CIM planning: an exploratory study of factors practitioners perceive important to CIM planning success

Our purpose in conducting this exploratory study was to identify the factors that practitioners perceived to be important to the success of CIM ( Computer Integrated Manufacturing) planning. We reviewed the CIM literature and conducted personal interviews with practitioners to develop a list of factors believed to influence the success of CIM planning. Next, we developed a survey to evaluate the importance of the factors that the practitioners perceived to influence CIM planning success. A factor analysis was conducted on the data obtained through the surveys. The factor analysis produced the following five factors: Planning and Preparing for Implementation; Top Management Support and Leadership; Team/Worker Planning and Involvement; Functional Manager Support and Involvement; and Organizational Changes. Further analysis suggested that practitioners perceived Top Management Support and Leadership to be the most important factor, Organizational Changes to be the least important, and the other three factors to be equally important. Our findings underscore the importance of top management in facilitating the planning process and the roles of functional managers and workers in developing the plans.