Frank Safayeni

Difficulties of Just‐in‐Time Implementation: A Classification Scheme

Many companies experience difficulty in implementing Just‐in‐Time (JIT) in their manufacturing system. Based on observations, the article argues that the problem is partly due to confusion about JIT and its implications and partly due to a desire to implement JIT within an existing organisational structure. A four‐level classification system is presented as a way of summarising the different degrees of JIT implementation and their difficulties.

'Common sense' realities of planning and scheduling in printed circuit board production

The researchers conducted an indepth field project to study the planning and scheduling process in the printed circuit board industry. The formal versus informal scheduling practices are compared, and several aspects of the scheduling situation discussed. Heuristics and techniques used to address instability in the manufacturing system are presented. Instability refers to the manufacturing state when expected or unexpected changes are encountered—e.g. changes in policies, procedures, or a machine fails. The ability to encode the heuristics as a formal model or computer program and have the heuristics mechanically applied is also discussed. The study also provides insights regarding the existence and nature of scheduler expertise.

Strategies for supplier evaluation: a framework for potential advantages and limitations

Despite the increase in use of supplier evaluation, there is still very limited examination of the supplier evaluation process. Most of the discussion that is in the literature treats information about suppliers as factual, technical information without regard for the social and organizational biases involved in generating this information. This paper presents a framework for examining the process of supplier evaluation based on our research and observations. A framework for supplier evaluation is developed based on whether the supplier evaluation focuses on information from product- or process-based domains and whether the information acquisition mode used is direct or indirect. A critical examination of these four approaches to supplier evaluation is presented. In doing so, various advantages and limitations related to each approach are identified. Furthermore, the relationship between the evaluation approach and organizational realities are discussed. Finally, the need for an integrated mechanism within organizations to deal with supplier information is identified.

A review of hierarchical production planning and its applicability for modern manufacturing

Abstract The hierarchical production planning (HPP) paradigm has become an accepted planning and control strategy for many medium-to-large manufacturing situations. While the paradigm appears intuitively obvious and appropriate for many factories, there are a number of modern manufacturing situations where the application of the HPP approach may not be appropriate. By understanding the fundamental principles and concepts inherent in the HPP approach, it is possible to identify situations suitable for HPP with little or no adaptation, and situations where HPP must be extensively modified before use. A poor understanding of HPP

Perceived Effectiveness of the Automotive Supplier Evaluation Process

Nineteen automotive supply organizations were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the effectiveness of a North American automotive certification programme. The major findings were that: suppliers viewed preparing for the evaluation as the most important aspects of the process; the evaluators detected only a small percentage of the suppliers′ significant business and manufacturing problems; suppliers perceived an overemphasis on procedures and documentation on the part of the evaluators; and suppliers felt that the evaluation did not accurately reflect their effectiveness. It was concluded that the supplier evaluation programme reflected the management style of the large bureaucratic customer organization, which was not necessarily appropriate for the size and nature of the supplier′s business. Further, good performance on the evaluation did not directly correspond with further business contracts.

A behavioral case study of Just-in-Time implementation

Abstract A behavioral study of the just-in-time (JIT) situation in the circuit pack area of an electronics firm was carried out. The primary focus of the study was to examine how workers perceived JIT in their work area. A total of twelve people were interviewed—eight operators and four supervisors. The results of the study indicated that there had been many positive accomplishments, including the overall positive perception of the participants about JIT. There were, also, problems with the JIT situation, often related to the environment of the circuit pack area. Specifically, participants perceived the performance evaluation system as the most significant problem with JIT; it systematically caused a state of “push” instead of “pull.” Uncooperativeness of operators was noted by the operators themselves as a problem within the circuit pack area. It is concluded that JIT manufacturing increases the need to effectively handle problems in the organizations environment as well as within the sub-area itself due to the lower levels of inventory. This reduction of inventory increases the interdependence of activities in the organization, thereby necessitating an efficient and effective problem-handling capability. A discussion of why large functional organizations are less appropriate than smaller product organizations as a JIT environment is presented (e.g., effective problem handling requires increased coordination in the organizational structure, which is usually absent in large functionally designed organizations). To overcome this limitation, an organizational team approach is proposed as a temporary means of dealing with the increased interdependencies.

The Scheduler’s Predictive Expertise: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

This paper describes part of a four year program of interdisciplinary research (Operations Research, Cognitive Science, Information Systems, and Organizational Behaviour) that has probed the question of ‘What is scheduling?’ and presents some of the insights discovered. The possible implication of this work to AI and OR scheduling approaches is discussed and in conclusion, a modelling paradigm is introduced that has been found useful for studying scheduling, and is being implemented in an advanced scheduling platform.

Application of cybernetics to manufacturing flexibility: a systems perspective

Purpose – Flexibility continues to be key to the competitiveness of manufacturing firms. However, both in academia and industry, there still exists a lack of understanding regarding the fundamental nature of flexibility. This lack of understanding has often led to overly optimistic expectations regarding the direct transformation of technological flexibility into manufacturing flexibility. A theoretical model of the firm, based on cybernetics, is proposed in this paper.Design/methodology/approach – The model relates flexibility to the cybernetic concept of variety and examines a dynamic system in terms of its task structure.Findings – The model proves useful both in dispelling some of the misconceptions regarding flexibility, and in providing practical insights into issues of designing flexible manufacturing organizations.Practical implications – The paper presents a means by which variety can be measured.Originality/value – The conceptual model clarifies certain aspects of system flexibility. The first i...

Requirements engineering in new product development

How effective are the socio-technical interactions in developing new products?

A critical appraisal of task taxonomies as a tool for studying office activities

Task taxonomies have been developed and used by many practitioners in studies related to office automation. Often the studies are used to indicate the potential for automation in an office. In other cases the taxonomies serve as a tool for evaluating the impact of various technologies. However, there are numerous problems associated with using taxonomies for such studies. These are related to three common assumptions tha t are made: (1) the assumption of categorization, (2) the assumption of finite representation, and (3) the assumption of technological validity. In this paper these assumptions are examined, their weaknesses and limitations are pointed out, and suggestions for the improvement of task taxonomies are made. The general conclusion drawn is tha t current task taxonomies are of questionable value in studies related to office automation.