Implementing an industrial continuous improvement system: a knowledge management case study
| Pages | 330-338 |
| Published date | 01 October 2000 |
| Date | 01 October 2000 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570010349113 |
| Author | Alan J. Beckett,Charles E.R. Wainwright,David Bance |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Implementing an industrial continuous improvement
system: a knowledge management case study
Alan J. Beckett
Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, UK
Charles E.R. Wainwright
Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, UK
David Bance
Domino UK Ltd, Cambridge, UK
Introduction
Manufacturing organisations are facing
increasing levels of competition due to the
globalisation of product markets. To survive,
it has become vital to achieve sustainable
competitive advantages. As a basis to achieve
such advantages, organisations may seek to
optimise the operation of their
manufacturing systems. Initially, therefore,
organisations should maintain closed-loop
control processes to allow process outputs to
modify inputs, continuously improving the
production process.
However, as will be described in more
detail, for organisations where products and
processes are subject to rapid change, such as
is common in small and medium-sized
enterprises, the application of continuous
improvement to production processes alone
cannot sustain a competitive advantage.
The purpose of this research was to test the
contention that the concept of feedback
control could be of benefit to all sections of
the enterprise if the emphasis was changed
from supporting process efficiency to a
general business deliverable of competitive
advantage. This widened the scope of
continuous improvement (CI), resulting in an
integrated system that encompasses
organisational functions outside production
process control, such as product
development, design and research. The
application of CI in this context requires an
inter-functional integration of
communications. This raises issues,
particularly of implementation, that must be
addressed aside from those commonly
influencing CI implementations. This
extends into the discipline of knowledge-
management strategies and techniques,
which may be used to provide a conceptual
framework to guide implementation of the
system.
This paper comprises four sections:
.In the first the various terms and concepts
of feedback control, continuous
improvement and knowledge
management are defined.
.In the second section, these ideas are
combined to form a framework applicable
to the medium-sized enterprise under
study.
.The third section details the
implementation of the system and the
enabling technologies used.
.The fourth section details the benefits
obtained, and the issues addressed.
Definitions
Overview of process monitoring systems
The need for negative-feedback control
systems (Figure 1) in manufacturing
operations has been recognised for many
years. Indeed, failure to adopt such practices
contributed to the failure of many early
materials requirements planning (MRP)
implementations (Browne et al., 1988). To
monitor and improve manufacturing
processes, therefore, there are a number of
accepted techniques to aid fault diagnostics
and to guide improvements based on quality
measures (Kepner and Tregoe, 1965; Hamada
et al., 1993; Duffy, 1995; Beroggi and Aebi,
1996).
In some industries and enterprises, these
principles have been automated, offering
greater speed and accuracy of data capture
and analysis (Tannock, 1992). These are
described by sector 1 in Figure 2, as
organisations using simple processes to
operate within stable markets (Puttick, 1990).
In such organisations, process efficiency
becomes the major factor that determines
competitiveness.
This area has seen the highest adoption of
expert system technology, because the
processes are easily understood and remain
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available
at
http://www.emerald-library.com
[ 330 ]
Industrial Management &
Data Systems
100/7 [2000] 330±338
#MCB University Press
[ISSN 0263-5577]
Keywords
Knowledge management,
Continuous improvement, Quality
Abstract
Describes the practical
application, in an industrial
setting, of an information system
designed to support continuous
improvements. This system, based
on a quality monitoring system,
differs from conventional
application in that it seeks to
support both quality conformance
and continuous improvements to
design and research activities.
Such activities traditionally fall
outside the quality management
function, but are encompassed
within knowledge management
goals and techniques, which are
used in this research to construct
a system framework. The
integration of information into
functional areas previously
unlinked to manufacturing issues
is illustrated as the major obstacle
which had to be overcome. The
implications for management
practices are subsequently
described. Concludes that
knowledge management
principles can support a wider
application of continuous
improvement to obtain benefits for
the organisation, by providing
higher quality information, and
increasing the levels of
organisational expertise which
can be applied to it.
To continue reading
Request your trial