Impact of Company Size on Manufacturing Improvement Practices: An empirical study

27th International Conference on CADCAM, Robotics and Factories of the Future 2014

工业技术;机械制造

Syan, C.S.^1 ; Ramoutar, K.^1

University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago^1

关键词: Less developed countries;    Manufacturing companies;    Manufacturing organizations;    Manufacturing performance;    Manufacturing techniques;    Traditional approaches;    Trinidad and Tobago;    World class manufacturing;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/65/1/012028/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/65/1/012028

学科分类：工业工程学

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

There is a constant search for ways to achieve a competitive advantage through new manufacturing techniques. Best performing manufacturing companies tend to use world-class manufacturing (WCM) practices. Although the last few years have witnessed phenomenal growth in the use of WCM techniques, their effectiveness is not well understood specifically in the context of less developed countries. This paper presents an empirical study to investigate the impact of company size on improving manufacturing performance in manufacturing organizations based in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Empirical data were collected via a questionnaire survey which was send to 218 manufacturing firms in T&T. Five different company sizes and seven different industry sectors were studied. The analysis of survey data was performed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The study signified facilitating and impeding factors towards improving manufacturing performance. Their relative impact/importance is dependent on varying company size and industry sectors. Findings indicate that T&T manufacturers are still practicing traditional approaches, when compared with world class manufacturers. In the majority of organizations, these practices were not 100% implemented even though they started the implementation process more than 5 years ago. The findings provided some insights in formulating more optimal operational strategies, and later develop action plans towards more effective implementation of WCM in T&T manufacturers.