The strategic focus of organisations today is on the customer and internal and external processes. This paper presents a systematic approach to project process development and identifies key aspects of long-term process evaluation. A framework for process development is presented with special emphasis on value-adding activities in engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) projects. The framework provides a better understanding of the dynamic processes and critical interfaces in inter-organisational networks. The choice of concepts and final construction of the framework is informed by an empirical research of EPC projects, and a case study of the power division of Wä rtsilä Corporation is analysed. Empirical findings are gathered through the Delphi method and the use of personal group interviews with the key actors involved. A model for process development is developed, linking interest groups to the development of their targets, information, and knowledge sharing. The emphasis is on the right place, the right actors, the right resources, and the right time.

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The aim of this paper is to propose a simulation study of the "steel supply chain" to demonstrate the effect of inventory management and demand variety on the bullwhip effect mitigation. Design/methodology/approach -The relevant literature is reviewed, and then the simulation model proposed.Findings -This study identifies reasons for sharing information under varying levels of demand and some variants, and demonstrates the benefits of mitigating the bullwhip effect by applying a design of experiment. It is shown that the information sharing is able to mitigate the bullwhip effect in the steel supply chain by extending the order interval and minimising the order batch size. Research limitations/implications -This study explores the factors associated with the bullwhip effect. This research is focused on built-to-order simulation, so the results are only oriented on the basis of orders; hence a simultaneous order-and forecast-based steel supply chain should be carried out in the future. Practical implications -This framework is expected to provide a convenient way to measure the optimum inventory level against a limited level of demand uncertainty, and thus enterprises can promote the supply chain coordination. Originality/value -An innovative simulation model of the "steel supply chain" is proposed, which includes information sharing in the simulation model. Furthermore, dynamic scheduling is shown by applying a continuous ordering and order prioritization rule to replace traditional scheduling methods.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a survey of customer satisfaction with regard to the strategy of total quality management (TQM) adopted in a wheat flour milling company. Design/methodology/approach -A survey was conducted to learn more about customer expectations and satisfaction. The respondents were all customers of a flour-based food processor. Quality function deployment (QFD) was applied to improve customer service performance by focusing on customer satisfaction, value and retention. Findings -The results show that customer satisfaction has increased steadily over a period of three years. The QFD approach helped to design a competitive product by aligning the company resources to customers' needs.Research limitations/implications -The findings are limited to a specific food manufacturing company and for this reason they cannot be generalized to the whole in service sector. Further research is needed for other service companies. Practical implications -The findings may support manufacturing companies hoping to achieve customer satisfaction by focusing on TQM implementation efforts. Furthermore, companies can focus their efforts on improving the way in which they meet certain customers' needs if these needs are more extensively related to a certain component of quality management. Originality/value -The paper presents evidence to managers of the value of implementing TQM strategy to effectively achieve customer satisfaction that ultimately leads to greater market share and profit maximization.