Total Operations Solutions
A holistic approach to Operations Management, this book focuses on value chain management, addresses new and current issues, and covers an implementation program to demonstrate how to put the methodology into practice.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Total Operations Solutions
Foundation 11: Appropriate Technology
Foundation 11: Appropriate Technology
Many people in both the manufacturing and service sectors may equate business competitiveness with the state of the art technology such as on-line e-commerce or robotics. On the other hand, Putt's law says in jest, Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand. This may be a quip, but a study by Gartner (2002) concluded that when applying a new technology to a business, 70% of benefits are derived from improved business practices and only 30% from the actual implementation of technology. So do we need these technologies? Yes, appropriate but not necessarily advanced technology is essential to becoming and remaining a world class organization. In this section we discuss the key considerations for adopting technology in both manufacturing and service applications.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing technology is popularly seen as the main factor contributing to the manufacturing advantage more than any other elements or foundation stones. However a high tech strategy is not necessarily the best strategy. Selecting or failing to select the correct technology can have long-term and serious repercussions for a business. Technology can give a competitive advantage if managed well. If not managed well, or if the wrong technology is selected then the results can be catastrophic. If an organization is inefficient and not capable of managing standard technology, the introduction of advanced technology will only create further problems.
An international benchmarking survey between the USA, Japan...
Copyright Ron Basu and J. Nevan Wright 2005 under license agreement with Books24x7
