This paper presents a new model developed for make‐to‐order (MTO) companies to aid in determining appropriate content for performance improvement programmes. The model has been developed using literature evidence and case‐study data from six MTO small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs)....

Presents a customer‐focused approach to effective planning of make‐to‐order production, in which production activities are driven by customer orders and all products are made to customers’ specifications. The approach plans, schedules, and co‐ordinates production activities, based on...

The world of manufacturing has recently undergone many major changes leading to guidelines on what is “best practice” or world class manufacturing (WCM) in terms of both methods of operation and of performance. These guidelines are based on the companies that have been most successful,...

Small manufacturing companies make up the base industrial backbone of many countries including the USA. Even though CIM is generally believed to help manufacturers to compete globally, small companies are ot able to adopt the technology owing to CIM′s substantial investments and its associated...

One strategic design parameter in capacity management is the setting of a planned level of capacity utilization at which the manufacturing operation will operate long term. Seeks to examine systematically the implications of varying levels of capacity utilization within an assemble‐to‐order...

Reports a new method for preparing a product structure analysis to improve the effectiveness of the master scheduling function for products that are manufactured on an assemble‐to‐order basis. This methodology for conducting product structure analysis uses relational database management...