Operational performance measures in a just-in-time environment

Includes bibliographical references (pages [127]-133).Corporations today are faced with a global economy that is represented by customers that are requiring higher-quality, innovative products at lower prices with quicker response times. To compete in this fast-paced, competitive environment, firms are searching for new measures and methodologies that will aid the process of satisfying their customers? needs and expectations. Many companies have considered moving towards methodologies such as just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing that focus on providing the customer with a highvalue, quality product when the customer desires it. In a JIT environment, new operational performance measures such as leadtime, inventory levels, and throughput are paramount. However, it is unclear how the JIT metrics will benefit the firm and what savings could be realized with the implementation of JIT systems. Additionally, many corporations are reluctant to relinquish their existing traditional performance measures for the JIT metrics. The focus of this research is to develop a framework for evaluating traditional performance measures against JIT metrics. The goal of this framework is to assist firms that are considering implementing JIT into their manufacturing systems. The framework will provide a sequential set of steps that should be taken to appropriately evaluate the cost, quality, and service impact realized from changing to a JIT performance measure from a traditional metric. A manufacturer involved in a JIT implementation will be used to validate the framework. In addition to the proposed framework, a suggested list of easily understood measures that adhere to JIT principles will be proposed and examples of tracking mechanisms will be supplied for use by shop floor workers, production supervisors and operations management.M.S. (Master of Science