STREAMLINING THE ORDER-DELIVERY PROCESS WITH A FRAMEWORK FOR IMPROVING MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

This paper presents a framework for evaluating and improving manufacturing systems that is being developed in an on-going research project. The framework is intended to assist companies in evaluating the current state, and identifying the improvement potential, of their manufacturing systems. The framework consists of desired characteristics of a manufacturing system that have been classified along two dimensions: decision areas in manufacturing system improvement and manufacturing objectives. With regard to manufacturing, the aim is to support the development of a manufacturing system that is able to produce the required product variety and volume efficiently, using rapid and reliable processes. The framework is considered from the viewpoint of the order-delivery process. It is shown that the framework supports simplifying and streamlining the configuration and manufacturing processes, which contributes towards improving the performance of an order-delivery process. The relevance of the framework is also discussed, on the basis of which the framework is seen to have the potential to become a useful tool for companies aiming to improve their manufacturing systems and order-delivery processes.