Industrial Management articles from July 1994

Industrial Management archives from July 1994

Selecting an ISO 9000 consultant. (International Organization for Standardization)
July 1, 1994... Dissect the ISO 9000 certification procedure with an eye for the hidden costs and two segments of the process will leap out -- the cost of consultants and the cost of making in-house improvements for the sake of passing certification. Because...

Supply strategy: capturing the value.
July 1, 1994... To focus your efforts and get the best total value in sourcing, an effective strategy must be developed and implemented. Everyone has heard the popular terms "partnering" and "strategic alliances with suppliers." There is not nearly enough time...

Evaluating business practices: linking purpose, practice and people.
July 1, 1994... Managers are accountable for their business practices. They want to use the best available practices. But how can they effectively evaluate the endless procession of ideas? Some may have merit, but too often the results are simply cost-incurring....

ABC's of activity-based costing.
July 1, 1994... A story has been going around for some time now. The CEO and the president of a midwestem company were flying in a hot air balloon. The basket attached to the balloon was uncomfortable but they were still enjoying the ride. After the two officers...

Assignment flexibility: where will it lead?
July 1, 1994... Assignment flexibility (AF) means that members of one union or job classification may be asked to perform tasks ordinarily assigned to another union or job classification. It sounds simple enough, but it is not. In fact, AF may lead a company and...

Quality: the imperative, the jungle, and the two-factor theory.
July 1, 1994... In recent years, quality has become a strategic weapon in the global marketplace. Open the newspaper or pick up a magazine, and usually you will read something about quality. It may be an article on quality management or an advertisement praising...

Using group technology to improve quality and response time.
July 1, 1994... The effort to become more competitive and cost efficient in the production of high-quality products, while reducing scrap and rework is a critical issue for any manufacturing company. During the last two decades, manufacturing environments have...

Just-in-time production in small job shops.
July 1, 1994... Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing, both as a philosophy and a disciplined method of production, has received much attention in the business community since its introduction nearly 20 years ago. The current literature on JIT manufacturing indicates...

Systems integration through concurrent learning.
July 1, 1994... Concurrent learning is a continuous process that seeks to expand people learning capacities by viewing work and learning as being coterminous activities. Systems integration efforts seek to synchronize many of the diverse work processes that...

Integrating strategy and operations.
July 1, 1994... Give a Ferrari to your grandmother and she will undoubtedly park it in the garage. Give the same automobile to your teenager and he or she will undoubtedly land it in the repair shop. Like a high performance sports car, capital in an organization...

Technology transfer in a culturally diverse workforce (part 1).
July 1, 1994... The pure economics of today's business should be a major incentive for organizations to conduct self-assessments of their ability to maximize their human resources and technology. A paradox that companies face regardless of size or type is a...