Exploiting the concept of a manufacturing system part I: The relationship with process control

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish the influence and discipline of process control and systems engineering theory plus engineering practices in the chemical process industry on current operations management development. Thus, part I lays the requisite groundwork for subsequent papers, part II covering the concept of a manufacturing system and part III its expansion and exploitation into the managing-by-projects engineering change methodology to output an integrated whole. Design/methodology/approach – Extensive literature and wide ranging project review identifying relevance, mode of transference and application of process control techniques in discrete manufacture and other enterprises. Findings – Such “technology transfer” of the systems method has visibly improved discrete production performance, often to a state of international competitiveness. Contributions are made at many levels. These range from exploiting elements of the business process systems engineering (BPSE) toolkit is used to analyse material flow right up to examples of successfully enabling of the corporate achievement plan in large organisations. Research limitations/implications – Established systems philosophy is widely relevant. However, the point at which it transforms into systems engineering is application specific. Practical implications – No constraints are evident on application, but the extent of useful application is critically dependent on competence and culture of the enterprise. BPSE cannot be regarded as a “quick fix” panacea. It requires extensive and effective investment in people. For this reason a caveat emptor warning appears that applying the systems approach will fail unless taken seriously at all levels in the business. Originality/value – Originality confined to the domain of bringing existing knowledge together and exploiting it in such a way that the contribution to knowledge is greater than the sum of the constituent parts