WORLD-CLASS MANUFACTURING PROJECT - OVERVIEW AND SELECTED RESULTS

A number of authors have used terms such as ''world-class manufacturin g'', ''high performance manufacturing'' and others to describe compreh ensive approaches to manufacturing performance improvement. They have broken new ground by introducing the notion of broad, organization-wid e improvement approaches, involving many complex interrelationships. H owever, testing the associated relationships is just beginning. The WC M Project seeks to articulate the practices which are associated with world-class manufacturing and their interrelationships. In this attemp t, a number of studies have been conducted, using the comprehensive da tabase developed for the project. Provides a detailed examination of t he development and verification of the database, which contains percep tual and objective information about quality, JIT, technology, strateg y, organization characteristics and human resource management practice s of 42 plants in the machinery, electronics and transportation compon ents industries. It also provides a brief overview of three of the stu dies conducted as part of this project, dealing with: manufacturing pr ocess innovation; the relationship between quality practices and perfo rmance; and the relationship between TQM and JIT. Each of these highli ghts specific practices which are related to performance, as well as r elevant infrastructure characteristics.