Presents a framework of manufacturing competence, and tests its theoretical validity using empirical data from a large‐scale survey. Interesting findings include: the regression analysis shows that manufacturing competence is better represented when low‐priority capabilities are not...

In most industrialized economies the services sector accounts for more than half the GNP. Moreover, the services sector, unlike other sectors, has grown steadily over the past two decades. The productivity of the sector, on the other hand, has remained broadly static over the comparable period....

Discusses experiences from the design of parallellized flow assembly systems. Also discusses factors influencing the performance of collective work and relates these to the flow parameters in the Saab Automobile′s final assembly plant in Malmö and the Volvo Uddevalla final assembly plant....

Presents a methodology useful when analysing the efficiency of order picking systems. The main feature of the analysis is the ability to compare different system designs. The methodology has earlier been applied mainly to assembly production systems, and has in these cases proved to be an...

It is widely accepted that firms should have manufacturing strategies consistent with their overall business strategies, but while much has been written about the content of these strategies, little has been said about how they should be developed and realized. Reports on research which set out...

Managing a complex, boundary‐spanning function to maximize its contribution to the firm can be a challenging task. This research is concerned with providing management with increased understanding of the effects of different ways of managing a function, especially a significant...

Using a two‐round Delphi process among 92 manufacturing managers from around the world, assesses the appropriateness of a variety of performance measures. The Delphi process used a survey technique that was pioneered by Dixon, Nanni, and Vollmann to highlight gaps (high perceived importance to...

Proposes a method to assess the relative value of organizational human resource (HR) based on total performance. The total performance of the man‐machine resource base of an organization includes its profitability together with how it affects the interests of consumers, the national economy...

Investigates group scheduling heuristics in a flow shop cellular system with two types of order shipment environment: permitted early shipment (PES) and forbidden early shipment (FES). Once an order is completed in the PES environment, it leaves the system without delay. In the FES environment,...

Considers a class of control systems known as generalized kanban control systems (GKCS) which can be used to implement a pull control mechanism in a manufacturing system. In a GKCS, the production system is decomposed into stages, where each stage consists of a production sub‐system. There are...