Autor: Roland Schmidt

Increased productivity is a fundamental paradigm of successful business. No wonder management efforts are focused primarily on this “golden calf” of the market economy. There are enough scientific publications dealing with this topic to fill libraries. Never before have we seen so many students educated in the field of Economics at university level. Despite knowing a great deal about tools, methods and procedures, at the place where value is created we continue to think about the same questions and the same productivity deficits: Why is it that companies continue to lose the ability to maintain lean, productive processes in spite of having access to all instruments in the field of Economics? Why do many companies permit the growth of unproductive performance even though they have just introduced controlling instruments to prevent this from happening? Why is it so difficult to achieve significant, sustainable productivity growth even though companies often have access to a broad ...

Reacting quickly to rapidly changing market needs is, unsurprisingly, a basic requirement for profitable manufacturing. Why turn what is common sense into a science? Agility is the new buzzword. But is it merely „old wine in new bottles“ like so many things in the field of logistics or is it an interesting or even the decisive approach towards ensuring profitable production? Agility in its final perception is an organizations’ ability to swiftly and specifically utilize all available forces in order to fulfill an order. That is to meet requirements with agility. Agility and the excessive focus on detail and planning are oxymorons which are frequently found in both individuals and scientific literature. Agility is the manifestation of good leadership and is pretty much the opposite of planning optimization, high detailing and comprehensive forecasts which is why it is so difficult to describe it within the classic mainstream of logistics research. What really makes production ...

What makes Austria sufficiently interesting as a manufacturing location so that companies continue to invest, while other locations in the world offer more advantageous conditions which are relevant to manufacturing? It will always be possible to find regions offering cheaper labor, lax rules of operation in terms of environmental criteria or fewer regulatory stipulations. Yet, highly successful enterprises continue to count firmly on sites here. It must surely be down to the driving spirit of change as so aptly defined in the Economist „...to take part in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress...“. As clear and as simple as this may seem, the difficulty lies in translating this into everyday corporate life. It takes courage to look beyond the boundaries of one’s own experience, while we are always immersed in a framework defined by people of different characters. Only by seeking and accepting what ...

Companies are established, grow and prosper and also go bankrupt during the course of a lifetime. However, how can it be possible that a company selling the same products in the same market manufactured by the same employees shortly after coming very close to bankruptcy subsequently turns into a flagship company? Is it possibly that only very subtle differences combined with the attitude of those involved are the factors which make a difference? Firm goals and brilliant leadership are the keys to successful business reengineering. Leadership is much more than mere management. An example taken from the machine-building industry emphasizes the significance of leadership for success.

There is hardly a company that would not claim to be very flexible. Being flexible has become essential in today’s business world. It is a common misconception to consider high flexibility as the ability to compensate for weaknesses in processes or their design. On the other hand it is associated with the readiness or acceptance of the staff to cushion surges in needed capacity without additional expenses being incurred whatever induced the fluctuations. In times of market depression as we see today the narrow limits become blatantly apparent in the light of the current redundancy trend. If flexibility to such an extent is an important characteristic of manufacturers how and where can we see it? Proper process design which orients itself by the principles of simplicity and clarity is the core of highly flexible manufacturing systems. In conclusion by examining manufacturing processes of a low volume production the necessary prerequisites, the potential gains as well as limitations to ...

Traditional understanding of production planning and scheduling in concordance with IT support has led to an increasing complexity and instability of production schedules. Since their advent, ERP-systems problem solving approaches have basically remained the same: Intricate planning and meticulous detailing have resulted in sprawling complexity and massive IT employment. Yet, another approach is possible: Simple process design, courage to accept fuzziness in detail and rigorous process orientation will lead to a production system without the need for detailed, pseudo-accurate schedules calculated by ERP-systems. The design of manufacturing and materials logistics is, therefore, revived as a matter of brainwork. This simple environment is crucial in achieving minimum lead-times and inventories which is accomplished with less administrative effort. By using this concept of production planning and control at a production plant for welding elements as an example, this article emphasizes ...