Improving Operations Performance with World Class Manufacturing Technique: A Case in Automotive Industry

Abstract

Global competition has caused fundamental changes in the competitive environment of manufacturing industries. Firms must develop strategic objectives which, upon achieve‐ ment, result in a competitive advantage in the market place. However, for almost all manu‐ facturing industries, an increased productivity and better overall efficiency of the production line are the most important goals. Most industries would like to find the formula for the ultimate productivity improvement strategy. Industries often suffer from the lack of a systematic and consistent methodology. In particular the manufacturing world has faced many changes throughout the years and as a result, the manufacturing industry is constant‐ ly evolving in order to stay ahead of competition [1]. Innovation is a necessary process for the continuous changes in order to contribute to the economic growth in the manufacturing industry, especially to compete in the global market. In addition to innovation as a mode for continued growth and change, there are many other vehicles for growth in the manufactur‐ ing industry [2], [3]. One in particular that has been gaining momentum is the idea of World Class Manufacturing (WCM) developed by Richard J. Schonberger (in the 80s) who collected several cases, experiences and testimonies of companies that had embarked on the path of continuous “Kaizen” improvement for excellence in production, trying to give a systematic conception to the various practices and methodologies examined. Some of the benefits of in‐ tegrating WCM include increased competitiveness, development of new and improved tech‐ nology and innovation, increased flexibility, increased communication between management and production employees, and an increase in work quality and workforce