The Management of Manufacturing Operations: An Appraisal of Recent Developments

A detailed analysis of Material Requirements Planning (MRP), Kanban, optimised Production Technology (OPT) and Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS), including the applied assumptions behind these and their limitations and weaknesses, shows that each system is sound in its own way and can accomplish low cost, high quality, on‐time production. People problems, however, can destroy the effectiveness of any system and in this respect Kanban and OPT systems solve the majority of people problems, while FMS installations, by design, eliminate most problems of this type. The experience gained during the coming decade may lead factory managers to use two or more of these systems side by side.