Abstract
Engineering and manufacturing companies in
industrializing countries such as Zimbabwe, largely employ
traditional methods as well as conventional machine tools.
Research carried out at five companies in Zimbabwe
specializing in different business operations, similarly
revealed that although such methods and tools are still
applicable and productive, the processes are time consuming
and the conventional machines often break down thereby
delaying production. However, the research, which was
conducted through interviews, direct observations as well as
surveys, also revealed disconnections in 3 aspects of company
policies, techniques employed and continuous professional
development training. The research focused on establishing
the challenges faced by the companies in implementing
holistic approaches encompassing and integrating these 3
aspects. Recommendations were made for turning the various
challenges into opportunities through adopting engineering
systems thinking for integrating these aspects in order to
improve capacity utilization, productivity and efficiency in
the various companies.