39 research outputs found
From Fixed to Flexible: Automation and Work Organization Trends from the International Assembly Plant Survey
The paper is organized into seven sections. First, we define how we measure automation
in the assembly plant study. Second, we describe the overall regional trends in the use of
automation from 1989 to 1993/94. Third, we explore the patterns of usage for robotic equipment
across regions, emphasizing in particular the significant move by many companies towards the
replacement of fixed or "hard" automation with flexible, programmable automation. Fourth, we
explore departmental differences in the use of automation, emphasizing the evolution in thinking
about the most effective way to automate various tasks in the body, paint, and assembly shops.
While automation levels continue to rise in the body and paint shops, a different approach is
being taken in the assembly department, the most labor-intensive area of the plant and yet the
place where total automation solutions have been most elusive. Fifth, we describe how trends in
the adoption of flexible automation are linked to the adoption of flexible work practices that seek
to boost worker involvement in production-related problem-solving. Sixth, we summarize what
we have learned about the performance implications (in terms of productivity and quality) of the
automation trends described here. The seventh section presents our conclusions from these
analyses and our speculation about future trends in automotive manufacturing automation.The International Motor Vehicle Program
and the Sloan Foundation
Performance Findings of the International Assembly Plant Study
We recently undertook the largest in-depth evaluation ever of automobile assembly
plants around the world. In the Second Round of the International Assembly Plant Study, we
surveyed 88 automobile assembly plants representing 20 companies and as many nations (see figure 1 for a distribution of plants by region of the world). We collected data on a host of different issues ranging from production processes and design choices to labor relations and organization of work. Here we report on our performance findings. In addition to reporting on
our most recent findings, reflecting performance in 1993/4, we will compare those with the
performance findings of the First Round of the International Assembly Plant Study which took
place in 19892. European plants have shown the greatest percentage improvement in productivity of any region, but Korean plants, and plants in North America have also shown considerable gain. Given the minimal improvement in the average performance of Japanese-owned assembly plants in Japan, the performance gap between US and Japanese plants has closed significantly, although a differential still remains.
In the area of quality, the European and US producers have shown tremendous improvement, and are approaching Japanese quality levels. However, our quality data only reflects vehicles sold in the United States, and as such, may overstate the average quality level of the European producers. The quality level of new entrant plants (particularly Korea) has not
followed the world-wide trend in improvement in quality. One of our most important observations from this round is that there are tremendous
performance differentials within each region of the world. This reflects different capabilities of companies operating in those regions. We are currently undertaking extensive analyses to
understand the drivers of these intra-regional performance differences.MIT's International Motor Vehicle Program and the Sloan Foundatio
Social sustainability and human rights in global supply chains
Purpose: Firms are accountable for upholding worker rights and well-being in their supply base. We unpack the evolution in lead firm thinking and practice about how to assure labor conditions
at suppliers.
Design/Methodology/Approach: We conducted interviews with the social sustainability leaders at 22 global corporations (âlead firmsâ) and their sustainability consultants to understand how
they think about, and enact efforts, to support labor in their supply base. We complement this
with an analysis of stated practice in proprietary supplier codes of conduct for the manufacturing
and extractive-related firms in the S&P 500 and FTSE 350.
Findings: Our interviews suggest firms follow two distinct and cumulative approaches: a transactional-based approach leveraging collective buyer power to enforce supplier compliance;
and a relational-based approach focused on mutual capacity building between lead (buyer) firms
and their suppliers. We also see the emergence, in a small subset of firms, of a bottom-up
approach that recognizes supplier workers as rights-holders and empowers them to understand
and claim their rights.
Originality: We identify systematic convergence in supplier codes of conduct. While the transactional and relational approaches are well documented in the supply chain social
sustainability literature, the rights-holder approach is not. Its emergence presents an important
complement to the other approaches and enables a broader recognition of human rights, and the
duty of Western firms to assure those rights
International Assembly Plant Study: " Management of the Extended Enterprise" Research Team
During the past fiscal year, we have worked closely with a number of researchers from around
the world to develop a questionnaire that will provide us with a fuller understanding of the value-chain
issues that surround current automobile manufacturing. While centered on the assembly plant, we are
also looking at the interface between the plants and their suppliers, as well as the plants and their
distributors. We will summarize these efforts, as well as our timetable for data collection. In this writeup
we are focusing only on the work undertaken in relation to assembly plants. We have also done
extensive work in the Modularization/Outsourcing project that is helping to pave the way for some of the
assembly plant work; please refer to the separate report on that project
Project Report to International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP), M.I.T.International Assembly Plant Study
INTRODUCTION:
During the past fiscal year, we have worked closely with a number of researchers from around
the world to develop a questionnaire that will provide us with a fuller understanding of the value-chain
issues that surround current automobile manufacturing. While centered on the assembly plant, we are
also looking at the interface between the plants and their suppliers, as well as the plants and their
distributors. We will summarize these efforts, as well as our timetable for data collection. In this writeup
we are focusing only on the work undertaken in relation to assembly plants. We have also done
extensive work in the Modularization/Outsourcing project that is helping to pave the way for some of the
assembly plant work; please refer to the separate report on that project
Energy Systems Scenario Modelling and Long Term Forecasting of Hourly Electricity Demand
The Danish energy system is undergoing a transition from a system based on storable fossil fuels to a system based on fluctuating renewable energy sources. At the same time, more of and more of the energy system is becoming electrified; transportation, heating and fuel usage in industry and elsewhere.
This article investigates the development of the Danish energy system in a medium year 2030 situation as well as in a long-term year 2050 situation. The analyses are based on scenario development by the Danish Climate Commission. In the short term, it is investigated what the effects will be of having flexible or inflexible electric vehicles and individual heat pumps, and in the long term it is investigated what the effects of changes in the load profiles due to changing weights of demand sectors are. The analyses are based on energy systems simulations using EnergyPLAN and demand forecasting using the Helena model.
The results show that even with a limited short-term electric car fleet, these will have a significant effect on the energy system; the energy systemâs ability to integrated wind power and the demand for condensing power generation capacity in the system. Charging patterns and flexibility have significant effects on this. Likewise, individual heat pumps may affect the system operation if they are equipped with heat storages.
The analyses also show that the long-term changes in electricity demand curve profiles have little impact on the energy system performance. The flexibility given by heat pumps and electric vehicles in the long-term future overshadows any effects of changes in hourly demand curve profiles
Dynamic Nature of Production Models
Toyota and Volvo have traditionally been viewed as anchoring two extremes of production models that companies in the
automotive and other manufacturing sectors draw upon. The âToyota (Lean) Production Systemâ drove superior
organizational learning, innovation, and control with positive implications for customer-oriented outcomes. Volvo's
âReflective Productionâ model aimed to leverage and develop workersâ unique abilities, leading to adaptability, motivation,
satisfaction, and innovation at the individual and group levels, with positive benefits for employees. Through a longitudinal
case study, we show that environmental pressures, in the form of increased international product market competition and
labor market constraints, drove convergence across the two production systems as enacted at Volvo and Toyota, in
organizational structure, work design, and to a lesser extent, technology. The result is an integration of the adaptability,
motivation, and development of workers at the individual and group levels, with enhanced organizational capacity for
responsiveness, variability reduction, and innovation at the organizational level. Understanding how production models
evolve provides insight into their operation, their limitations, and the challenges that are associated with their study,
imitation, implementation, and use
Modularization and Outsourcing: Implications for the Future of Automotive Assembly "Management of the Extended Enterprise" Research Team
Overview
Twice in this century, automotive assembly has been the setting for dramatic innovations in
production organization that have transformed the basis of competition in the auto industry. Henry
Ford's mass production and Taiichi Ohno's lean production are both systems of interrelated practices
held together by a core "logic" - powerful ideas shaping how we think about "making things". As
we approach the second century of the car, there are important debates about whether, once again,
auto manufacturing will strike off in a new direction -- commonly described as "modular assembly."
Our IMVP research team aims to contribute to this debate through the research project described
below.
Deverticalization through the outsourcing of production from the large automakers to their
suppliers has been a dominant trend during the 1990s, including the transfer of component design
responsibility as well as manufacturing. A related trend is the effort to develop more modular
designs, i.e. self-contained functional units with standardized interfaces that can serve as building
blocks for a variety of different products. These trends have been visible in other industries for some
time, but they are relatively recent in the auto industry; as a result, the implications are still not clear.
In industries such as consumer electronics and personal computers, the ultimate consequence of
extensive outsourcing is often that the final customer, i.e. the Original Equipment Manufacturer
(OEM), manufactures very little in-house. When extensive outsourcing is combined with more
modular designs, the outcome can be a dramatic reshaping of the value chain. We want to
investigate the extent of these trends in the auto industry and evaluate the implications for the role of
automotive assembly and the structure of the entire industry, by doing case studies of specific
modules.
Institutional Labor Economics, the New Personnel Economics, and Internal Labor Markets: A Reconsideration
The author illustrates the utility of institutional labor economics and makes a case for a reconsideration of it. Two recent developments motivate this effort: the rise of New Personnel Economics (NPE) as a significant subfield of labor economics and the substantial shifts in work organization that have taken place since the 1990s. Understanding how and why firms have reorganized work opens the door for a renewed interest in institutional approaches. The author explains that the rules of institutional labor markets (ILMs) emerge from the competition between organizational interest groupsâunions, personnel professionals, and the governmentâand competing views of firmsâ objectivesâresulting in the rise of ILMs, the slow diffusion of High Performance Work Systems, strategies used to obtain a high level of commitment from workers, the use of contingent employees, and the spread of new promotion rules in response to equal employment opportunity pressures. As such, the role of power and influence in establishing work rules is of central concern, though more conventional NPE considerations also remain important