This title is an implementation blueprint for Six Sigma! ""The Six Sigma Way" demystifies Six Sigma with a real-world 'how-to 'guide. A good investment for any business planning to launch Six Sigma." - John Biedry, VP Quality and Compliance, Sears Home Services. Cost reduction ...productivity improvement ...customer retention ...these are the promises of the Six Sigma quality management system.…
Hess and Oesterle (1996) provide a detailed comparison of 12 approaches to business process reengineering (BPR). Common themes to each method are the gathering of information, some characterization of the business process that is being reengineered followed by analysis and process modification. However, techniques for characterizing business processes are not yet well established. This paper ta…
To provide a model for precise logistic controlling of one-piece flow processes and for the description of the interactions between logistic performance measures. The developed method can help manufacturing enterprises to control their production processes and therewith to exploit existing rationalization potentials in their production.
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the impact of internal and external collaborative forecasting and planning on logistics and production performance.
Despite the growing importance of logistics in corporate strategy and the global economy, the logistics literature reveals little effort to build a unified theory of logistics (i.e. a theory of the role of logistics in the firm). Thus, the purpose of this paper is to move toward a unified theory of logistics within the contexts of the strategic role and capabilities of logistics. Considering th…
Modules and modularity have been popular concepts in operations research and management rhetoric for decades. Nevertheless, it seems that there is no single universal definition of modularity for classical research themes such as modularity in physical products or modular manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to describe the current state of modularity research and to clarify the concept …
The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of production and operations managers (POMs) and logistics managers (LMs) in improving manufacturing and service operations, comparing experiences in Australia and Britain.
To identify operations and logistics issues which are critical for the operational performance in modular assembly processes.
Since the 1970s, companies have become more global, resulting in complex production and distribution networks, and in flows of goods across oceans and borders. The management of these complex systems is a real challenge. Firms nowadays face the questions: “Where is the best place to manufacture our products?” and “What is the best way to distribute them to the markets in the different cou…
This work seeks to examine how front-line employee performance and interdepartmental customer orientation affect the service, supply chain, and financial performance of US distribution centers.
The purpose of this paper is to explore enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation project performance of successful and unsuccessful implementations; critical elements (CEs) that are conducive to success; and whether implementation project performance and CEs vary across the number of modules implemented, product type, and number of employees affected by the ERP.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the adoption of a market orientation (MO) coupled with implementation of just-in-time ( JIT), total quality management (TQM), and agile improvement programs within manufacturing organizations from a macro perspective using systems theory as the theoretical underpinning. From a systems perspective, this research focuses on MO and its direct relationshi…
The purpose of this paper is to develop a decision‐making procedural hierarchy for evaluation as well as selection of third‐party reverse logistics provider (3PL) under fuzzy environment.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of a commercial partnership in a project-type supply chain. The research focuses on the performance of suppliers who develop a partnering mechanism for procurement of complex manufacturing projects. In total, four supply chain metrics are evaluated: project scope change, ratio of actual-to-estimated project costs, gross profit margin, and …