A Systems Approach to Engineering Organisation
| Date | 01 March 1991 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635579110141410 |
| Pages | 8-16 |
| Published date | 01 March 1991 |
| Author | J. Parnaby |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
8 INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT & DATA SYSTEMS 91,3
A Systems
Approach to
Engineering
Organisation
J. Parnaby
Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 91 No. 3, 1991. pp. 8-16.
MCB University Press Limited. 0263-5577
H
ere are a set of practical principles to
accelerate the change to new procedures
that may be necessary if an organisation
is to survive.
Background
It has become clear in the past ten years that in the
modern business environment, within which engineering
manufacturing companies operate, certain groups of
organisation practices and methodologies are much more
competitive and effective than others. The Japanese
approach is a particular example of an apparently highly
effective approach. The question worrying many European
business managers is whether it is necessary to spend
a long time evolving by trial and error new procedures
from traditional practices or whether there is a set of
practical fundamental principles available to accelerate the
process by rapid rational design. In many cases the
question is prompted by the need for organisations to
change quickly in order to survive.
To an engineering businessman the effectiveness of
manufacturing companies can be measured and compared
from a number of points of view. For example when
comparing the best Japanese companies with typical
European or North American companies operating in
similar markets, with similar proportions of bought out
and internally manufactured components of products, it
is often perceived that:
(1) Japanese companies achieve much higher sales per
employee ratios, i.e. operate with far fewer
staff.
(2) New products are introduced in a substantially
shorter time scale and at a higher rate.
(3) The effectiveness of use of engineers is much
higher.
Figure
1
illustrates, using an overall input-output diagram
for
a
manufacturing business system,
how
the achievement
of typical competitive performance indicators in a
multivariable fashion requires the design of a number of
organisational elements.
Figure 2 illustrates the idea of an engineering manu-
facturing business being comprised of core processes
which flow through the business. These have to be
managed from end to end. Such processes have two very
important features influencing business competitiveness:
©
The
Strathclyde Institute
Ltd,
1989.
All rights
reserved. This
article
was
first presented at the
1989
International Conference
on Strategic Manufacturing, organised by the Strathclyde
Institute, Glasgow.
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