Article Abstract:
A study was conducted to examine the potential impact of company size on the implementation of Just-In-Time management practices in the manufacturing sector. It also examined the performance changes resulting from the implementation of JIT. Just-In-Time manufacturing is an efficient and integrated manufacturing system that developed out of Toyota's continuous efforts to improve its production system. It later become an important source of competitive advantage for Japan in the global markets and has been spreading rapidly throughout the US since the early 1980s. Examination of the adoption of JIT manufacturing in large and small companies in the US shows that the former are more advanced in terms of implementation than the latter. The findings also indicate that manufacturing size influences the type of JIT practices implemented.
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Article Abstract:
The relationships between process choice, product plans, competitive priorities and manufacturing performance are examined using data gathered from managers at 144 manufacturing facilities. The hypotheses relate to the descriptive and normative effects of the product-process matrix in its static form. Results demonstrate a significant correlation between process choice, product customization and competitive priorities. Process choice is found to be highly related with the degree of product customization as well as with the focus given to the quality and cost competitive priorities. Job shops and batch shops have a tendency to boast of more product customization, higher costs and higher quality. A number of continuous flow shops employ part commonality and flexible automation to attain more customization than anticipated.
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Article Abstract:
A study is conducted to test the empirical validity of the claims made in recent popular business literature that US manufacturing plants are decreasing in size and increasing their focus and that these changes are leading to higher productivity. These propositions are tested using data from the Census of Manufacturers for the years 1972, 1977 and 1982 and from Trinet Inc.'s 'Large Establishment' database covering the period 1980-84. The results contradict the popular notion that the growth in plant size has been decreasing, with data for the period 1972-84 showing that plant size has actually increased. However, evidence is found indicating that this growth rate has began to fall. Very limited support is found for the propositions that plant size and plant focus affect plant productivity.
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