PurposeThis paper seeks to analyze the evolution of shift in the area of operations management (OM) and attempts to anticipate potential developments in the relevant areas of OM.Design/methodology/approachA hybrid approach is adopted to understand how the field of OM has evolved over time relying on the perspectives of both academics and business practitioners. This evolution of shift in the area of OM is examined based on a thorough literature review and the authors’ industrial experience.FindingsFrom the days of functional point solutions relying on concepts like reorder point to finite capacity planning, OM research at present deals with a set of important problems facing both private and public sectors at the organizational level. Most prominent of these include e‐business, supply chain management, production planning and scheduling, product development, decision support systems, information‐based strategy, systems development and implementation, risk and environmental management. OM has also embraced several organization‐wide philosophies including lean production, mass customization and agile manufacturing.Practical implicationsWith the advent of Internet and burgeoning of the new economy, this paper provides important insights regarding the evolution of OM in the past, recent developments at present and what the future holds for this field. It is envisaged that a focus on the issues central to OM will soon propel both researchers and industry practitioners beyond existing technologies and also provide the catalyst for developing new ones.Originality/valueThis paper provides useful insights to both researchers and practitioners who are interested in the field of OM.
Designing mechanical systems for efficient disassembly improves their maintainability. Issues related to design disassembly for maintainability analysis of an evolving mechanical system design are discussed. Procedures and methodologies for the identification of disassembly sequence, animation of human technicians in performing the disassembly sequence, tool selection. time and cost analysis. and human factors analysis of the disassembly sequence are presented. Their software implementation in a maintainability analysis workspace is described and illustrated using a maintenance task example.
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