Maintenance strategy selection and its impact in maintenance function

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 1622-1661 ◽  
Author(s):  
R S Velmurugan ◽  
Tarun Dhingra

Purpose – This paper aims to synthesize and categorize the published literatures related to maintenance strategies formulation, selection and implementation in various industries. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework based on literature review for formulation of maintenance strategies, selection and the implementation of selected strategies. Further, to study on impact of maintenance strategies implementation in maintenance function. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review has been carried out to identify the existing frameworks related to maintenance strategies formulation, selection of maintenance strategy and implementation of maintenance strategy in the industry. Literature support for all the conceptual constructs referred in the framework has been discussed to establish a logical sequence. Findings – A conceptual framework for maintenance strategies formulation, selection and implementation and its impact in maintenance function has been developed. Further, constructs and sub-constructs which form the basis for maintenance strategies formulation, selection and implementation have been identified from the literatures. In addition, propositions have also been formulated to support the conceptual framework and these propositions provide the logical relationship among the maintenance strategies formulation, selection among the formulated strategies and the implementation of these strategies. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual framework developed in this paper for maintenance strategy formulation and selection is yet to be empirically tested. The proposed framework can be tested in various industries. Practical implications – Literature study on maintenance strategy formulation and selection has so far been very limited. Maintenance strategy selection is a critical decision-making problem for the maintenance managers working in the process plant, manufacturing companies, etc. The conceptual framework proposed in this paper will help maintenance managers to asses, formulate, select suitable maintenance strategy and implement for their organization. Originality/value – The paper provides comprehensive study on maintenance strategy problem which will be useful to researchers, maintenance managers and other professionals in various industries such as process industry, manufacturing industry, etc., to understand maintenance strategy selection problem and implementation of maintenance strategy.

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1015-1033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Scott McLean ◽  
Jiju Antony

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review current continuous improvement implementation models and frameworks, and present a new conceptual framework tailored specifically to the needs of UK manufacturing companies. Design/methodology/approach The paper details the in-depth review of 20 existing models or frameworks for continuous improvement implementation, demonstrating the need for a new industry and region specific solution. Through the incorporation of previous findings from literature, coupled with the positive aspects of the current offerings, a new conceptual framework for continuous improvement implementation in UK manufacturing companies is presented. Findings The paper demonstrates the need for industry and region specific frameworks and demonstrates that current models and frameworks do not completely fulfil the objective of the research. A new continuous improvement implementation framework is therefore presented in a user friendly format, comprising positive aspects of previous models and frameworks where applicable. Research limitations/implications The focus of the research is limited to the UK and the manufacturing industry. It is therefore not clear the applicability of the framework presented to other regions and industries. The framework presented is also conceptual at this stage and requires validation through interview and application. Practical implications The framework presented will provide senior managers wishing to implement continuous improvement an understanding of the high level process, as well as awareness of their role within the roll out. Overall, the framework provides a clear guide whilst also allowing for individual tailoring of the elements contained to the needs of the company. Originality/value The paper presents a new conceptual framework; the first to be tailored to the needs of UK manufacturing companies. The framework has also been demonstrated to be a more robust solution than those currently in existence.


2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selim Zaim ◽  
Ali Turkyılmaz ◽  
Mehmet F. Acar ◽  
Umar Al‐Turki ◽  
Omer F. Demirel

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the use of two general purpose decision‐making techniques in selecting the most appropriate maintenance strategy for organizations with critical production requirements.Design/methodology/approachThe Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and the Analytical Network Process (ANP) are used for the selection of the most appropriate maintenance strategy in a local newspaper printing facility in Turkey.FindingsThe two methods were shown to be effective in choosing a strategy for maintaining the printing machines. The two methods resulted in almost the same results. Both methods take into account the specific requirements of the organization through its own available expertise.Practical implicationsThe techniques demonstrated in this paper can be used by all types of organizations for selecting and adopting maintenance strategies that have higher impact on maintenance performance and hence overall business productivity. The two methods are explained in a step‐by‐step approach for easier adaptation by practitioners in all types of organizations.Originality/valueThe value of the paper is in applying AHP and ANP decision‐making methodologies in maintenance strategy selection. These two methods are not very common in the area of maintenance, and hence add to the pool of techniques utilized in selecting maintenance strategies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 51-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malek Tajadod ◽  
Mohammadali Abedini ◽  
Ali Rategari ◽  
Mohammadsadegh Mobin

The growth of world-class manufacturing companies and global competition caused significant changes in the manufacturing companies operations. These changes have affected maintenance and made its role even more crucial to stay ahead of the competition. Maintenance strategy selection is one of the strategic decision-making issues that manufacturing companies in the current competitive world are facing. In this paper, a comparison between different Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approaches is conducted in a dairy manufacturing factory to rank the maintenance strategies. The aim is to suggest an appropriate approach for the best selection of the maintenance strategy. The decision-making elements including evaluation criteria/sub-criteria and problem alternatives, i.e., maintenance strategies are determined and a group of experts from the case-study factory are asked to make their pair-wise comparisons. The pair-wise comparison matrix is constructed by using the crisp and triangular fuzzy numbers, while the aggregation of individual priorities (AIP) approach is utilized to aggregate the decision-makers' judgments. The priority vectors of decision elements are calculated by Mikhailov's fuzzy preference programming (FPP) methods and the final weights of the decision elements are found. Results show that when the effectiveness of one element on the other elements is higher, it will have greater weights; and therefore, the results from the analytic network process (ANP) method is completely different from those of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The reason for the differences between the AHP and Fuzzy AHP (FAHP) with the ANP and Fuzzy ANP (FANP) is that both AHP and FAHP evaluate the criteria only based on the level of importance and do not consider the interdependencies and interactions among the evaluation elements. In this research, a predictive maintenance is selected as the most appropriate strategy in the case company and the preventive strategies outperformed the corrective strategies. The results of this research are consistent with the results of previous studies found in the literature.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prodromos Chatzoglou ◽  
Dimitrios Chatzoudes

Purpose Nowadays, innovation appears as one of the main driving forces of organisational success. Despite the above fact, its impact on the propensity of an organisation to develop and sustain a competitive advantage has not yet received sufficient empirical investigation. The purpose of this paper is to enhance the existing empirical literature by focusing on the antecedents of innovation and its impact on competitive advantage. It proposes a newly developed conceptual framework that adopts a three-step approach, highlighting areas that have rarely been simultaneously examined before. Design/methodology/approach The examination of the proposed conceptual framework was performed with the use of a newly developed structured questionnaire that was distributed to a group of Greek manufacturing companies. The questionnaire has been successfully completed by chief executive officers (CEOs) from 189 different companies. CEOs were used as key respondents due to their knowledge and experience. The reliability and the validity of the questionnaire were thoroughly examined. Empirical data were analysed using the structural equation modelling technique. The study is empirical (based on primary data), explanatory (examines cause and effect relationships), deductive (tests research hypotheses) and quantitative (includes the analysis of quantitative data collected with the use of a structured questionnaire). Findings Results indicate that knowledge management, intellectual capital, organisational capabilities and organisational culture have significant direct and indirect effects on innovation, underlining the importance of their simultaneous enhancement. Finally, the positive effect of innovation on the creation of competitive advantages is empirically validated, bridging the gap in the relevant literature and offering avenues for additional future research. Originality/value The causal relationship between innovation and competitive advantage, despite its significant theoretical support, has not been empirically validated. The present paper aspires to bridge this gap, investigating the impact of innovation on the development of competitive advantages. Moreover, the present study adopts a multidimensional approach that has never been explored in the existing innovation literature, making the examination of the proposed conceptual framework an interesting research topic.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Bayo-Moriones ◽  
Alejandro Bello-Pindado

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact on manufacturing performance of human resource management (HRM) practices across two job levels within manufacturing firms in Argentina and Uruguay: that of line managers and frontline workers. HRM practices are categorised into three bundles defined by the AMO theoretical framework: ability, motivation and opportunity.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses data from a survey to 301 manufacturing plants in Uruguay and Argentina. Given the characteristics of the dependent variable, linear regression models have been estimated in order to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that the ability and opportunity bundles for line managers are positively associated with manufacturing performance. However, only the motivation bundle affects manufacturing performance for frontline workers.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitations are the use of cross-sectional data, the focus on two specific countries and the analysis of two employee categories that are not completely homogenous. The paper extends the contingency perspective in HRM by examining the relevance of job level as a contingent factor in the HRM-performance relationship in the manufacturing industry.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that manufacturing companies should target HR investments more towards line managers than to frontline employees. More specifically, they should concentrate efforts on the ability and opportunity bundles.Originality/valueThe article contributes to the very limited empirical evidence on the impact of HRM differentiation on firm performance by analysing sub-dimensions in a context not previously analysed.


2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristóbal Sánchez‐Rodríguez ◽  
David Hemsworth ◽  
Ángel R. Martínez‐Lorente

PurposeSupply chain management is an increasingly important organizational concern, and proper management of supplier relationships constitutes one essential element of supply chain success. However, there is little empirical research that has tested the effect of supplier development on performance. The main objective is to analyze the effect of supplier development practices with different levels of implementation complexity on the firm's purchasing performance.Design/methodology/approachThree supplier development constructs were defined: basic supplier development, moderate supplier development, and advanced supplier development. Three structural models were hypothesized and tested using structural equation modeling through field research on a sample of 306 manufacturing companies in Spain.FindingsIdentified important interrelationships among the various supplier development practices, basic, moderate, and advanced. Also indicated that the implementation of supplier development practices significantly contributes to the prediction of purchasing performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of a single key informant could be seen as a potential limitation of the study. The study was a cross‐sectional and descriptive sample of the manufacturing industry at a given point in time. A more stringent test of the relationships between the different levels of supplier development and performance requires a longitudinal study, or field experiment.Practical implicationsThis study focused on supplier development practices and revealed how involving suppliers in supplier development activities is important and may help buyers to increase their purchasing performance. The findings from the structural analysis should provide practicing managers with insights on how these practices and their benefits are related in terms of purchasing performance, thus affecting their ability to make better sourcing decisions.Originality/valueFills an important gap in the purchasing literature with respect to the area of supplier development. While there is much written about supplier development based on conceptual and case study research, this study is unique in that it is the first attempt to empirically model the relationships between different levels of supplier development and their impact on purchasing performance using a comprehensive set of practices.


2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (8) ◽  
pp. 1346-1368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rao Sanaullah Khan ◽  
John Vincent Grigor ◽  
Alan G. Win ◽  
Mike Boland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to sketch a comparative account of NPD approaches between registered New Zealand food companies that are doing some sort of functional foods (FF) development (Group 1) and those that are not (Group 2); to generate a better understanding of differences and commonalities in their NPD approaches from resource-based view of competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach – This paper opted an exploratory approach using a quantitative survey across food manufacturing companies in New Zealand. The primary foci of this empirical investigation were: orientation towards the NPD, innovation processes, collaborative NPD links and routes to commercialisation. Findings – The results (based on a 22 per cent response rate) show a significant difference (p<0.05) in the aims and mode of NPD between Groups 1 and 2. Further it was observed that food companies in Group 1 have significantly (p<0.05) more diverse external collaborations with broader aims to collaborate, in comparison with food companies in Group 2. Research limitations/implications – This study was conducted in New Zealand and thus generalisability of the findings may have to be interpreted carefully. Practical implications – The traditional NPD approach (independent and closed NPD), with loose intellectual property protection practices, dominates the food manufacturing industry in New Zealand. Research-oriented collaborations need to be strengthened in their scope and content to develop the innovative capabilities and capacities of small and medium enterprises (SME's) within future value-added food productions. Originality/value – This research provides the comparative narration of innovation process of food manufacturing companies with reference to FFs development.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriella Engström ◽  
Kristina Sollander ◽  
Per Hilletofth ◽  
David Eriksson

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore reshoring drivers and barriers from a Swedish manufacturing perspective.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a case study, including four Swedish manufacturing companies, with focus on drivers and barriers from the context of the Swedish manufacturing industry. A literature review of previously established drivers and barriers is used to map out the empirical findings and thereby identify potential gaps between the current body of literature and drivers and barriers from a Swedish manufacturing context.FindingsThe findings of the study suggest that quality issues continue to be one of the strongest reshoring drivers. Except for product quality, quality is also connected to host country’s infrastructure, communication and service. The supply chain perspective is a source of several drivers and is identified as a perspective often overlooked in offshoring decisions. Barriers related to firm specifics were more elaborately discussed by the companies, especially concerning calculation of location decision and the need to invest in resources, which allows for a higher level of capacity at the home country facility.Research limitations/implicationsThe study develops a structured table of reshoring drivers and barriers which can serve as a base for future research. Future research on the calculation of location decisions is deemed as a crucial step to further understand reshoring and aid companies in the decision-making process.Practical implicationsThe drivers and barriers identified in the study can give practitioners insight into reshoring from the perspective of the Swedish manufacturing industry and thus aid in future manufacturing location decisions. The table of drivers and barriers can also be important to understand how Sweden can strengthen its competitive advantage and motivate more companies to reshore manufacturing.Originality/valueThis is one of only few papers from the Nordic countries and also one of few case studies examining reshoring in manufacturing companies.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oran Doherty ◽  
Simon Stephens

PurposeThis paper explores the implications for higher education of the rapid development in technology used by the manufacturing sector. Higher education programmes change or new courses are introduced in attempts to match labour market demands. However, the pace of change in the manufacturing industry challenges the authors to reconceive how programmes and modules can and should be designed and delivered.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on interviews with 26 senior management representatives from manufacturing companies in Ireland. The 26 senior managers and their companies represent the wide diversity of Ireland's manufacturing sector. All the interviews were face to face, complimented by a short questionnaire. Follow-up interviews focussed on the emergent findings were carried out to aid the writing of recommendations for the best practice in programme design and delivery.FindingsWhat emerges from this study is that the manufacturing industry needs skills at three distinct levels. The authors define and classify the skill requirements at entry, competent and expert level. The authors place an emphasis on upskilling as an aid to movement between the three levels. In addition, and significantly, the desired time frame for delivery of these skills and/or upskilling is very short.Originality/valueAccelerated reskilling programmes with faster, shorter bursts of work-based learning (WBL) and experiential training are required. With a growing demand for those at competent and expert level, it is necessary to promote WBL to facilitate the upskilling of those employed in manufacturing roles, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1711-1741
Author(s):  
Franciele Bonatto ◽  
Luis Mauricio Martins de Resende ◽  
Joseane Pontes

PurposeThe goal of this research is to establish which contextual factors influence the selection of relational governance instruments in supply chains (SCs) and how these factors impact the expected performance.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review (SLR) identified 103 conceptual, empirical and analytical studies between 2007 and 2017.FindingsA conceptual framework is developed from the categorization of contextual factors, relational governance instruments and expected SC performance. The conceptual framework provides three propositions: (1) The choice for relational governance instrument is influenced differently by the contextual factors; (2) the impact that the contextual factors have on the governance instruments and SC performance is mediated by trust; (3) The SC performance is affected differently by the instruments of flexibility, solidarity and information sharing.Practical implicationsThe findings of this research can help business managers better govern and know the contextual factors and use different relational governance instruments and trust dimensions to drive the expected results of the SC.Originality/valueThe synthesis reveals contingencies of relational governance instruments in SCs for performance expected in different contexts and proposes a standpoint for further research in the area.


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