Title: A qualitative study of factors affecting the synchronous flow of materials and their impact on the bottom line

Authors: Rameshwar Dubey; Padmanabha Aital

Addresses: Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management (Constituent of Symbiosis International University), Plot No. A-23, Shravan Sector, CIDCO, New Nashik-422008, India ' Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management (Constituent of Symbiosis International University), Plot No. A-23, Shravan Sector, CIDCO, New Nashik-422008, India

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the antecedents of synchronous manufacturing and conceptualise a contextual model for the same. There are umpteen factors that play vital roles in synchronising the entire production facility to effectively reduce operational expenses while efficiently meeting customer requirements. The prime focus of this paper is to study the interrelations among these antecedents using interpretive structural modelling (ISM) and thus find out their contributions in ensuring an efficient synchronous system. We conducted detailed literature review of both synchronous manufacturing and its antecedents and applications of ISM technique in various related fields to define scope of the paper and further extend the works of the past researchers. Our use of ISM modelling in synchronous manufacturing, in establishing complex relationship among antecedents of synchronous manufacturing is a key contribution. The results show that out of the various factors, market demand and ERP play a significant role in the efficient utilisation of synchronous manufacturing.

Keywords: synchronous manufacturing; interpretive structural modelling; ISM; MICMAC; production bottlenecks; synchronous flow; materials flow; bottom line; market demand; enterprise resource planning; ERP.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2015.069149

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2015 Vol.8 No.3, pp.357 - 374

Published online: 30 Apr 2015 *

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