The impact of sales and operations planning practices on manufacturing operational performance

There is a lack of rigorous empirical studies directly examining the impact of sales and operations planning (S&OP) practices on manufacturing operational performance. This paper aims to fill this gap by analysing a sample of 725 manufacturers from 34 countries. Hypotheses relate internal S&OP, integration with suppliers (IS) and integration with customers with manufacturing operational performance (delivery, quality and flexibility). The constructs were validated with structural equation modelling and the hypotheses were tested using multiple stepwise regression. Our findings showed a positive and moderate-to-large effect of internal S&OP on manufacturing performance, controlling for firm size, country economic development and market dynamics. There was no significant impact of supply chain integration on manufacturing performance. However, we found that IS positively moderated the relationship between internal S&OP and performance, suggesting that firms with mature IS amplify the effect of internal S&OP on performance. The study is among the first to empirically and rigorously establish the impacts of S&OP practices on manufacturing performance, using a large sample of manufacturers spanning different countries, markets and firm sizes. Results show that S&OP practices have a broad impact across several performance dimensions and are a powerful lever for generating manufacturing performance.     

Optimizing OEE,productivity and production cost for improving sales volume in an automobile industry through TPM: a case study

The aim of this paper is to investigate how increase in sales volume has evolved by improving overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of machines, plant productivity and production cost through total productive maintenance (TPM) initiatives in a reputed tractors manufacturing industry in India. In the present scenario of global competitive market, the manufacturing industry needs to improve their operational performance for surviving and prospering. TPM is practised by industry as a business tool for rapid and continuous improvement in its manufacturing capabilities. OEE offers a powerful control tool to overcome production deficiencies and operational performance constrains. Productivity and manufacturing cost are also crucial operational measures to analyse the manufacturing performance. In this study, evaluation and analysis of the methodology adopted for improving sales volume through TPM initiatives was carried out using an interactive research approach. The industrial example on the application of OEE tool demonstrates that it has a remarkable potential to enhance the equipment effectiveness. The empirical findings of the study reveal that augmented OEE and productivity, and reduced production cost resulted to double the sales revenue and triple the profit within a period of three years. The industry also achieved notably tangible and intangible benefits with the TPM implementation.     

Prediction of manufacturing resource requirements from customer demands in mass-customisation production

Mass-customisation production is a new manufacturing approach to produce customised products based on requirements of individual customers while maintaining the quality and efficiency of mass production. Due to the large variations of customised products, the traditional methods for planning manufacturing resources based on volumes of mass produced products are not effective for mass-customization production. In this research, a new manufacturing resource planning method is developed by studying the relations between customer demands and manufacturing resource requirements based on the true data from a mass-customisation production company—Gienow Windows and Doors. In this research, first the relations between the customer demands, modeled by sales data at levels of whole company, sales branches, and markets in sales branches, and the manufacturing resource requirements, modeled by labour requirements of different production lines are studied. Fuzzy pattern clustering method is employed for classifying the resource requirements into patterns to further understand the relations. Based on this study, linear regression and neural network are used to model the linear and non-linear relations between customer demands and manufacturing resource requirements, and to predict the manufacturing resource requirements from available customer demands. A manufacturing resource planning system was developed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this introduced approach.     

Practice of manufacturing strategy: Evidence from select Indian automobile companies

This paper presents findings based on an extensive survey of Indian automobile companies. Five companies have been selected for detailed case studies. Their experiences in the manufacturing strategy process are analysed. Although the companies represented a diversity in terms of sales volume, product range and geographic location, they shared several commonalties including use of advanced manufacturing technologies and other improvement activities. Competitive strength was sustained through quality, innovation and delivery. The process of strategy formulation varied among the companies in terms of participants, complexity and degree of formalization, the practice of each company is different. The process of manufacturing strategy formulation seems to be in line with corporate strategy, though the companies followed a traditional top down approach in formulation of manufacturing strategy under the umbrella of corporate strategy. A taxonomy is proposed using cluster analysis where the companies are classified in four strategic manufacturing groups: reactive enterprise, neutral enterprise, active enterprise and proactive enterprises. Competitive priorities, order winners and critical success factors are identified for these companies after rigorous discussions with the managers. Based on strategic manufacturing issues, the manufacturing competence index for the companies has been worked out. A framework for manufacturing strategy is also proposed based on experiences of the case companies.     

16吨井下自卸卡车的研制

随着矿山开采规模的不断增大,现代矿山越来越推广使用大功率铲运机结合卡车的出矿方式,由于工作环境恶劣,井下自卸卡车技术性能要求较高,长期由国外少数企业技术垄断,因此研制大功率井下自卸卡车具有巨大的现实意义。16吨井下自卸卡车是某单位自行研制的矿山井下运输设备,具有独立的知识产权,在设计的过程中以绿色设计、人机工程理论为导向,以可靠性设计为中心,整车结构合理、动力性能强、能耗低。在制造的过程中以6s管理理念为指导,采用了CAPP、CAM等先进的制造方法,生产效率高,产品质量优秀,经测试综合利用率与国外先进产品相当,综合经济效益比国外同吨位产品高30~／o以上,该成果取得了巨大的经济效益和社会效益。     

Approaches of truck drivers and non-truck drivers toward reckless on-road behavior

The purpose of the study was to compare the reported approaches of truck drivers to those of non-truck drivers toward reckless on-road behaviors. One hundred and sixty-seven adult males, including 70 non-truck drivers, completed the questionnaires voluntarily. The truck drivers were employees of a concrete manufacturing company working at various company plants throughout Israel. Seventy were professional mixer truckers and 27 were tip-truckers. The participants completed the Reckless Driving Self-Report Scale based on Taubman Ben-Ari et al. [Taubman Ben-Ari, O., Florian, V., Mikulincer, M., 1999. The impact of mortality salience on reckless driving: a test of terror management mechanisms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76, 35-45], adapted for truck drivers for this study. It was expected that non-professional, as compared to professional (truck) drivers, would be more permissive regarding reckless driving, since driving risks are less prominent in their daily driving experience. An ANOVA performed on mean reckless-driving scores yielded significant results. The post hoc Schéffe test indicated significantly higher reckless-driving scores for automobile drivers as compared to both mixer-truck driver scores and tip-truck driver scores. In addition, the reckless-driving scores for mixer-truck drivers were significantly higher than the tip-truck driver scores. We discuss various explanations for the findings and consider possible implications for training strategies in organizations as well as for media campaigns focused on mutual safe road use of truck drivers and private vehicle drivers.     

An on-time delivery improvement model for manufacturing organisations

The purpose of this research was to develop an on-time delivery (OTD) improvement model for make-to-order (MTO) manufacturing organisations, based on: (i) a business process model combining product development and customer order management processes; and (ii) an integrated database with basic data, transaction data and functional applications, for broader planning within manufacturing organisations. The business process model, as part of the overall model, was designed using event-driven process chain (EPC) methodology and incorporated both capacity and material requirements planning functionalities for estimating on-time delivery dates and times. The database associated with the model defines all the data including both basic and transaction data; and links with required functions from sales to service and field return. These functions integrate through the database, using basic data and generate various transaction data including sales orders with an accurate promised date, based not only on the available stock but also on procurement and distribution times of any raw materials from external sources. The proposed model was then implemented in a selected manufacturing organisation. A systematic investigation was carried out to find the major causes of OTD problems of that manufacturer, with a view to implementing and validating the proposed model. After implementing the model average OTD was increased from 10% to 65% in about 12 months of operation.     

Manufacturing Systems Delphi Study

This paper presents the results of a Delphi inquiry carried out to determine the short and long range technology needs and plans of small and medium sized manufacturers in the Pacific Northwest. Policy directions which cooperative research centers might adopt to aid these enterprises are also examined. Delphi results demonstrated a strong consensus that many types of advanced manufacturing technologies will be used widely by the year 2000 and that their adoption is correlated with company size, net income, and gross sales volume. Functions and types of industrial robots forecasted for use are discussed as well as are timetables for the first use of various technologies. Industry-University cooperative research centers may best serve the needs of manufacturing firms by providing improved educational skills, improved information flow on assessment of technologies, and research in technologies likely to be implemented.     

Herstellung von hochporösen,endkonturnahen Titan‐Formkörpern für biomedizinische Anwendungen

Near‐net‐shape manufacturing of highly porous titanium parts for biomedical applications The production of highly porous titanium parts is attractive for biomedical applications. Preferrentially, these parts are produced by powdermetallurgical means using suitable spacer materials. Porosities up to 75 % and well defined pore sizes in the range of 0.1 to 2.0 mm are achieved adjusting the amount and the particle size of the spacer material. Up to now, near‐net‐shape manufacturing of highly porous parts was hindered by the plastic deformation of the sintered network during machining leading to a partial or complete closing of the open porosity. A new manufacturing route is presented, where the shaping is already done in the unsintered state starting from pressed compacts. The stability of the compacts was found to be sufficient to machine the compacts without additional binders. The manufacturing route was successfully applied to the prototype of an acetabular cup. Additionally, some investigations are presented characterizing the highly porous titanium.     

Comparing manufacturing output and practices in China,Hungary, the USSR and USA

This paper explores the sales productivity of manufacturing companies in four countries. Specifically, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to compare the use of labour and equipment to produce domestic and export sales in the People's Republic of China, Hungary, the USSR (before the break-up of the republic) and the United States. Firms from the machine tool industry were evaluated using data gathered by the Global Manufacturing Research Group. When labour hours and equipment are considered, the United States’ firms are the most efficient at producing sales output and China's firms the least. When labour dollars instead of labour hours are considered, surprisingly, China's firms remain least efficient while those from the USSR and Hungary fare quite well when compared with those from the United States. Several important differences in manufacturing practices help explain the differences in sales productivity and point out areas where care must be taken in creating joint ventures between firms in these countries.     

Measurement and analysis of truck transport vibration levels and damage to packaged tangerines during transit

The purpose of this study was to measure the vibration levels in commercial truck shipments in Thailand and observe the effects on packaged fruit. The study measured the vibration levels in two of the most commonly used truck types to ship packaged goods as a function of road condition and vehicle speed. The suspension type on the trailers studied was leaf‐spring. The results of damage to packaged tangerine fruit as a function of location in the payload are also presented. The data presented in this study will assist product and package designers to reduce damage in transit. The results showed that vibration levels increased with speed and as a result of road condition. Analysis of variance indicated that three controlling factors, road surface, truck speed and truck type, significantly affected (p ≤ 0.05) peak PSD, PSD* (root mean square) over the frequency range 2–5 Hz, and fruit damage. As expected, based on previous work, an increase in truck speed resulted in an increase in vibration levels and damage to packaged fruit. The laterite road condition produced the highest vibration level for a given truck and travelling speed followed by concrete highway and asphalt road conditions. Fruit damage was found to be greatest in the uppermost container for every combination of road, truck type and travelling speed, which also corresponded to the highest vibration levels recorded. The results showed that a significant amount of damage can occur on unpaved roads (laterite), while the packages are transported from farms and harvesting areas to regional truck terminals. Damage on asphalt road conditions was minimal. This paper provides an updated history of measured and quantified levels of vibration for these specific trucks and road conditions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solid-State Nanopore Array: Manufacturing and Applications

Nanopore brings extraordinary properties for a variety of potential applications in various industrial sectors. Since manufacturing of solid-state nanopore is first reported in 2001, solid-state nanopore has become a hot topic in the recent years. An increasing number of manufacturing methods have been reported, with continuously decreased sizes from hundreds of nanometers at the beginning to ≈1 nm until recently. To enable more robust, sensitive, and reliable devices required by the industry, researchers have started to explore the possible methods to manufacture nanopore array which presents unprecedented challenges on the fabrication efficiency, accuracy and repeatability, applicable materials, and cost. As a result, the exploration of fabrication of nanopore array is still in the fledging period with various bottlenecks. In this article, a wide range of methods of manufacturing nanopores are summarized along with their achievable morphologies, sizes, inner structures for characterizing the main features, based on which the manufacturing of nanopore array is further addressed. To give a more specific idea on the potential applications of nanopore array, some representative practices are introduced such as DNA/RNA sequencing, energy conversion and storage, water desalination, nanosensors, nanoreactors, and dialysis.     

A comparison of focused cellular manufacturing to cellular manufacturing and job shop

The purpose of this study is to compare a focused cellular manufacturing environment with traditional cellular manufacturing, and job shop environments. We define focused cellular manufacturing as a configuration scheme that groups components by end-items and forms cells of machines to fabricate and assemble end-items. In addition, this research includes three levels of batch sizes and two levels of set-up times in its performance criteria which few researchers in this area have done. The results indicate that the focused cellular manufacturing scheme has a batching advantage. This advantage dominated the balanced machine utilization benefit of the job shop configuration scheme and out weighed the set-up time reduction advantage of the cellular manufacturing scheme for average end-item completion times and average work-in-process inventory levels. The cellular manufacturing and job shop schemes overcame the batch size advantage only when batch sizes were small or set-up times were large.     

Simulation and performance evaluation of partially and fully integrated sales and operations planning

This article presents rolling horizon simulation models and performance analysis of partially and fully integrated sales and operations planning (S&OP) against traditional decoupled planning in a multi-site make-to-order (MTO) based manufacturing supply chain. Three simulation models are developed illustrating, respectively, the fully integrated S&OP model, which integrates cross-functional planning of sales, production, distribution, and procurement centrally; the partially integrated S&OP model, in which the joint sales and production planning is performed centrally while distribution and procurement are planned separately at each site; and the decoupled planning model, in which sales planning is carried out centrally while production, distribution, and procurement are planned separately and locally. A solution procedure is provided for each model so that a more realistic planning process can be simulated. Performances of rolling horizon simulation models are evaluated against those of the fixed horizon deterministic models. The results demonstrate that while deterministic models are important for theoretical studies, they are insufficient for decision support and performance evaluations in a real business environment. A rolling horizon simulation model is required to provide more realistic solutions. The effects of demand uncertainties and forecast inaccuracies are incorporated in the evaluation. The study is carried out based on a real industrial case of a Canadian-based oriented strand board (OSB) manufacturing company.     

Analysis of densification mechanisms of dry granulated materials

Dry granulation by roll compaction is a continuum manufacturing process to produce granules with improved flowability which can further be easily used in tableting process. However, the granules are non-homogeneous in density and have non-spherical shapes which impact their densification behaviour during die-compaction. The aim of this study was to investigate both the densification mechanism and the failure strength of granules of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and mannitol using Cooper-Eaton and Adams models. For both materials, the Cooper-Eaton approach led to the quantification of fractional volume compaction by particle rearrangement and by plastic deformation respectively to explain the difference in densification behaviour of raw material and granules. Moreover, the model showed its ability to capture the effect of granule density and granule sizes and to differentiate the densification mechanisms of MCC as a plastic material and mannitol as a brittle material. The Adams model was used to compute the failure strength of single granule from in-die compression data. The obtained results of the granules were in the range [0.6–1.43 MPa]. However, regarding the effect of granule density, the model showed mixed results indicating that the model is not representative of the studied granules which are not spherical and have a relatively wide range of sizes, nevertheless, the model was derived for near spherical particles with a narrow size distribution.     

模块化技术的应用现状和趋势

首先分析了模块化技术的应用背景,主要是满足用户个性化和多元化的需要、降低成本的需要、产品和制造绿色化的需要,以及信息技术的促进作用．随后通过大量案例,分析了设计阶段、制造阶段、销售和售后服务阶段的模块化技术的应用现状和趋势．     

基于前馈控制的高速大行程圆弧滑轨位置控制

针对高速大行程圆弧滑轨系统运行时,受圆弧轨道弧度和轨道段连接问题的影响,负载小车运行不稳定、响应速度不快、末端位置定位误差大的问题,设计了一套双轨式机械滑动结构,以提高小车运行稳定度。在控制系统方面,位置环采用前馈控制,结合PID控制提高了电机的控制精度。建立了圆弧滑轨平台的数学模型,在MATLAB仿真环境中建立了基于前馈控制的仿真模型,并搭建了实验平台。仿真实验结果表明：在无前馈控制的情况下,跟踪误差范围为[-0.4,0.4]mm,引入前馈控制后,跟踪误差为[-0.18,0.18]mm,系统跟踪精度提高了1.2倍,系统响应速度提高了16.7%。实验结果表明：在前馈控制条件下,小车理论位置误差保持在[-0.2,0.2]mm,实际位置误差为0.69 mm,均小于设计所要求的1 mm,并且系统具有较快的响应速度。研究结果为滑轨系统的机械设计和性能测试提供了有效的参考数据,可促进轨道系统测试的工业自动化。     

Buckling of open-section bead-stiffened composite panels

Stiffened panels are structures that can be designed to efficiently support in-plane compression, bending, and shear loads. Although the stiffeners are usually discrete elements which are fastened or bonded to a flat or continuously curved plate, manufacturing methods such as thermoforming allow integral formation of the stiffeners in a panel. Such a configuration offers potential advantages in terms of a reduced number of parts and manufacturing operations. For thermoplastic composite panels stiffened by integrally formed open-section beads, the effects of bead spacing and bend cross-section geometry on the initiation of buckling under uniaxial compression and uniform shear loading were investigated. Finite elements results for a range of stiffened panel sizes and bead geometries are presented and compared with approximate closed-form solutions based on an effective flat plate size. Experimental verification of analytical predictions for one of the shear panels and one of the compression panels is described. Compensation of the forming tool to reduce the degree of initial curvature of the panels was found to be necessary.     

Selecting quality improvement projects and product mix together in manufacturing: an improvement of a theory of constraints-based approach by incorporating quality loss

The quality of products and processes needs to be improved continuously in today's competitive environments. Unless these improvement efforts are focused properly, companies might not achieve desirable results in terms of sales, quality and productivity. Many quality improvement (QI) approaches have a limited evaluation of the factors involved in the selection of QI projects. Theory of constraints (TOC) has been proposed by some researchers as a remedy for the better selection of QI projects. However, these TOC-based approaches do not accurately capture ongoing product quality and its long-term effects on sales. Quality loss, on the other hand, can be used as a measure of customer dissatisfaction, which in turn determines the sales. The paper proposes an improvement of a TOC-based algorithm by incorporating quality loss with it. Using two simple manufacturing examples, it demonstrates that quality losses affect the product mix and QI project selection. It provides suggestions for further research directions for wider applicability of the proposed approach.     

Manufacturing planning and control approaches: market alignment and performance

The design of manufacturing planning and control (MPC) systems is a strategic decision for manufacturing operations. In this paper we analyze the interrelationships between the choice of MPC approaches at different hierarchical levels with market requirements and operational performance. These relationships are explored through an extensive survey comprising responses from 128 manufacturing firms. The results show that the choice of MPC approaches, primarily at the sales and operations planning and master scheduling levels, has a significant mediating role in improving performance. The alignment between market requirements and the choice of MPC approaches is significant and has a significant impact on performance. In a dynamic environment, the choice of MPC approaches is shown to have a positive mediating effect on operational performance.