company based in upstate New York. The model compared variables such as the distance traveled to retrieve parts, average daily output of engines, labour cost per unit produced, and the amount of time the engine remains in each cell; the aim of which is to increase the efficiency of the facility.FindingsThe findings indicate that there is a strong correlation between the variables improved at both the cell‐structures and the product‐structures of the facility and the overall efficiency of the manufacturing facility itself. The results also show that an overall higher efficiency allows for the facility to handle much larger workloads and also drives down both short‐run and long‐run costs. The outcomes also allow for a suggestive redesign of the facility in order to further maximise efficiency. However, it was found that the amount of time a product remains in each cell on the assembly line does not have an effect on the overall output of diesel engines.Research limitations/implicationsVarious studies have been conducted focusing on the “facility layout problem,” yet thorough analyses of the redesigning of layout in regards to efficiency are not as available. Instead, an understanding of the topic was derived through sources focusing on the specificities of manufacturing layout.Originality/valueThis paper describes layout efficiency through redesigns and layout using work‐cells in a product‐oriented environment. This study would be useful to manufacturers having low variability in their product and having the ability to use work‐cell layout within their facility.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to present a discussion on the most commonly accepted benchmarking norms in the USA, the lessons learned from benchmarking experiences and see how they are translated to benchmarking projects by French managers.Design/methodology/approachA survey questionnaire is developed, based on the ten‐step Xerox benchmarking process, to identify the perceived and/or experienced benchmarking best practices amongst French managers. Large, medium and small companies are surveyed and managers who have participated in or are in the middle of a benchmarking project contributed to the information in developing the conclusions about the perceived best practices, steps and pitfalls for a benchmarking project in French companies.FindingsThe survey result showed uniformity amongst French managers from large companies and their opinion on what is important in bringing a benchmarking project to a successful conclusion. There was however lack of uniformity of opinion when it came to what is important in the benchmarking process amongst French managers from companies of different size.Research limitations/implicationsCaution should be exercised when interpreting these findings since the paper only used data from an exploratory survey of French managers from companies of varying sizes. The limitation of the study is that the conclusions are applicable to French managers only. In order to compare them one would need survey data, using the same questionnaire from managers in other countries.Practical implicationsIndeed, the authors' findings provide a persuasive argument for what French managers consider important in a benchmarking project. It provides valuable insights into the lessons learned from the years of benchmarking experiences and how these experiences have been translated across cultures.Originality/valueBased on the French experience with the benchmarking process, the critical success factors for benchmarking were identified. Importance of each step in the benchmarking process varies amongst companies, critical issues are company and industry specific. In order to compete successfully in today's global marketplace, the French managers recognize the importance of benchmarking, although their perceptions of the important steps in the process vary depending on company size.

Abstarct An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and its implementation represents a substantial organizational change. Top management involvement has been cited as a critical factor in the success, as well as, failure of ERP implementation. To increase ERP implementation success, we propose that top management redesign its ERP implementation work to strategically concentrate on managing employee behavioural change to increase employee acceptance and commitment to the ERP project by specializing its involvement on just two factors – cultural and environmental contextual factors. Three case studies are used to validate this proposition. Eight strategic task, responsibility, and relationship changes to be used by top management to increase ERP implementation success are highlighted in the paper.

The popularity of six-sigma has given rise to the question: can any company adopt this rigid data driven approach to achieve higher levels of quality? This research suggests that a company must develop a unique combination of resources and competencies to realize the benefits of six-sigma. According to the competency based perspective (CBP), a company first needs to have the assets, skills, and resources to launch the six-sigma program, and second, it needs to have the expertise to integrate these assets to orchestrate a cohesive implementation of this program. The paper makes the case that most successful six-sigma adopters had initially implemented Total Quality Management (TQM), Baldridge, or some other quality initiative, preparing them to launch this data driven, process oriented approach. For companies that have emphasized quality function deployment (QFD), innovation and problem solving, statistical process control, process capability studies, etc. a transition to six-sigma would be a natu...

ERP-led BPR implementation often leads to fundamental changes within an organization's structure, culture and management process. Literature cites that a fragmented approach to change management practices is the major reason for BPR failures. The purpose of this paper is to look at the change management process in companies where BPR was implemented through ERP, and thereby obtain some insight into the dynamics of this change process. Many ERP implementers are finding themselves in a position to re-engineer their existing processes to fit the software they are implementing. The paper uses a case study approach that investigates six change management issues at three diverse companies where ERP-led BPR was implemented. The paper shows that through close attention to the change management principles the ERP implementers must integrate the changes with company strategic objectives, and through detailed planning and workforce cultural changes navigate the new system.

PurposeThis paper focuses on six change management issues that address quality management practices in the service sector, difficulty in taking a holistic approach to total quality management (TQM) implementation in the service environment, and the challenges of delivering organizational reform through TQM.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a quasi‐qualitative case study methodology. Twenty service companies from health care, insurance, consulting, and banking and financial services were studied over a period of two years to assess their change management practices for implementing TQM.FindingsThe findings point to a less than total implementation of TQM in the studied companies. Among other issues, unrealistic expectations of employee commitment, absence of process focus, lack of organization around information flow, holes in education and training, and failure to create a continuous improvement culture contributed significantly towards failure. More successful companies focused on avoiding these potholes with strong leadership that emphasized strategic and tactical planning.Research limitations/implicationsBased on one successful company, the study provides a guideline for successful TQM implementation in a service setting. However, with only one successful company, it would be difficult to generalize to other companies unless future research investigates other successful companies in similar industries, similar economic environment, and market conditions.Originality/valueThe value of the paper lies in the lessons learned that when real and actual approaches to change management follow academic models and techniques of change management, the ability to develop and implement organization‐wide change progresses more smoothly.

This paper presents a case study of a hospital that re-engineered the process for workforce cultural transformation in order to implement successfully its TQM/CQI initiatives. A collaboration, interdisciplinary model that integrated the disciplines of organization development and re-engineering with change model elements from TQM, re-engineering, patient-focused care, critical pathways and organization culture is presented, along with a discussion on the implications of this model.

One of the major obstacles to successful implementation of TQM/CQI in hospitals has been management's failure to consider the workforce cultural situation. This quasi-qualitative study investigates eight workforce cultural factors in seven midwestern hospitals. Results reveal only one of the seven hospitals successfully implementing TQM/CQI.

A two-stage simulation analysis shows that for certain types of manufacturers it is more appropriate to adjust shop control procedures to approximate just-in-time (JIT) inventory rather than to incur a major overhaul in the production system. In the first stage, screening experiments are performed to select the best dispatching rule, allowance-setting rule, batch size, and cycle time. Next, the performance of the selected conventional shop control factors is compared with the kanban simulation results. The results indicate that there are conventional shop control procedures that perform better than JIT in a job shop. It is observed that, even with adequate capacity, bottleneck areas surface due to fluctuation in the shop load. JIT is not appropriate in such a situation. The paper concludes that all shop control approaches do not perform equally well in a good manufacturing environment.

Offers the view that TQM concepts apply equally to manufacturing and service industries and examines assertions through a survey of selected manufacturing and service companies involved in TQM implementation. To test the hypothesis a framework of 19 TQM dimensions is developed and, based on this framework, the studied companies are evaluated. It is shown that under varied environmental conditions the TQM tools and procedures may vary but the underlying concepts apply equally to both manufacturing and service companies. The differences in the studied dimensions between manufacturing and service companies signify slow dissemination of TQM knowledge among the service companies. Service operations are generally not sure whether the tested procedures in manufacturing companies will work equally well for them. As a result, commitment for a fully fledged TQM has been lacking in the service industries.

Aims to offer a generic tool to evaluate the health of TQM programmes in hospitals. The developed TQM evaluation tool includes ten management dimensions and eight control and implementation dimensions. To test the validity of the tool and also to obtain a cross‐sectional overview of the status of TQM implementation in hospitals it is used to evaluate the TQM programme in six mid‐western US hospitals. The study was carried out over a period of one year by groups of executive MBA students. Uses a detailed questionnaire to interview three to four personnel directly involved with TQM planning and implementation in these hospitals. Validates this evaluation framework and offers insights into the status of TQM implementation in hospitals. Suggests that TQM efforts have been successful in the support functions; however, in the patient care activities implementation has been minimal. Most importantly, physician involvement in this effort has been very low in the hospitals studied. To remain competitive within the...

Based on a benchmark job-lot manufacturing system a simulation study was carried out to compare the performance of just-in-time (JIT) shop control system Kanban with conventional job-shop control procedures. The shop control policies were tested under a good manufacturing environment and the effects of job mix and load capacity bottlenecks on various shop control policies were tested. From the simulation results, it is inferred that there are shop control procedures that perform better than the Kanban in a job shop. It has been observed that even with adequate capacity, bottleneck areas surface due to fluctuations in the shop load. Kanban is not appropriate in such a situation because capacity bottlenecks can significantly reduce the ell'ectiveness of a pull system. The disparateness in the processing requirements for jobs can seriously undermine the performance of the shop. This is the type of shop environment where the shop control procedures will be most effective. Although Kanban came out bes...

Much of the research literature in job shop scheduling deals with pure job shop environments. However, currently most processes involve a hybrid of both the job shop and a flow shop with a combination of flexible and conventional machine tools. Presents a study of such a job shop under varying conditions and performance criteria. Argues that for scheduling in this environment, certain combinations of scheduling rules should be utilized under different arrival rates and for different job types. A simulation model is developed using a hypothetical hybrid job shop to study the performance of rule combinations with variations in arrival rates and processing times. The performance criteria used are flowtime as a measure of work‐in‐process inventory, tardiness for JIT, and throughput for completed items inventory. It was found that rule combination performance varied with the performance criteria. Furthermore, it was found that the combinations were sensitive to arrival rates and processing times. Concludes, from the insights gained in the study, that the rule combination to be implemented should depend on the performance objective and the arrival rate/processing time condition of the hybrid job shop.

The philosophy and principles needed to institute JIT in any system, including a job shop, are described. A simulation model is developed using a benchmark job shop to study using a pull system in a job shop having variations in processing times, load levels, and machine breakdowns. It is inferred from simulation that JIT can be implemented if certain conditions are met. Processing time variations did not pose a serious impediment, but load levels and machine breakdowns were critical factors. With uneven loading, the resulting capacity bottlenecks make the pull system look like a push system. This can be avoided by processing a uniform mix of jobs to not violate workstation capacity limitations. If machine breakdowns are unavoidable, maintenance of buffer capacity is essential.

Supply chain management (SCM) is a quintessential area that entails numerous external factors that are both controllable and uncontrollable. Nature is indeed one of the most influential disruptor that affects a steady supply chain. The US Government has implemented many environmental laws and regulations to protect today's environment from pollutants caused by the general public, governmental operations and businesses. The costs can come in the form of lawsuits, fines, cleanup, testing, disposing and the implementation of necessary technology. Benefits from the execution of these regulations can come in various ways in the end. These include more efficient ways to dispose of chemical wastes, increased revenues, lower cost of production and a better overall wellbeing of the environment, providing a better quality of life for everybody. This paper discusses historical occurrences and suggests proper techniques, such as business continuity planning (BCP) that managers can employ to ensure they are prepared for significant disruptions to their respective supply chains.

This paper evaluates the effects of Order Review/Release (ORR) mechanisms, priority rules, and loading mechanisms on jobs in a flexible flow shop. Simulation is used to investigate the effect of two ORR mechanisms, three priority rules, and two loading mechanisms on average Work-in-Process (WIP) costs and job tardiness. The results indicate that the loading mechanisms, along with appropriate ORR mechanism, can significantly affect the flow of jobs through the shop.

This paper explores Computer-Aided Design (CAD) design technology from the stand-point of managers and executives. The capabilities and benefits of CAD are discussed in terms of how CAD can assist companies in becoming more product and cost competitive. Related papers in the literature are surveyed connected to the problems with CAD and the difficulty in implementing a new CAD system. The overall intent of the paper is to provide an executive level discussion on why and how CAD systems can be utilised most effectively.