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A study of production planning and control methods used in six leading companies found that a blending strategy is more effective than reliance on a single system. The blending of just-in-time and materiel requirements planning and other approaches allowed companies to select methods that best fit the unique characteristics of their production environments.
Working for patients established a new system of contracts between providers and purchasers of healthcare, with prices based on full costs, avoiding cross-subsidization. The new regime necessitates greatly improved costing systems, to improve the efficiency of service provision by creating price competition between providers. Ken Bates and Stan Brignall argue that non-price competition also occurs, with providers 'differentiating' on quality of service/product, flexibility or innovation.
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It is the role of healthcare financial managers to maximize their organizations' return on equity, not only for the short term, but also with an eye to the future. This article explores the financial and managerial factors financial managers should consider when planning the strategic sources of capital funds and asset acquisitions for an organization, then examines the factors comprising return on equity-margin, leverage, and turnover-in light of current and projected industry trends.
The first step in reducing the cost of poor quality is to identify the defects controlled by materiel management. This article discusses the defects the authors have identified and measured in their efforts to reduce quality costs.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Proxima, a leading manufacturer of desktop projection devices, formed a team to select and implement a new manufacturing resource planning II system. Although standard implementation methods were employed throughout the process, the implementation was plagued by software problems, systems operating problems, and team dysfunction and was halted after the first year. This article examines how and why the implementation effort failed, what the company learned from the experience, and what changes were made that allowed the company to succeed on its second attempt.
In 1989, Roberts Express launched its first self-directed work team. Today it has more than 25 such teams, and they essentially have the responsibility of running operations. Those involved in the move to self-directed teams know it hasn't been easy. They have learned a number of important lessons along the way, some of which are described in this article.
Good customer service requires companies to keep their fingers on their customers' pulse and develop intelligent forecasts with their needs built in. As even the smallest factories today are placing at least some emphasis on lead time reductions to improve flexibility and the speed of response to customer requirements, the role of the forecast, now more than ever, is to provide at all times the best, most recent, and most accurate picture of what exactly will be required and when.
Most U.S. companies have found themselves under immense pressure to reduce their costs, improve their quality, and reduce the cycle time of manufacturing current products and getting new products to market. Cycle time reduction is still fertile ground for gains in competitiveness, and this article describes the process that Eastman Kodak Company has used to achieve significant improvement, 50 percent or more in some areas.
It is not uncommon for the materiel managers in a manufacturing company to be blamed for downtime and the consequent failure to meet production targets. To avoid downtime, materiel managers need to look at their role in solving materiel-related downtime and to address the problems that cause downtime in the same way they would address other process quality problems.
When your company is sluggish and information or products aren't moving like they should, do you know how to figure out why? This article will show you how measuring performance can identify the problems, and "root cause analysis" can help identify the solutions. In addition, the article will show you how to use performance measurements to constantly monitor the health of your company to prevent it from becoming sluggish in the first place.
Each year at budget time, the standard question asked of the materiel management group is "Why do you have so many people?" Our answer had been that we do not have enough people. With more people, we could lower total cost and manage inventories better. The inevitable standoff occurs with each side feeling that the other does not understand the need for materiel management services. In early 1993, we decided to be prepared to answer the famous question of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, "How do you know?" We wanted to show people we really did know our business and thus initiated a project to benchmark planning, purchasing, and scheduling services of other companies. This article shares not only the results of the benchmarking efforts, but also the techniques for getting started.
The modern management revolution, which has quality and customer service at its core, is incomplete. The customer mindset is strongest in frontline operations and growing in support functions. Too often, however, the strategic hierarchy has been left out--still taking its marching orders from the skittish, myopic financial community centered in Wall Street, the City of London, and other meccas of money. Superior organizations, largely in manufacturing thus far, are taking steps toward correcting this deficiency. Their approach is to reorient using customer-focused principles that are attractive to all parties, including external partners.
Baldor Electric uses a tool it calls the value formula to help teach its employees to look at their work through the eyes of the customer. In fact, the goal of the value improvement process is to focus everyone on customer value, and the employees, by going through five training courses, learn how improving quality and service and reducing cost and time lead to higher value for the customer.
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