IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY IN MANUFACTURING ORGANIZATIONS

Today most firms are interested in a strategic approach for improving productivity and quality in their organizations. Consistent with this thrust, this paper attempts to provide a strategic framework for such efforts. The main focus of this paper is on integrating various functional groups of a manufacturing organization and highlighting the role of new manufacturing concepts and technologies in such integrations. Comparison of earlier and present practices of production operations signifies the importance of JIT, TQM, and FMS in improving the integration of various functional areas and alignment between business, manufacturing and quality improvement strategies. The role of knowledge workers and support services play a dominant role in improving productivity and quality in manufacturing organizations, especially in advanced manufacturing systems such as JIT, FMS and CIM.