Title: A systems model for performance appraisal in small manufacturing industries

Authors: Dinesh Khanduja, V.P. Wani, Sahib Sartaj Singh

Addresses: Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra (Haryana), India. ' National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra (Haryana), India. ' Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra (Haryana), India

Abstract: To achieve |Manufacturing Excellence|, small-scale industries must exploit all available decision support systems to supplement production planning for greater productivity. Since these industries mostly have tangible and simple objectives, levels of productivity and profitability ought to be the major indices for sustainability in today|s dynamic and competitive environment. Perceiving these indices as a major manifestation of industrial sickness, a study was carried out over 500 small units (covering six labour-intensive clusters) to segregate them into four categories: critically sick, sick, apparently normal and normal. Small industries in India face a multitude of problems leading to low productivity levels. Poor utilisation of available industrial capacity is one of the most serious causes of this. A six-step plan is suggested to enhance this capacity utilisation as a productivity improvement strategy. A Systems Model is devised and another case study is cited to quantitatively compute improvement in productivity for different subsystems and the whole unit as a system.

Keywords: small-scale industries; interfirm comparison; capacity utilisation; key performance areas; performance objectives; weightage factor; productivity improvement index; manufacturing excellence; manufacturing industry; small firms; performance measurement; decision support systems; DSS; production planning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGSB.2009.021569

International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, 2009 Vol.3 No.1, pp.41 - 54

Published online: 30 Nov 2008 *

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