Anders Haug

From Engineer-To-Order to Mass Customization

Purpose – Most mass customization literature focuses on the move from mass production to mass customization. However, in some literature engineer‐to‐order (ETO) companies are also claiming to have become mass customizers, although it can be questioned if these companies conform to popular definitions of mass customizers. The purpose of this paper is to ask the question: under which conditions is it reasonable to label ETO companies as mass customizers?Design/methodology/approach – First, definitions of mass customization are examined and related to ETO companies that move towards mass customization. Second, the individual transitions from mass production and ETO to mass customization are analyzed by: relating the transition to classifications from relevant literature; describing the motivations and risks associated with the transition; and defining some of the most important transition characteristics. Finally it is discussed if ETO companies can become mass customizers and under which conditions it would...

Barriers to master data quality

Purpose – While few would disagree that high data quality is a precondition for the efficiency of a company, this remains an area to which many companies do not give adequate attention. Thus, this paper aims to identify which are the most important barriers preventing companies from achieving high data quality. By improving awareness of barriers on which to concentrate, companies are put in a better position to achieve high quality data.Design/methodology/approach – First, a literature review of data quality and data quality barriers is carried out. Based on this literature review, the paper identifies a set of overall barriers to ensuring high data quality. The significance of these barriers is investigated by a questionnaire study, which includes responses from 90 Danish companies. Because of the fundamental difference between master data and transaction data, the questionnaire is limited to focusing only on master data.Findings – The results of the survey indicate that a lack of delegation of responsib...

A classification model of ERP system data quality

Purpose – In literature, there is not agreement on the relevant data quality dimensions in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system context. The purpose of this paper is to provide some clarification of this topic, by answering two important questions: What are the most relevant dimensions for assessing ERP data quality? What are the causal relationships between these data quality dimensions?Design/methodology/approach – Based on a discussion of existing literature on data quality, a classification model of ERP system data quality is proposed and the relationships between the defined categories of data quality dimensions are defined. The validity of the classification model and the relationships between categories of data quality dimensions are investigated in three case studies.Findings – The three case studies confirm that the classification model captures the most important aspects of describing ERP data quality and that the defined causalities between categories of data quality dimensions correspo...

Definition and evaluation of product configurator development strategies

Product configurators represent one of the most successful applications of artificial intelligence principles. Product configurators are a subtype of software-based expert systems with a focus on the creation of product specifications. The use of product configurators has resulted in many positive effects in engineering-oriented companies such as reduced lead times, fewer errors, shorter learning periods for new employees, etc. Unfortunately, many configuration projects also fail because the task of developing the configurator turns out to be much more difficult and time-consuming than anticipated. Thus, it is crucial to apply the appropriate strategy. However, the literature does not discuss different strategic alternatives in a detailed manner; it only provides generalised recommendations of single strategies. To deal with this issue, this paper defines and compares seven different strategies for the development of product configurators. The relevance of the defined strategies is supported by seven named case studies.

IT readiness in small and medium‐sized enterprises

Purpose – Several studies have documented that information technology (IT) projects often do not successfully meet defined objectives regarding time, budget, and functionality. There can be multiple causes for this, and an important factor in this context is the extent to which a company is ready for an IT project. To help understand this dynamic, this paper seeks to present a framework for analyzing “IT readiness” in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approach – Based on a literature review, the paper defines a framework for assessing and changing the IT readiness of a SME. The framework is illustrated and investigated by three case studies.Findings – The case studies show that the framework of IT readiness in SMEs is useful for assessing company readiness and supporting the management of a project.Research limitations/implications – The framework and case studies provide an improved understanding of how to evaluate the readiness of a SME for an IT project.Practical implication...

The impact of product configurators on lead times in engineering-oriented companies

Abstract This paper presents a study of how the use of product configurators affects business processes of engineering-oriented companies. A literature study shows that only a minor part of product configuration research deals with the effects of product configuration, and that the ones that do are mostly vague when reporting the effects of configurator projects. Only six cases were identified, which provide estimates of the actual size of lead time reduction achieved from product configurators. To broaden this knowledge, this paper presents the results of a study of 14 companies concerning the impact of product configurators on business processes related to the creation of quotes and detailed product specifications. The study documents impressive results of the application of configurator technology. For example, in the data retrieved the use of configurators was estimated to have implied up to a 99.9% reduction of the quotation lead time with an average estimated reduction of 85.5%.

Master data quality barriers: an empirical investigation

Purpose – The development of IT has enabled organizations to collect and store many times more data than they were able to just decades ago. This means that companies are now faced with managing huge amounts of data, which represents new challenges in ensuring high data quality. The purpose of this paper is to identify barriers to obtaining high master data quality.Design/methodology/approach – This paper defines relevant master data quality barriers and investigates their mutual importance through organizing data quality barriers identified in literature into a framework for analysis of data quality. The importance of the different classes of data quality barriers is investigated by a large questionnaire study, including answers from 787 Danish manufacturing companies.Findings – Based on a literature review, the paper identifies 12 master data quality barriers. The relevance and completeness of this classification is investigated by a large questionnaire study, which also clarifies the mutual importance ...

The modelling techniques of a documentation system that supports the development and maintenance of product configuration systems

This paper deals with the subject of creating a documentation system to support the development and maintenance of Product Configuration Systems (PCSs). A procedure for building PCSs from the Centre for Product Modelling (CPM) at the Technical University of Denmark has, for more than ten years, been applied in numerous projects. The CPM procedure includes three main modelling techniques for development and maintenance of PCSs. Since no single software supports all three techniques, there is no automatic integration between the different kinds of models, which means that some information has to be modelled repeatedly. This presents a demand for a coherent documentation system that supports the modelling techniques of the CPM procedure. In this paper, an important step towards fulfilling the ambition of creating such a system is taken by presenting a redefinition of the included modelling techniques and a definition of their mutual mappings.

Improving the design phase through interorganisational product knowledge models

This paper focuses on the use of interorganisational knowledge models with the purpose of standardising engineer-to-order (ETO) products. Such product variant reductions can lead to decreased costs for both the ETO company and its suppliers without reducing sales. In spite of the attention that supply chain integration has received in the literature, supply chain integration with a focus on the integration of product knowledge in ETO companies and their suppliers has not received much attention. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to define this type of supply chain integration. The concept is investigated by a case study, which supports the claim that supply chain product knowledge integration is an approach for increasing the competitiveness of ETO companies and their suppliers. Given the gap in the literature, the paper may potentially open a new horizon for studying supply chain integration.

The implementation of enterprise content management systems in SMEs

Purpose – A literature review revealed that none of the few longitudinal studies of enterprise content management (ECM) implementations focus on small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). To contribute to this area, the purpose of this paper is to generate insights in relation to how SMEs can successfully promote implementation of ECM solutions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents and analyses a longitudinal study of an ECM project.Findings – The findings of the paper include a definition of a process model for ECM implementation in SMEs, identification of ten success factors related to ECM system implementation, and a definition of a new pattern for ECM technology development, compared to existing case studies.Research limitations/implications – Since it appears to be the first detailed study of ECM system implementation in SMEs, this paper provides a point of departure for future research in the use of ECM technology in SMEs.Practical implications – Practitioners in SMEs preparing to engage ...