RETRACTED: The manufacturing enterprise diagnostic instrument: A tool for assessment of enterprise system manufacturers (Retracted Article)

Small- to medium-size manufacturers constitute the bulk of the U.S. manufacturing sector and are in a dire need of a tool that will help them face the challenges of globalization and increasing costs of manufacturing in the United States. The objectives were to develop and validate a diagnostic tool for manufacturing firms to evaluate their enterprise system performance to eliminate trial-and-error decisions and allow quick and informed actions. A pilot version was developed and tested in a small manufacturer. A revised version was then developed and further tested in another firm. Testing of the tool's pilot version provided invaluable feedback for developing the main tool. When tested in a small manufacturing firm, the results demonstrated management's misalignment and identified the root causes hindering performance. The tool demonstrated a quick and effective way to evaluate the manufacturing system's performance and to develop an aligned improvement action plan to guide the managerial team in devising a winning business strategy. (C) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.