Designing Information Systems for the Management of Operational Priorities in Batch Manufacture

A series of action research projects designed information systems for the management of batch manufacturing operations in the UK. The style of management used in these companies, which was termed priority management, arose from internal and external volatilities which precluded the prescriptive systems normally associated with operations management. What companies required was a data structure which gave 'vision' over the situation and enabled priority choices to be made. These structures arc called order-book models. The design of order-book models for priority management became, as the multisitc action research project progressed, a prescriptive process supported by simple tools, some of which are described. A major conclusion from the project was the need to give data structure an important role in relation to management action, and not only in relation to software. A model of systems effectiveness is proposed of which this data-driven aspect is a major feature.