No abstract

This paper presents the results of a mail survey used to investigate the relationship between JIT manufacturing and performance in Mexico. Multi-item scales were developed and used to measure key components of JIT. Four dimensions of performance were measured: productivity, quality, lead time, and customer service. Despite the existence of obstacles to its use in Mexico, JIT manufacturing was found to be significantly and positively co~related with performance. Plant size, industry, and the type of prod,_'ctk,n process were all found to affect the relati,mship between JIT and performance. Results also indicated that the plant manager's citizenship may affect JIT implementation success. The paper concludes with recommendations for managers and researchers.

No abstract

Total productive maintenance, or TPM, represents a major shift in the way an organization approaches the maintenance function and implementation typically requires a significant change in organizational culture. Most references on TPM suggest a variety of ways to promote this cultural change, including top management support, training and changes in reward systems. Despite these efforts, many organizations still find it difficult to create the necessary change in culture. This paper proposes an additional means to help bring about the cultural change necessary to make TPM work: mathematical modeling. Using examples of four mathematical models in the maintenance field, the paper describes how such models might be used to promote this cultural change by making the potential benefits of TPM more tangible and objective to employees and by improving employees' understanding of how their involvement in TPM can affect the organization and its customers.

IntroductionAs cost becomes increasingly important in today's highly competitive international marketplace, more and more companies find themselves moving at least parts of their manufacturing operations to developing countries. This highly competitive marketplace, though, allows few of these companies to compete solely on the basis of price. To be successful, these companies must also achieve high levels of quality and be responsive to changing market needs. One approach that many companies in more developed countries have adopted to achieve these objectives is just-in-time ( JIT) purchasing. With JIT purchasing, a company requires its suppliers to make frequent, reliable deliveries of small lots of very high quality parts and encourages its suppliers to participate in the purchasing plant's continuous improvement efforts [1].The operating environment common in developing countries, though, poses significant obstacles to the use of JIT purchasing. The supplier bases in these countries are typically very weak. Most developing country suppliers cannot provide the levels of quality and delivery reliability required by multinational companies (MNCs) using traditional approaches to purchasing[2,3], let alone meet the more stringent requirements of a JIT purchasing environment. This forces many of these MNCs to turn to distant international suppliers. Studies of plants in the US by Vickery[4] and McClenahen[5], however, indicate international sourcing compromises JIT purchasing efforts due to the longer transportation times and limited face-to-face communication with supplier representatives. In developing countries, these problems are greatly aggravated by weak infrastructures which makes transportation times highly variable and communications problematic [2]. While it has been suggested that the basic simplicity of JIT principles makes them well suited for use in the manufacturing operations of plants in developing countries[6], little research has been conducted to investigate the extension of JIT principles to the purchasing function in these countries.

No abstract

The lessons of quality management apply to services as well as tangible goods. Awareness also has been increasing that services, like tangible goods, can be guaranteed as a means of implementing a total quality management (TQM) orientation in the organization. While higher education has been exploring some of the tenents of TQM, it has been slow to embrace the power of service guarantees. In this conceptual article we present a system of service guarantees designed to foster a TQM orientation in higher education. We propose that institutions consider a system of guarantees aimed at three primary constituent groups – students, faculty, and employers – over the short, medium and long term. The rationale and implications of the guarantee system are explored, and possible impediments are discussed.

No abstract