THE USE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF MODERN MANUFACTURING PRACTICES: A SURVEY OF THE BRAZILIAN INDUSTRY

Abstract

This work seeks to characterize the adoption, intensity of use, effectiveness and theperspective of future use of a group of twelve work and production management practices:Outsourcing; Business Process re-engineering; Supply Chain Management; Learning Culture;Empowerment; Team Based Work; Total Productive Maintenance; Concurrent Engineering;Production Cell; Just in Time; Total Quality Management; Integrated Computer-basedTechnology. A nationwide sample of 220 companies, with more than 150 employees, of thedifferent industrial sectors was used. Data collection was done by phone interviews withproduction managers and directors. The findings point toward a broad use of the practices,which have been introduced during the last decade, based on a very good evaluation on itsimpact over costs, quality and responsiveness. This research also provides a comparativescenario of a nationwide perspective with similar research projects which might deepens thecomprehension of the phenomena here described.