Manufacturing Systems Foundations of World-Class Practice (1992) / Chapter Skim
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Organizational Learning and Improving System Performance
Organizational Learning and Improving System Performance
Pages 61-77
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From page 61... ...
Ephlin, Retired Vice President, United Auto Workers Corporations that compete successfully with the world's best producers will increasingly find that they have become members of a select group of enterprises that accept and practice the foundations described in this book. Performance at the level that is feasible with these foundations can be expected to become the norm for those enterprises striving to be the best-ofthe-best.
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From page 62... ...
Turnbull and his coauthors (in this volume) suggest that an appreciation of past circumstances and performance and an awareness of the theoretical limits of the processes used provide "an upper limit for forecasts of potential process performance, and a framework for clarifying the principles that govern the process." Understanding the theoretical limits helps manufacturers to establish their priorities for advancing current capabilities as well as defining the threshold beyond which there is little opportunity for cost-effective improvement.
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From page 63... ...
Second, a feedback control loop tracks actual results, compares them with the planned results emanating from the organization strategy, and determines appropriate corrective action relative to operational performance. It is important to note that this model captures corporate experience and
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From page 64... ...
a means of tracking progress on the 'continuous improvement' of quality and a means by which realistic expectations can be established for future goals. Above all, the existence of a learning curve for quality should be viewed as one more example of the need for careful collection of systematic data." The use of knowledge, derived from progress and experimentation, by all members of the organization represents an example of organizational learning.
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From page 65... ...
Information-based organizations need central operating work such as legal counsel, public relations, and labor relations as much as ever. But the need for service staffs—that is, for people without operating responsibilities who only advise, counsel, or coordinate shrinks drastically.
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From page 66... ...
Organizational learning is a broad-based strategy for capturing and making available to members of the organization information and knowledge that enable them to benefit from the experience of others that build on the knowledge of many members of the manufacturing enterprise. In other cases, the knowledge of individuals and groups can be captured by tools, models, formula, drawings, instruction manuals, and the artifacts of the production process itself.
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From page 67... ...
The time pressures afforded by global competition have greatly reduced the value of serial learning experiences. The worldclass manufacturer must develop parallel programs for experimentation and creative destruction of the status quo with new technologies, machines, and techniques that will become the basis for the next generation of products and processes.
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From page 68... ...
32-33~. By making use of leading-edge technologies, a manufacturer may be able to achieve lower costs, better quality, or greater customer satisfaction with existing products my making low-cost variations in small lots and thereby realize significant competitive advantages (see Report of the National Critical Technologies Panel, 1991~.
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From page 69... ...
Based on selection criteria and extensive private sector and government input, the Panel selected the 22 they considered the most important. Materials Materials synthesis and processing Electronic and photonic materials ceramics Manufacturing Flexible computer integrated manufacturing Intelligent processing equipment Information and Communications Software Microelectronics and optoelectronics High-performance computing and networking High-definition imaging and displays Biotechnology and Life Sciences Applied molecular biology Medical technology Com posites High-performance metals and alloys Micro- and nanofabrication Systems management technologies Sensors and signal processing Data storage and peripherals Computer simulation and modeling Aeronautics and SuffaceTransportation Aeronautics Surface transportation technologies Energy and Environment Energy technologies Pollution minimization, remediation, and waste management SOURCE: Report of the National Critical Technologies Panel, March 1 99 1.
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From page 70... ...
Since the technologies involved in the unit processes are often quite different from those involved in the total system, it is appropriate to divide the following discussion into three parts: the unit processes and subsystems used in material transformations, the interfaces between these many subunits, and the manufacturing system as a whole. Unit Processes and Subsystems The unit processes in manufacturing encompass a vast array of materials, material transformations, operations that combine and join materials, and assembly, testing, and inspection.
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From page 71... ...
Through an informal process of estimating the company's proximity to its technological limits for currently employed technologies, managers can begin to assess their next moves. This is best done analytically, although it can be started as an intuitive process.
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From page 72... ...
Information must flow throughout the organization, thus crossing the subsystem boundaries, and decisions affecting subsystems can affect overall system performance. Management of the subsystem interfaces often represents a substantially greater challenge than management of unit processes, because improvements at one stage in an integrated production process can throw a downstream processing step out of control.
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From page 73... ...
But America's ability to rapidly translate science and engineering into commercializable products, and its ability to take advantage of the detailed insights, understand, and processes that are a prerequisite to product design and product manufacturing is another story altogether. Thus, in recent years it has become apparent that a "manufacturing gap" like the technology gap of earlier years has emerged, and this time it is the United States that lags behind.
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From page 74... ...
Making use of the results of this latter type of research for a particular manufacturing environment requires, therefore, the involvement of people who are intimately involved with both aspects of the problem the research issues and the practical problems encountered in the manufacturing environment. System Issues Lardner (in this volume, p.
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From page 75... ...
The development of computer modeling and visualization graphics methods has made it possible to enhance the scientific method as applied to manufacturing systems. The increased ability to model in both mathematical and logical terms, the advanced computational analysis procedures available on modern computing facilities, and the large improvements in the display of both static and dynamic data on graphics terminals, are illustrated by the three steps added to the scientific method in Figure 2.
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From page 76... ...
FIGURE 2 Enhancing the scientific method with advanced computational analysis and improvements in the display of both static and dynamic information. (Adapted from Cornell Engineering College Information as presented in the Indianapolis Star, January 20, 1991.)
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From page 77... ...
To be successful, these efforts must be viewed as a long-term investment in the competitive posture of a company. FOUNDATION: World-class manufacturers view technology as a strategic tool for achieving world-class competitiveness by all elements of the manufacturing organization.
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