Exploring how to develop customer-oriented business strategies in a clothing supply chain: a study in Southern China

Understanding customer expectations is one of the keys to success for today's clothing manufacturers. Previous studies have explained how operational performance can be improved by a better understanding of customer-perceived values. This paper presents an analysis of data collected through a questionnaire from 62 clothing manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) of Southern China. The data collected was first classified into three groups using cluster analysis. The classification is based on how well the respondents recognize the expectations of their customers, including both industrial customers and consumers. The paper then empirically explores the characteristics of each group and how such characteristics are related to the internal operations performance; internal operations are grouped into two major types: planning processes and operational processes. The paper concludes by presenting a relationship model that can be used as a reference tool by those organizations operating in the PRD clothing industry to improve internal operations performance by enhancing customer satisfaction.published_or_final_versio

Case based polishing process planning with fuzzy set theory

It is difficult to make optimal process planning for polishing product because of the complex processes and the multi-criteria, attributes and vagueness of process parameters. To solve this problem, this paper combines the methodologies of Case Based Reasoning (CBR) and fuzzy Set Theory (FST) to support process planners in planning processes and making decisions effectively for polishing product. Moreover, various mathematical models are designed and integrated to the Web Based Portal System (WBPS) which supports the optimization computation of process parameter settings and case reasoning for polishing product. Finally, some cooker samples from the collaborating company have been collected to demonstrate the effectiveness of Case Based Process Planning (CBPP) model. © 2008 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM 2009), Singapore, 8-11 December 2008. In Proceedings of IEEM, 2008, p. 326-33

A Chinese Perspective on Total Quality Management: The Recapitulation of Confucian Principles

Focuses on Chinese managers' perception on total quality management (TQM). Discussion on TQM; Factors needed to achieve high quality performance in an organization

質量管理在中國香港的應用

Hong Kong′s current quality management philosophy can best be described as imported and experimental. This is because Hong Kong is at the interface of Eastern and Western culture, and modern quality management philosophies are at first imported from the West and implanted into the Hong Kong Subsidiaries of American and European controlled companies. Local experience in quality management is usually obtained via trial and error, and through progressive modifications. The influence of Chinese culture on quality management in Hong Kong has formed the main subject of this study. This study is to initiate the interest to develop modern quality management concepts based on Chinese culture. Some initial results suggest that Hong Kong managers have great interest in applying Chinese working principle to quality management. 香港工商企業的質量管理大部分都采用西方的質量管理概念。每當范疇擴展到建立人的優質思想和意識時，便遇到不少困難，基于上述問題，作者進行了一系列的研究，希望了解‘文化’與‘優質管理’之間的關系，并將中國的優良文化傳統應用于現代質量管理之中。研究結果顯示，‘管理哲學’是重要的一環，而我國的哲學極為豐富，作者借此文章，希望引起更多中國人在這方面的興趣，從而進行更深入地研究和推廣

An application of TQM concepts in education

Discusses an application of total quality management (TQM) concepts in education. Applies the concepts to a quality management programme for industrial and engineering managers. Covers both the aspects of syllabus design and the operation and monitoring of the programme with this application. The application is based on the ISO 9000 quality assurance management system. Proposes that the concepts and ideas presented will help educators ensure that the objectives of the programmes will actually be pursued

A decision support framework for strategic purchasing

This paper illustrates that the make or buy is a strategic decision and has implications for the overall corporate strategy of the organisation by describing a model which involves analysing a number of strategic factors. In recent years, many companies have been moving significantly away from “making” towards “buying”. However, research has revealed that make or buy decisions are rarely taken within a thoroughly strategic perspective. It has been shown that many firms adopt a short-term perspective and are motivated primarily by the search for short-term cost reductions. It is argued that make or buy decisions are made most frequently by default with little consideration for the long-run competitiveness of the organisation. An outline of three key problems encountered by companies in their efforts to formulate an effective make or buy decision is presented, in order to illustrate the weaknesses in current make or buy practice. The make or buy model described in this paper attempts to overcome these problems by offering an organisation a conceptual framework to follow in the sourcing decision

Integrated configuration of platform products and supply chains for mass customization: A game-theoretic approach

This paper is concerned with optimizing the configuration of a set of platform products and the associated supply chain consisting of one manufacturer and multiple suppliers using a three-move dynamic game-theoretic approach. The variants in the product family share a common platform for developing/configuring variant modules which are substitutable in the sense that high-end module options can functionally replace low-end ones at higher prices. As the customer in the supply chain, the manufacturer takes its leading role by making the first move to give decisions on platform products development (PPD) and supplier selection. The concerned suppliers make the second move to optimize their decisions including price discounts and their ordering policies. The manufacturer finishes the game by taking the last move to make his ordering decisions. The ranges of the rational reactions for the players are derived from the analyses of their payoff models, and an enumerative algorithm is developed to find the subgame perfect equilibrium of the game through the technique of backward induction. The game model and the proposed solution procedure are illustrated through a series of simulation experiments and sensitivity analyses using a numerical example. The results have allowed us to draw some meaningful interpretations and useful managerial insights. The use of platform commonality and modularity has been found generally beneficial not only to the supply chain as a whole but also to individual players that are eventually configured into the game. Flexibility of the suppliers' capability is also found to affect the PPD decisions. © 2006 IEEE.published_or_final_versio