The operations strategy literature has identified four primary dimensions on which a firm competes with another. These are: price, quality, flexibility, and delivery dependability. Of these, quality is perhaps the most critical dimension in terms of the impact on the degree of competitiveness...

Compressing the time from idea to market has become a focal competitive priority of global manufacturing companies. Develops a framework that assesses the strategic value of a company in terms of its “time” performance. The primary tool employed to accomplish this is an agility matrix whose...

The QS 9000 quality system was developed in the United States in 1994 by a team consisting of representatives of General Motors, Ford, and Daimler‐Chrysler as well as the US truck manufacturers. The objective of the system is to standardize the quality system requirements and documentation...

Manufacturers in Europe, Japan, and the USA have widely employed the Taguchi methods of robust experimental design in optimizing product designs and manufacturing/assembly processes. However, these methods have made relatively little inroads into the service industries, for rather obscure...

In this case study, flow manufacturing implementation at Acme International, a toilet bowl and seat manufacturer, is described. Flow manufacturing, is a pull‐driven strategy; its main principle is that daily production rate can be synchronized with demand. Thus, customer service is improved...

Discusses the steps taken by Laser Inc. in the development and implementation of a statistical process control (SPC) system for two specific production lines. The SPC programme included a total of 16 steps. Explains each of these steps. Suggests that they are comprehensive in nature and can be...