MSD of Automotive Bumper MFG v3.doc Submitted to the Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 2001 1 Manufacturing System Design of Automotive Bumper Manufacturing

This paper presents an evaluation of the manufacturing system design of two automotive manufacturing plants, located in North America. The manufacturing system designs are evaluated in terms of the achievement of design requirements stated by the Manufacturing System Design Decomposition (MSDD). The accomplishment of the design requirements is assessed through aggregated measurables, which are then related to the MSDD. The qualitative outcome of this study illustrates that the plant that more closely achieves the requirements stated by the MSDD, better satisfies the desired results of a manufacturing enterprise