Coping with the change: a longitudinal study into the changing manufacturing practices

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study how, in recent decades, manufacturing sites have reacted to changes in their business environment by developing their management practices. This also makes it possible to predict the behavior and lifecycles of the new practices adopted by companies.Design/methodology/approachThe study is longitudinal, conducted in 1993, 2004 and 2010. It used a standard questionnaire, based on the “Made in Europe” benchmarking study. The results were analysed by Friedman's rank order method. The use of a three (or more) data‐point longitudinal study is the clearest way to reveal changes in, and the behaviour of, the practices.FindingsThe data suggest that there is a lifecycle for the practices used in companies and that many of the practices adopted in the late 1990s are already out of date. However, personnel‐related practices seem to last longer than process‐related practices. Furthermore, these practices seem to follow the curve of the Bass diffusion model.Research limitations/implicationsThe results are restricted to the sample which is quite small in size, but gives a good insight into the changes occurring within it. This research excludes new practices adopted in recent years, and uses only the questions designed for the first year in which the study was conducted. However, its purpose is to show the evolution of some practices in the form of a unique, longitudinal study. The study also indicates the lifecycles of the practices included in the sample.Originality/valueThis study is the only longitudinal study in its field to use data from three different time periods. It can thus look into and analyze change from a unique perspective.

Toyota production system - one example to shipbuilding industry

“…Lean manufacturing is as a set of practices focused on reduction of wastes and non-value added activities from a firm's manufacturing operations (YANG, et al 2011;BROWN;SCHMITT;SCHONBERGER, 2015;HASLE, et al 2012;KUULA;PUTKIRANTA;TOIVANEN, 2012, BENNET;KLUNG, 2012;CHAVEZ, et al, 2013;HENDRY;HUANG;STEVENSON, 2013;BONNEY;JABER, 2013;DIBIA;DHAKAL;ONUH, 2014;THANKI;THAKKAR, 2014;PANWAR;JAIN, RATHORE, 2015;MARODIN;SAURIN, 2015;BR KUMAR;SHARMA;AGARWAL, 2015;BALL, 2015;PAKDIL;LEONARD, 2015;MUND;PIETERSE;CAMERON, 2015;CHAY, et al, 2015;HU, et al, 2015;WICKRAMASINGHE;WICKRAMASINGHE, 2016;BIRKIE, 2016;VENTO, et al, 2016;ALI;DEIF, 2016;NARAYANAMURTHY;GURUMURTHY, 2016;MOHAMMADDUST, et al, 2017).…”

“…Thus, TQM integrates the suppliers from the development phase of the project, in the quest for continuous improvement with a focus on flawless process, reducing the development time, with operational reliability in the process, and products with no defects according to the specifications of the customer or market, free of processing errors or rework, with a balanced industrial operations, with high productivity and reduced operating costs (YANG, et al 2010;KUULA;PUTKIRANTA;TOIVANEN, 2012;HENDRY;HUANG;STEVENSON, 2013;EL-KHALIL, 2015;NARAYANAMURTHY;GURUMURTHY, 2016).…”

“…related to the supply chain, to reduce time of production /processing, to run the process/operation without faults (do it right at the first time) and to eliminate or minimize stocks with high control over the operations, on time deliveries, increased productivity with efficiency in operations (HASLE, et al 2012;KUULA;PUTKIRANTA;TOIVANEN, 2012;ZU;KAYNAK, 2012;CHAVEZ, et al, 2013;DIBIA;DHAKAL;ONUH, 2014;THANKI;THAKKAR, 2014;PANWAR;JAIN;RATHORE, 2015;MARODIN;SAURIN, 2015;EL-KHALIL, 2015; BR KUMAR;…”

“…• Have strategic vision; Appropriate technologies or enough technological ability; Quality of products and services; Efficiency in costs; High rate of introduction of new products; People are trained, certified and involved with the process; Efficiency and effectiveness in lean operations; Internal and external cooperation and Integration (KUULA; PUTKIRANTA; TOIVANEN, 2012;CHAVEZ, et al, 2013;DIBIA;DHAKAL;ONUH, 2014;THANKI;THAKKAR, 2014;PANWAR;JAIN;RATHORE, 2015;MARODIN;SAURIN, 2015;BR KUMAR;SHARMA;AGARWAL, 2015;BALL, 2015;PAKDIL;LEONARD, 2015;MUND;PIETERSE;CAMERON, 2015;CHAY, et al, 2015;HU, et al, 2015;WICKRAMASINGHE;WICKRAMASINGHE, 2016;BIRKIE, 2016;VENTO, et al, 2016;ALI;DEIF, 2016;NARAYANAMURTHY;GURUMURTHY, 2016;MOHAMMADDUST, et al, 2017).…”

Complexity Theory for a New Managerial Paradigm: A Research Framework

“…Since then, we have witnessed the rise of a new kind of capitalism that combines some of the characteristics of the previous new economy paradigm with a stronger focus on innovation. We call this paradigm the "innovative economy;" it is a capitalist economic model in which innovation and intuition are the critical success factors (Kuula, Putkiranta, & Toivanen, 2012;Walters, 2004).…”