Jim Browne

A review of performance measurement: Towards performance management

Describes the evolution of performance measurement (PM) in four sections: recommendations, frameworks, systems and inter-organisational performance measurement. Measurement begins with a recommendation, which is a piece of advice related to the measures or structure of performance measurement; frameworks can be dichotomised into a structural and procedural typology that suggests structural framework development has outstripped procedural framework development. The basic requirements for a successful PM system are two frameworks--one structural and one procedural as well as a number of other performance management tools. Inter-organisational performance measurement may be divided into supply chain and extended enterprise performance measurement: the former relying solely on traditional logistics measures, while the latter incorporates the structural aspects of the supply chain system and adds non-logistics perspectives to its measurement arena. Finally, the encroachment of the performance measurement literature into the processes related to performance management is examined, and areas for future research are suggested.

Extended and virtual enterprises – similarities and differences

In today’s global economy, manufacturing enterprises must be viewed in the context of their contribution to the total value chain. Extended or virtual enterprises, consisting of tele‐computing mediated chains of suppliers, manufacturers, assemblers, distributors and customers, compete to supply quasi‐customised products to discerning markets. This paper reviews the thinking behind the extended enterprise and virtual enterprise models of manufacturing systems, identifies the characteristics of each and the similarities and differences between them.

Issues in end-of-life product recovery and reverse logistics

There is a fundamental shift in waste management responsibility from the private waste management industry and local governments towards manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. In recent years the responsibility of manufacturers has been extended to cover the entire life of certain products. This also includes responsibility for the products safe disposal. As the enforcement of environmental legislation becomes more stringent and an increasing number of customers are demanding take-back of their old products, companies are beginning to focus on possible distribution channels for the return of their products i.e. reverse logistics. The aim of this paper is to examine the emerging issues in reverse logistics, in particular the information requirements for reverse logistics within the Extended Enterprise. A study of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) will illustrate the specific information flow between the key players within the automotive industry. This paper addresses the initial development of possible distribution channels, their key operational decisions and supporting information systems for the recycling of end of life products.

Integration of business modelling methods for enterprise information system analysis and user requirements gathering

Business process modelling is an essential part of developing an enterprise information system. There are many modelling methods with software support currently available on the market. Each individual method has its own advantages and disadvantages but always has the limitation of only representing a certain view of enterprise. To describe a system clearly from different perspectives and to provide a complete understanding of the business process both to the developer and to the end-user, it is necessary to adopt more than one kind of modelling technique to establish a set of graphical models describing a system from different views.The modelling approach described in this paper is composed of three widely used modelling methods: IDEF0 to establish functional models, IDEF3 to capture process descriptions, and DFD to describe information/data flow among the activities. It is a staged approach in which different modelling method is used at different levels of granularity and details of information required. After a careful evaluation and comparison (including respective advantages and disadvantages) of the three adopted modelling methods, a guideline is proposed for using a composite of these three modelling methods to establish a set of business process models from different perspectives. The aim is to combine the advantages of each modelling method and maximise the effect of modelling work. Finally, a case study is presented in order to illustrate the effectiveness of such a modelling flamework.

Development of an extended enterprise performance measurement system

This paper discusses the development of a performance measurement system specifically designed for the requirements of the extended enterprise, via two performance measurement frameworks: the structural extended enterprise balanced scorecard and the procedural framework for the selection and implementation of measures. The extended enterprise balanced scorecard offers a four-perspective framework, implemented at each node, that provides a generic structure for the management of performance measures in the extended enterprise; while the procedural framework operates at both the local and holistic levels, to provide a step-by-step generic process towards performance measure selection and implementation. When combined, the two frameworks produce the basic extended enterprise performance measurement (EEPM) system, which was subsequently tested at a first-tier supplier in the European automotive industry. The characteristics of the extended enterprise are taken as a given starting point, and the paper concludes by pointing out the need for extended enterprise performance management to balance the developments outlined here.

RFID in product lifecycle management: a case in the automotive industry

The circumstances of globalization and ever-stricter environmental legislation over the past decade have led enterprises to work together to transform products into extended products, and to manage these throughout their lifecycle. Innovative radio frequency identification (RFID) technology can be introduced as an enabler of product lifecycle management (PLM) business, by enhancing the traceability of the product throughout its value chain via automatic identification, enabling the collection of product usage information during its middle-of-life (MOL) phase, and facilitating the integration of product lifecycle information and knowledge across the value chain, thus closing the products information loop from beginning-of-life (BOL), through MOL, to end-of-life (EOL) and back again. This paper will introduce a framework for product lifecycle information management with the support of RFID technology. A case study of how the framework supports the decision-making involved in the different lifecycle phases of the automotive industry will be described using UML models.

Performance: Its meaning and content for today's business research

Performance, as a concept, is a subject open to wide variability as it is a somewhat imprecise word when it functions as a placeholder in research. By using definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary and other research disciplines, this paper provides a wide-ranging discussion of the meaning and content of the term performance in the business performance research. The paper reviews numerous characteristics of performance, such as its being a subjective entity that is non-random in character; while it is governed by its relevance to a particular environment, and operates from a particular objective, by virtue of a set of chosen characteristics. It contains elements that are both static and dynamic; and it is possible to characterise via three states: unformed or random, formalised or systematic, and deformed or over-bureaucratic. Also, an encapsulating model of performance, whereby performance acts as a frame around performance management, performance assessment and performance measurement is proposed. Studies of performance as a concept in itself are practically non-existent in the business research; the value of this paper, therefore, lies in its attempt to explicate previously undocumented models of performance.

Modeling FMS with decision Petri nets

Decision point extended timed Petri nets or decision Petri nets (DPN) are introduced as an extended modeling framework for FMS performance evaluation. The decision point extension allows the explicit modeling of the control of the flow of tokens in timed Petri nets and hence represents the control of the flow of material, resources, and information in FMS. Further, the concept of a bounded transition is proposed to conveniently model the blocking logic in an FMS with limited buffer capacities. The motivation to present these conventions is to develop a user-friendly graphic model to represent FMS designs for analysis by discrete event simulation. DPN affords concise models that can be conveniently developed and easily transformed into discrete event simulation models. With the help of a simple FMS example, which includes a number of part types, loading rules, dispatching rules, and probabilistic branching (at an inspection station), we illustrate the DPN model development. As an illustration of the ease with which it can be tranformed into a simulation model, we have developed a generalized simulator called ROBSIM and outline here its methodological basis. The proposed concepts should be of interest to users of discrete event simulation in FMS design or elsewhere to tap the potential of basic Petri net concepts for graphic representation and specification purposes. In particular, our work should encourage other researchers to develop extensions relevant to their own areas of interest.

Towards a taxonomy of resource recovery from end-of-life products

Abstract Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are increasingly facing pressures, from many sources, to take back and recover their end-of-life (EOL) products. These pressures reflect social values and are likely to become more widespread. Manufacturing companies, however, are not in the business of recovery and if they are to meet these increasing pressures and legal obligations they must acquire an understanding of the associated issues and decisions that they face. A taxonomy of resource recovery would provide a framework for such an understanding, and decision support. The utility of a taxonomy is multiple: it facilitates an understanding of EOL product recovery; it assists in communication; and it can highlight problems. A taxonomy facilitates understanding and communication of the essential features of a type and supports scientific and technological analysis and problem resolution. The author has developed, and been involved in the development of a number of taxonomies of resource recovery, these are presented in this paper. A taxonomy of electronic and electrical manufacturing situations from a resource recovery perspective is also described. This is a taxonomy of manufacturing situations from a recovery perspective, and focuses on the electronics industry, which is facing legislation mandating take-back and recovery.

A LISP-based heuristic scheduler for automatic insertion in electronics assembly

SUMMARY Computer solutions have not made a very significant impact on scheduling problems. This reflects the fact that algorithmic solutions are often not appropriate for scheduling problems. Scheduling problems are more amenable to heuristic solution techniques. This paper describes a heuristic system for job scheduling in printed circuit board assembly. The main part of the system is written in Common LISP.