Title: The Experience of Manufacturing Firms with the Implementation of Different Production Philosophies: A United States Survey
Abstract: Despite few studies on the production philosophies of Time-based Competition and Fast Decision Process, speed of response has become paramount for many US firms that recognize this as a key to gaining competitive advantage. The study involved Indiana manufacturing firms that had experience with one or more production philosophies. A questionnaire was constructed seeking both demographic as well as specific production information. The survey was sent to 1500 manufacturing firms and the usable response rate was approximately 33%. Extrapolation of information of the survey allowed for the formation of usable statistical information in table form. Factor analytic models were created and used as predictive models to determine group associations. Introduction For the past decade, companies throughout the world have been trying to develop new techniques to stay competitive. Many top level managers have realized that in today's ultra competitive market companies cannot compete on price alone. They have to pay more attention to production quality and excellent service. Quality management revolution in manufacturing firms has been cited as another industrial revolution (Feigenbaum, 1990). Besides the manufacture firms which always associated with something physical, the service sector business, which including something subject, also need to enhance their service quality(Shetty 1985). To achieve competitiveness, most manufacturing firms have turned to the implementation of various production philosophies. In an attempt to 'fight off increased competition, firms have put product quality and production speed before all other attributes. There have been a number of studies done in the past for the purpose of analyzing how firms are implementing various production philosophies. Past studies fall into a few 'narrow ranges such as: descriptive studies involving one or two production philosophies (such as Co 1991, Forrester 1990), empirical studies also involving couple of production techniques (such as Swink 1995, Lockamy 1993, Seaver 1989 ,Hon-Shiang 1987). Furthermore, most studies had as their sample only large scale manufacturers. The existing literature concerning specific production philosophies varies from descriptive in nature to in-depth empirical analysis. The vast majority of available literature deals with the better-known production philosophies (JCT, TIM, Concurrent Engineering and Process Re-engineering). Meanwhile, only a few of studies pay attention on the lesser known Time-based Competition (Blackburn 1991) and Fast Decision Process (D'Abadie 1992). Time-based competition has caused remarkable changes on the factory floor. Many U.S. firms recognize that in today's markets, the speed of response to customer demands is a key competitive advantage. These firms have worked assiduously to diminish their manufacturing cycle times. Speed on the factory floor is not enough. Customers are unimpressed by short manufacturing cycles if the other parts of the chain make response time slow. Time consumed anywhere in the value delivery chain from order entry and specification on through to distribution and is equally valuable (Blackburn 1992). The concept of time as a competitive element is continually becoming more important and is attracting more attention. As stated, very little has been written about operations which could be described as small by the definition of SBA, Small Business Administration (Steel 2001). Literature on small businesses highlights the differences between them and large firms in terms of managerial, operational and organizational competencies. On the one hand, small firms are believed to have an edge over large firms in flexibility, innovation, and overhead costs, while on the other, they are limited by lack of market power, capital, and managerial resources (Sironopolis 1994, Sonfeld 1984), and operational policies. There is a critical need to understand the activities of small firms as more outsourcing takes place (Ahire 1996). …
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-09-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 10
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