Economics, Quality And Organisation of the Manufacturing Process - Essay Example

MANUFACTURING: ECONOMICS, QUALITY AND ORGANISATION al Affiliation) Current Thinking on How Manufacturing is Organized to Maximize Benefits Introduction The current society is characterized by a scenario of high level of business performance due to improved modes of business organization as well as research and innovation that has facilitated the development of efficient modes of operations (Borangiu, 2013). In addition, most current organizations have employed the use of various modes operations that has created a scenario of high level of competition. Research has indicated that different companies, organizations and businesses that focus on manufacturing activities are characterized by existence of managerial teams and staff with varying ideologies concerning production processes. This is one of the reasons that have been cited as a factor that facilitate the essence of different strategies of operations (Sanders, 2012). This research will focus on various modes of thinking in the contemporary society and how they affected the organization of manufacturing in order to maximize organizational benefits. Discussion Operating Manufacturing Processes through Team Work Promoting organizational team work is not only an ideology that was used in the past, but is also currently employed in different companies and organizations that focus on manufacturing process in order to improve their benefits. The corpus of applying organizational team work to facilitate manufacturing process entails promoting group work in an organization in order to maximize the efficiency of the Company (Sanders, 2012). Current, organizations promote team work across the entire organization as well as between different organizations. In some cases, it has been referred as networking owing to the fact that it promotes sharing and exchange of ideas. In the manufacturing sector, organizing organizational processes to be conducted through team work has been associated with various advantages; the first advantage is based on the fact that manufacturers working in teams are usually ascribed to improve morale, flexibility as well as chances of innovation. Scheduling of Manufacturing Processes The idea of scheduling activities in manufacturing organizations has also gained popularity in the current generation. Researchers have argues that scheduling of company or organizational activities are pertinent for engineering and manufacturing companies. Specifically, there are schools of thought that assert the pertinence of scheduling pointing out that it facilitates the reduction of resource wastage as well as time that might be wasted due to confusions that may arise in the manufacturing process. In this regard, it is believe to be an important operational tool that improves operational efficiency through reduction of operational costs as well as time that might have been wasted. In addition, research has indicated that scheduling of manufacturing activities, specifically those that are applied in the contemporary manufacturing companies has indicated an essence of outperformance in comparison to those that were applied in the early and late 1990’s. However, the most evident issue regarding scheduling in current manufacturing companies is that, the strategies applied by different organizations differ to a great extent, thus creating a high sense of competition and different levels of success for instance: Some organization may apply Cycle-Time Analysis and those that use Algorithm Methods. Application of Theoretical Approaches The current society is also characterized by application of theoretical perspectives to facilitate the provision of explanation to certain modes of organizing manufacturing processes. The application of these theories in the contemporary manufacturing businesses is usually supported by research and innovation in order to provide proof regarding their workability. One of the theories that is currently highly applied to facilitate the organization of manufacturing processes is the Theory of Constraints; this theory according to researchers in the manufacturing sector, is basically a methodology highly pertinent limiting facet that may hinder the success of any manufacturing organization. That is, it is a methodology that is currently highly applied by manufacturing organizations in order to identify and eliminate challenges that may hinder the success of any organization. In addition, the application of the Constraints Theory as a method of identifying and eliminating challenges that may occur in the manufacturing process of an organization is based on scientific ideologies. That is, it is hypothesizes any complicated situations that may occur in the manufacturing processes thus, facilitating operational efficiencies. Lean Manufacturing Methods This is also another modern method of organizing manufacturing processes in organizations; research indicates that this ideology was formulated by Kaizen. Specifically, this ideology entails application of incremental changes that basically focus on improving manufacturing processes (http://www.epa.gov, n.d). These changes are usually applied on a sustained and continuous basis over a long period of time. Moreover, the corpus of lean manufacturing methods entail a scenario whereby workers from different sections of a manufacturing company are engaged in organizational manufacturing processes on a collective basis in order to solve common organizational manufacturing processes (http://www.leanproduction.com, n.d). Employee Empowerment Despite the fact that employees are persons with appropriate skills and knowledge to undertake specific manufacturing processes, the current society is characterized by a scenario where manufacturing processes changes rapidly. This is due to the fact that there is rapid research and innovation leading to unique and new manufacturing processes. In this regard, manufacturing experts have asserted the application of refresher training courses where employees are equipped with knowledge regarding new manufacturing processes. This is a methodology of employee empowerment in the sense that employees are provided with appropriate extra skills that would allow them operate in an efficient manner. Research and Innovation Another concept that is currently highly applied in most manufacturing organizations is the idea of research and innovation. This idea is facilitated by the current high rates of competition between manufacturing organizations that focus on production or provision of almost similar goods. In this regard, most manufacturing companies in the current global market undertake initiatives geared towards improving their modes of operation, specifically by researching new methods manufacturing. Additionally, the idea of creating platforms for employees and other company stakeholders to undertake innovations that would lead to generation of new ideas geared towards improving organizational processes. Innovation in manufacturing companies has been identified as one of the most important aspects of organizing organizational processes in order to facilitate efficient operations, thus maximizing benefits associated with efficiency. Application of Specific Manufacturing Strategies The essence of applying specific manufacturing strategies is another school of thought that has been applied in the contemporary manufacturing sector to organize operational processes, thus improving benefits (Jordan & Micthel, 2000). There are myriad and different manufacturing companies in the world; these companies have varying modes of strategic operations, majorly in their manufacturing processes. Moreover, the essence of using different strategies to facilitate organizational operations has been facilitated by the fact that, manufacturing organizations differs in regard to their objectives and goals. Concept of Specialization in Manufacturing Operations It is a fact that specialization in relation to activities undertaken by different organizations is an ideology that has been applied over-time beginning from the industrial revolution. However, with increased demands of goods, characterized by existence of different needs, companies have increased their focus on specialization as a means to ensure they produce goods and services that meet the specific needs of their clients (Daly & Keys, 2000). Specialization has not only focused on the processes, but also on the skills required by manufacturing companies’ employees. That is, modern manufacturing companies are characterized with ideologies that focus on specialization of skills and capacities of employees, applicable to certain manufacturing processes i.e. operations mangers in charge of operations in a manufacturing company, human resource managers et cetera. Conclusion Despite the fact that modern manufacturing companies are guided by existing modes of organizing organizational activities in order to facilitate the achievement of efficiency and benefits, it is evident that there are efforts that are undertaken to ensure that the ideologies discussed in this report are improved. Moreover, the manner through, which organizations handle manufacturing processes by organizing their production processes in specific ways, differ from one organization to another; this has indicated a great difference in the operational strategies among manufacturing companies. Another most common issue that has emerged in relation to organization of manufacturing strategies is the essence of research and innovation; this is an incidence that has been witness by almost all global manufacturing companies. Experts have asserted that it has been influenced by competition among these countries, thus creating a need for new modes of operations in order to improve the competitive advantages of these companies. Bibliography Antràs, P., & Chor, D. 2012. Organizing the global value chain. Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research. Berk, J. 2010. Cost reduction and optimization for manufacturing and industrial companies. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley ;. Beyerlein, M. M. 2000. Work teams: past, present, and future. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Borangiu, T. 2013. Service orientation in holonic and multi agent manufacturing and robotics. Berlin: Springer. Borbély, D. 2006. Trade specialization in the enlarged European Union. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag. Cellular manufacturing: one-piece flow for workteams. 2009. Portland, OR: Productivity Press. Daly, D. J., & Keys, B. A. 2008. Scale and specialization in Canadian manufacturing,. Ottawa: Queens Printer. Dudbridge, M. 2011. 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