There are a number of important methodologies being applied to manufacturing operations in order to improve performance (e.g., SPC, TQM, JIT, DOE, Management of Constraints, and the like). Each of these methods implies a set of either mutually conflicting or compatible strategies, which may be assumed or explicitly stated. Assuming that each has merit but none alone is a panacea, this program seeks to understand how these fit together coherently, and under what conditions each is applicable, to make the integrated system operate better than one running under several independent strategies and methodologies.
This research program seeks to understand what strategies work well in the USA production system, and to define where these approaches are synergistic and where they are conflicting. What is a minimum set (or sets) needed to achieve world class behavior? How to best reward performance improvement?
The industrial members of Research Group 5 developed a mission statement which describes our goals and philosophy.