Reports on a study organized by leading robotics organizations and sponsored by the DTI to review various sectors where the UK can develop a world‐class industry, namely: hazardous environments; transportation and services; construction; medical and pharmaceutical; food industry; agriculture...

Manufacturers are facing intensifying challenges from both local and international competitors in the marketplace. In order to survive, manufacturers must be able to manage the dynamic market variables and satisfy their customers better than their competitors. Recent investigations have started...

Deals with the basic requirements for world‐class manufacturing and discusses the role of total productive maintenance (TPM) in helping to achieve world‐class manufacturing. Examines the roles of TPM in TQM and JIT. Finally, impacts of TPM on the culture and structure of the organization are...

Refers to the increasing interest in the development of theoretical frameworks in the area of performance measurement. Companies have used them as a way of testing different business policies and strategies as well as measuring their performance. Literature shows that these frameworks are not...

To be world class and be classified as a world class manufacturer, manufacturing organisations need to have a number of critical ingredients: one such ingredient is that of an appropriate performance measurement system. Measurement systems incorporating financial and non‐financial measures...

This paper presents a new model developed for make‐to‐order (MTO) companies to aid in determining appropriate content for performance improvement programmes. The model has been developed using literature evidence and case‐study data from six MTO small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs)....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore links between the process of strategy formulation and subsequent performance in operations within firms. Design/methodology/approach – An in‐depth literature review on resource‐based and operations strategy naturally led to three...

Introduces the concept of a manufacturing strategy based on a service orientation. Traditional manufacturing strategies have often been driven by cost minimization decisions and have encouraged the over‐reliance by managers on inventories to satisfy demand. In today′s business environment, a...

Places research undertaken into a periodic order cycle inventory management system for repetitive batch manufacturers into the context of lean production and world class manufacturing. Describes the attributes of the current marketplace, and how approaches used by successful users of the...

Presents the results of a study examining differences in world‐class manufacturing practices and performance between the UK and Germany, based on a sample of more than 500 German and British manufacturing plants. Suggests that although German superiority persists in many areas, it may not be...