Empowering manufacturing personnel through functional understanding. Issue 8 (11th June 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Michalakoudis, Ioannis; Aurisicchio, Marco; Childs, Peter; Koutlidis, Apollon; Harding, James
• Is Part Of: Production planning & control. Volume 29:Issue 8(2018)
• Page Start: 688
• Page End: 703
• Publication Date: 2018-06-11
• Subjects: Knowledge transfer -- workforce training -- continual improvement -- functional analysis -- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs); Production planning -- Periodicals; Production control -- Periodicals; 658.5
• DOI: 10.1080/09537287.2018.1455995
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-7287

Abstract

Abstract: A growing interest in knowledge management and standardisation, has increasingly led organisations to implement employee training programs. For the manufacturing workforce, however, these remain limited to informal 'On-the-Job' approaches, administered by peer colleagues – particularly in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) where economic, educational, cognitive and cultural constraints are often deeply embedded. This paper proposes a methodology for training the manufacturing workforce on the functions of products, and presents a case study conducted in a UK-based manufacturing SME – aiming to verify our two research hypotheses: a) Functional Analysis Diagrams of the company's products and parts would assist in knowledge assimilation; and, b) knowledge assimilation has a positive effect on work quality and productivity levels. By applying statistical inference methods on long-term quantitative data and survey results, we confirmed substantial improvements in work quality (63%) and increased productivity (67%), supporting our hypotheses and suggesting that the proposed methodology can be a promising solution for the industry.