Abstract
PurposeEffective operations management systems (OMS) measurement remains a critical issue for theorists and practising managers (Neely, 2005; Bititci et al., 2012). Traditional labor efficiency measures sufficed when all that was made could be sold or when mass production systems filled warehouses with stock and the OMS had little relationship with “the consumer.” Modern manufacturing systems require a different form of flow optimization (beyond labor efficiency) measurement (Schmenner, 2015). The essential unit of measure for all OMS designs is the optimal use of time for process value adding and the flow of materials into and from the conversion process. Timely flow, therefore, satisfies the needs of multiple organizational stakeholders including cash flow (accounting), consumer reaction times (marketing) and the general steady state flow of materials (sales and supply chain). The purpose of this paper is to present the results of testing a new performance measure of operations flow effectiveness (OFE) with ten purposively selected cases.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is theory building using ten, purposively selected, longitudinal case studies drawn from the UK high-value manufacturing (HVM) sector using a pluralist methodology of interviews, observation and secondary data.FindingsThe OFE measure provides a holistic view of material flow through the input-process-output cycles of a firm. The measure highlights OMS design weaknesses and flow inhibitors that reduce cash flow using a time-based approach to measuring OMS performance. The study validates the OFE measure and has identified six key design elements that enable high flow performance.Originality/valueThe paper tests a new process-focused flow performance measure. The measure supports a holistic approach to the manufacturing enterprise and allows different OMS designs to be evaluated so that organizational learning may be enacted to support performance improvement.
Highlights
Effective operations management systems (OMS) measurement remains a critical issue for theorists and practicing managers (Neely, 2005, Bititci et al, 2012)
This paper presents the results of testing a new performance measure of Operations Flow Effectiveness (OFE) with ten purposively selected cases
This paper focuses on purposively selected cases drawn from the British High-Value Manufacturing (HVM) sector and a context most likely to reflect the general movement from traditional mass production designs to more experimental OMS models
Summary
Effective operations management systems (OMS) measurement remains a critical issue for theorists and practicing managers (Neely, 2005, Bititci et al, 2012). The dysfunctions of applying ineffective or poorly aligned ‘flow’ measures has been well explored in the literature (Goldratt, 1990, Deming, 2000), agreement on effective flow performance measures has yet to be reached for new high-value manufacturing contexts and a new world of ultimate flexibility and personalisation The latter may provide manufacturers with access to product markets where greater profits exist from personalized production but it does not allow operations managers to ignore the measurement of process ‘efficiency’ for learning and control (Technology Strategy Board, 2012a, MacBryde et al, 2013). This paper focuses on purposively selected cases drawn from the British High-Value Manufacturing (HVM) sector and a context most likely to reflect the general movement from traditional mass production designs to more experimental OMS models. Only 33 papers, published since year 2001, were considered of use to this study and deemed to meet the qualities of process measures of flow with properties that support flow measurement of firm-level process performance
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Accepted Version (
Free)
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call