Kevin D. Barber

Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and process capability (PC) measures: A relationship analysis

Purpose – Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and process capability (PC) are commonly used and well‐accepted measures of performance in industry. These measures, however, are traditionally applied separately and with different purposes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between OEE and PC, how they interact and impact each other, and the possible effect that this relationship may have on decision making.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the OEE and PC background. Then, a discrete‐event simulation model of a bottling line is developed. Using the model, a set of experiments are run and the results interpreted using graphical trend and impact analyses.Findings – The paper demonstrates the relationship between OEE and PC and suggests the existence of a “cut‐off point” beyond which improvements in PC have little impact on OEE.Practical implications – PC uses the capability indices (CI) to help in determining the suitability of a process to meet the required quality s...

Process‐based knowledge management system for continuous improvement

Purpose – This paper presents a practical methodology for developing a process‐based knowledge management system (KMS) for supporting continuous improvement (CI) and asset management.Design/methodology/approach – An action research methodology was used to develop a KMS to support CI in a manufacturing company. The KMS is evaluated through application in the case study company. This methodology ensures a consistent approach to carrying out all improvement initiatives. The final part of the methodology addresses the construction of an intranet‐based knowledge warehouse. This contains several searchable areas such as existing information on assets, new knowledge generated from projects, details of expertise in the business and links to the key business drivers through the corporate intranet.Findings – The KMS is shown to support CI initiatives through the utilization of available data already held within the companys management databases (production, quality and maintenance) including consideration of corpo...

Designing a knowledge management tool to support knowledge sharing networks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a knowledge management (KM) tool which has been designed to support the creation of virtual knowledge sharing networks (KSNs). It is a software‐based application that enables the sharing of knowledge related to the implementation of manufacturing excellence (ME) best practices and improvement tools.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of SMEs was carried out to investigate the implementation of ME best practices. The results indicated that that the main barrier to the implementation of best practices, quality models and improvement tools is a lack of knowledge about these initiatives due to the resource constraints experienced by SMEs. This led to the development of a KM tool to support the creation of virtual networks to enable SMEs to manage improvement projects and share effectively the generated knowledge. The KM tool is currently at the stage of validation and its future implementation is also under consideration.Findings – The KM tool supports the ...

Using a knowledge management approach to support quality costing

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to examine the difficulties associated with quality costing and propose a solution based upon the use of knowledge management techniques.Design/methodology/approach – A widely available software tool is used to create a quality costing ontology based upon the prevention appraisal failure classification of quality costs. This ontology is used for the collection, processing, sharing and use of quality cost‐related knowledge. The ontology was evaluated using case study data and compared with conventional approaches to quality costing.Findings – The quality costing ontology is easier and more efficient than conventional quality costing methods. It has greater capability in terms of the analysis and use of quality costing knowledge and overcomes the barriers to quality costing due to poor understanding and awareness.Research limitations/implications – The quality costing ontology provides a platform for researchers to investigate quality cost behaviour within a well‐str...

Environmental sustainability: a value cycle research agenda

This article considers how adopting an environmentally sustainable agenda impacts on the management of an organisations supply chain and highlights areas for future research. The article argues that the current fragmented/functional approach to sustainability and the conceptualisation of the supply chain as a bounded unidirectional flow of value does not provide the holistic approach that is required to meet the sustainability needs of tomorrows business. A value cycle paradigm that facilitates the development of a multi-disciplinary research approach is developed and used to examine the extant literature for the principal issues that will need to be addressed. Future research concerned with developing environmentally sustainable business models must focus on the identification and management of the information flows at the interfaces between the customer, marketing, design, operations, logistics and external agents in the supply network. New networks required to support more sustainable forms of consumption will necessitate a fundamental reassessment of how and where value is added, consumed and recovered. In contemporary businesses, environmental sustainability is becoming a strategically important objective requiring holistic multi-disciplinary approaches. The extent to which the sustainability agenda extends conventional business models is demonstrated providing insights into areas of the value cycle that require further research.

A management framework for organisational networks: a case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw on the experiences of a real company to develop a framework of management processes for an organizational network model that has enabled a network of enterprises to develop new levels of organizational flexibility, particularly with regards to improving the networks capacity to innovate.Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal case study of an Italian enterprise network forms the basis of the analysis described in this paper.Findings – The key operational and organizational activities of the principal agent in a novel organizational network model known as the Virtual Development Office (VDO) are identified and discussed.Research limitations/implications – The (VDO) concept is identified as a realistic and practical means of leveraging the competences of an enterprise network to achieve competitive advantage. However, more empirical data are required before the concepts described herein can be generalised more widely.Practical implications – The small to ...

The effect of supply chain management practices on supply chain and manufacturing firms’ performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to theorise and develop seven dimensions (strategic supplier partnership, level of information sharing, quality of information sharing, customer service management, internal lean practices, postponement and total quality management) into a supply chain management (SCM) practices (SCMPs) construct and studies its causal relationship with the conceptualised constructs of supply chain performance (SCP) and manufacturing firms’ performance (MFP). The study also explores the causal relationship between SCP and MFP. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a survey questionnaire responded by 249 Jordanian manufacturing firms. The relationships proposed in the developed theoretical framework were represented through three hypotheses: H1 – there is a significant relationship between SCMPs and SCP; H2 – there is a significant relationship between SCMPs and MFP; and H3 – there is a significant relationship between SCP and MFP. Linear regression, ANOVA and Pearson correlation were used to test the hypotheses. The results were further validated using structural equation modelling. Findings The results indicate that SCMPs have a positive effect on SCP (H1), which in turn also positively affect MFP (H3). Despite this intermediary positive effect of SCMP on MFP through SCP, the study also suggests that SCMPs have a direct and positive effect on MFP (H2). Practical implications This study provides hard evidence indicating that higher levels of SCMPs can lead to enhanced supply chain and firms’ performance. It also provides SC managers of manufacturing firms with a multi-dimensional operational measure of the construct of SCMPs for assessing the comprehensiveness of the SCMPs of their firms. Originality/value This study is among the very first SCM researches conducted on the Jordanian manufacturing sector, particularly, in relation to the practices that manufacturing firms in this country need to adopt to make their supply chains a solid competitive vehicle for their development. The results have broader implications for all manufacturing companies, particularly in developing economies where the growth of manufacturing and the development of integrated supply chains are key stages in economic development.