The implementation and application of Lean : case study on rail transportation manufacturing company
- Authors: Bambo, Lebogang Ezra
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Lean manufacturing - Case studies , Production management - Case studies , Manufacturing processes , Just-in-time systems
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/233720 , uj:23869
- Description: M.Phil. (Engineering Management) , Abstract: South Africa is a developing country, which makes it a very attractive country for investors. This opportunity for investment poses a challenge for companies in the market to create an operating system and a culture that will deliver and satisfy demand. At the rate at which South Africa is growing, the understanding and the ability to implement engineering principles such as Lean Manufacturing (LM) is essential. The study objective is therefore to identify gaps towards successful implementation of LM in an international rail transportation manufacturing company in order to improve product quality and customer satisfaction. Due to confidentiality, the name of the company is withheld and the access to conduct a survey on Ford and Toyota with the employees were denied. The study included a thorough literature study, analysis and comparison of how companies such as Ford and Toyota implemented LM. Subsequently research questions focusing on Lean were formulated in order to determine how: (i) the best way forward the rail transportation manufacturing company should apply the lean principles to improve their product quality output; (ii) how other well-developed such as Ford and Toyota implemented LM compared to the said company, (iii) barriers / gaps can be identified in order to eliminate the risk of not successfully implementing LM principles. In total 25 (n=25) knowledgeable participants were selected in terms of lean application to participate in the study. The study reveals that there are distinct shortcomings in implementing LM in the company in terms of lean versus implementation at Ford and Toyota. Furthermore the results of the study indicated that 48% of the participants believed that limited lean principles has been implemented, whilst 36% indicated that it has not been implemented, whilst 16% are unsure. The results also identified that that 84% of employees experienced wastage. A major concern is that 60% of the employees believe that customer requirements are not met. In conclusion, the study paves a way towards improvement in lean application at the company and as such a starting point in resolving and improving the quality output of their products. The study results assisted the organisation to utilise the information gathered to determine gaps and barriers in their systems and application of lean.
- Full Text:
The implementation and application of Lean : case study on rail transportation manufacturing company
- Authors: Bambo, Lebogang Ezra
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Lean manufacturing - Case studies , Production management - Case studies , Manufacturing processes , Just-in-time systems
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/233720 , uj:23869
- Description: M.Phil. (Engineering Management) , Abstract: South Africa is a developing country, which makes it a very attractive country for investors. This opportunity for investment poses a challenge for companies in the market to create an operating system and a culture that will deliver and satisfy demand. At the rate at which South Africa is growing, the understanding and the ability to implement engineering principles such as Lean Manufacturing (LM) is essential. The study objective is therefore to identify gaps towards successful implementation of LM in an international rail transportation manufacturing company in order to improve product quality and customer satisfaction. Due to confidentiality, the name of the company is withheld and the access to conduct a survey on Ford and Toyota with the employees were denied. The study included a thorough literature study, analysis and comparison of how companies such as Ford and Toyota implemented LM. Subsequently research questions focusing on Lean were formulated in order to determine how: (i) the best way forward the rail transportation manufacturing company should apply the lean principles to improve their product quality output; (ii) how other well-developed such as Ford and Toyota implemented LM compared to the said company, (iii) barriers / gaps can be identified in order to eliminate the risk of not successfully implementing LM principles. In total 25 (n=25) knowledgeable participants were selected in terms of lean application to participate in the study. The study reveals that there are distinct shortcomings in implementing LM in the company in terms of lean versus implementation at Ford and Toyota. Furthermore the results of the study indicated that 48% of the participants believed that limited lean principles has been implemented, whilst 36% indicated that it has not been implemented, whilst 16% are unsure. The results also identified that that 84% of employees experienced wastage. A major concern is that 60% of the employees believe that customer requirements are not met. In conclusion, the study paves a way towards improvement in lean application at the company and as such a starting point in resolving and improving the quality output of their products. The study results assisted the organisation to utilise the information gathered to determine gaps and barriers in their systems and application of lean.
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Investigation into the application of just-in-time principles in small South African firms
- Authors: Jacobs, Heinz Erasmus
- Date: 2012-08-27
- Subjects: Just-in-time systems
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:3153 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/6570
- Description: The report focuses on the implementation of "Just-In-Time" (JIT) — a system aimed at manufacturing and supplying only the goods needed, only when needed, and in the exact quantities needed, instantaneously, with perfect quality and no waste. The implementation of JIT principles at small South African manufacturing firms are investigated, with specific reference to the implementation of JIT at a case study firm. Various methods and results from previous .JIT implementations are discussed and an overview of the latest developments is given. This report further contains a survey on the susceptibility of small South African manufacturing firms to JET implementation. The implementation of JIT at the case study firm is decomposed into various "JIT techniques". The effects of implementing these techniques are investigated. The investigation reveals the fact that certain "JIT techniques" can be implemented in a short span of time (4 months), without significant finance or problems, while improving productivity. Some techniques could however not be implemented in the available time span. The investigation shows that, in the long term, problems might be expected when implementing the overall JIT philosophy. These problems relate mainly to : (1) resistance to change, especially from management, (2) maintenance, and (3) commitment of sufficient resources for education and training.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Jacobs, Heinz Erasmus
- Date: 2012-08-27
- Subjects: Just-in-time systems
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:3153 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/6570
- Description: The report focuses on the implementation of "Just-In-Time" (JIT) — a system aimed at manufacturing and supplying only the goods needed, only when needed, and in the exact quantities needed, instantaneously, with perfect quality and no waste. The implementation of JIT principles at small South African manufacturing firms are investigated, with specific reference to the implementation of JIT at a case study firm. Various methods and results from previous .JIT implementations are discussed and an overview of the latest developments is given. This report further contains a survey on the susceptibility of small South African manufacturing firms to JET implementation. The implementation of JIT at the case study firm is decomposed into various "JIT techniques". The effects of implementing these techniques are investigated. The investigation reveals the fact that certain "JIT techniques" can be implemented in a short span of time (4 months), without significant finance or problems, while improving productivity. Some techniques could however not be implemented in the available time span. The investigation shows that, in the long term, problems might be expected when implementing the overall JIT philosophy. These problems relate mainly to : (1) resistance to change, especially from management, (2) maintenance, and (3) commitment of sufficient resources for education and training.
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Supply chain responsiveness as a means to a sustainable competitive advantage in the manufacturing sector
- Authors: Mailula, Onicca
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Business logistics - Management , Customer services , Consumer satisfaction , Production management , Just-in-time systems
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/225753 , uj:22809
- Description: M.Com. (Business Management) , Abstract: The aim of this study is to determine if supply chain responsiveness, or the ability for an organisation to respond to customer needs or market signals, has an impact on competitive advantage in the manufacturing sector. The case study is conducted at company GSC which is a supplier with market dominance in the carbohydrate sector. A survey was distributed to the employees to gauge their perception of responsiveness in the organisation. A different survey was distributed among customers to gauge their perceptions about the responsiveness of company GSC. The study also investigates drivers and attributes that enable responsiveness in the organisation. Improved production reliability is an important driver for supply chain responsiveness at company GSC according to the findings of the study. Production reliability impacts product availability which in turn influences the ability of the organisation to meet customer needs. The major source of competitive advantage for company GSC is local market presence and the ability to meet customer needs, which defines supply chain responsiveness and will provide a barrier for competition. The study also indicates that if customer needs are met in all dimensions of quality, quantity and timeliness, supply chain responsiveness criteria is achieved.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mailula, Onicca
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Business logistics - Management , Customer services , Consumer satisfaction , Production management , Just-in-time systems
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/225753 , uj:22809
- Description: M.Com. (Business Management) , Abstract: The aim of this study is to determine if supply chain responsiveness, or the ability for an organisation to respond to customer needs or market signals, has an impact on competitive advantage in the manufacturing sector. The case study is conducted at company GSC which is a supplier with market dominance in the carbohydrate sector. A survey was distributed to the employees to gauge their perception of responsiveness in the organisation. A different survey was distributed among customers to gauge their perceptions about the responsiveness of company GSC. The study also investigates drivers and attributes that enable responsiveness in the organisation. Improved production reliability is an important driver for supply chain responsiveness at company GSC according to the findings of the study. Production reliability impacts product availability which in turn influences the ability of the organisation to meet customer needs. The major source of competitive advantage for company GSC is local market presence and the ability to meet customer needs, which defines supply chain responsiveness and will provide a barrier for competition. The study also indicates that if customer needs are met in all dimensions of quality, quantity and timeliness, supply chain responsiveness criteria is achieved.
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The impact of standard work for leaders in reducing unused employee creativity in lean implementation
- Authors: Mogaramedi, Michael L.
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Continuous improvement process , Transformational leadership , Enterprise resource planning , Employee motivation , Just-in-time systems
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/243045 , uj:25085
- Description: Abstract: For many years, organisations have studied lean production, and implemented certain aspects of lean in their organisations in efforts to continuously improve. However, lean implementation efforts have neither been successful nor sustainable. This has been primarily attributed to leadership. Furthermore, traditional organisations have not been pursuing the elimination of the eighth lean waste, which is the waste of unused employee creativity. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of standard work for leaders in reducing the waste of unused employee creativity during lean implementation. Lean production is not only dependent on the lean tools and techniques, but also on the human elements of lean. These include both the leadership aspects and the employees. Therefore, successful lean implementation is partly dependent on the leadership of the organisations and human creativity embedded in the employees of the organisation. However, the leadership routines and practices that are required for lean are not always defined in various organisations. Furthermore, the extent to which these leadership routines and practices (referred to as standard work for leaders) affect the human creativity of the employees has not been sufficiently explored in literature. Based on the results of the data collected from the case study conducted in an auto manufacturing company, it was determined that whenever employees have been trained in lean, and standard work for leaders has been comprehensively implemented, then the ideas suggested by the workers increased, whereas whenever the employees were not trained in lean, and standard work for leaders has not been implemented comprehensively, the suggested ideas were less. Therefore, it was concluded that standard work for leaders when comprehensively implemented can reduce the waste of unused employee creativity. This research contributes to the current know how within the lean production framework. Organisations that are interested in implementing lean, as well as scholars who are studying lean can benefit from this study. Furthermore, a lean implementation model has been recommended, although it has not been validated. , M.Phil. (Engineering Management)
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- Authors: Mogaramedi, Michael L.
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Continuous improvement process , Transformational leadership , Enterprise resource planning , Employee motivation , Just-in-time systems
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/243045 , uj:25085
- Description: Abstract: For many years, organisations have studied lean production, and implemented certain aspects of lean in their organisations in efforts to continuously improve. However, lean implementation efforts have neither been successful nor sustainable. This has been primarily attributed to leadership. Furthermore, traditional organisations have not been pursuing the elimination of the eighth lean waste, which is the waste of unused employee creativity. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of standard work for leaders in reducing the waste of unused employee creativity during lean implementation. Lean production is not only dependent on the lean tools and techniques, but also on the human elements of lean. These include both the leadership aspects and the employees. Therefore, successful lean implementation is partly dependent on the leadership of the organisations and human creativity embedded in the employees of the organisation. However, the leadership routines and practices that are required for lean are not always defined in various organisations. Furthermore, the extent to which these leadership routines and practices (referred to as standard work for leaders) affect the human creativity of the employees has not been sufficiently explored in literature. Based on the results of the data collected from the case study conducted in an auto manufacturing company, it was determined that whenever employees have been trained in lean, and standard work for leaders has been comprehensively implemented, then the ideas suggested by the workers increased, whereas whenever the employees were not trained in lean, and standard work for leaders has not been implemented comprehensively, the suggested ideas were less. Therefore, it was concluded that standard work for leaders when comprehensively implemented can reduce the waste of unused employee creativity. This research contributes to the current know how within the lean production framework. Organisations that are interested in implementing lean, as well as scholars who are studying lean can benefit from this study. Furthermore, a lean implementation model has been recommended, although it has not been validated. , M.Phil. (Engineering Management)
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Implementation of manufacturing and total productive maintenance principles : a South African perspective
- Authors: Ndiweni, Busani
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Total productive maintenance , Plant maintenance - Management , Just-in-time systems , Total quality management
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/233721 , uj:23868
- Description: M.Phil. (Engineering Management) , Abstract: The study is based on A South African perspective in the implementation of manufacturing and total productive Maintenance (TPM), methodologies and strategies in fast moving consumer goods organizations in South Africa. Major developments have occurred recently in the improvement of asset care systems in South Africa so that the manufacturing plants are operating optimally and minimizing the cost of production. These asset care management philosophies and systems are constantly being optimized, in the true spirit of continuous improvement. The strive for optimum proactive maintenance through the use of just in- time (JIT) and total quality-management (TQM) techniques gave rise to what is termed the total productivemaintenance (TPM) approach and together these concepts have given rise to what is now referred to as World class manufacturing (WCM). This study explores the ways in which South African fast moving consumer goods manufacturing companies can implement WCM and TPM concepts as an organization wide culture for improving its factory performance and reliability. World class manufacturing and total productive manufacturing is a larger companywide program compared to its predecessors. There is much more emphasis now by organizations on being a low cost, demand driven, consumer focused and customer orientated supply chain. The WCM and TPM tools are ways to engage the whole supply chain in clearly identifying problems, and providing corrective and preventative actions to ensure higher levels of customer satisfaction are attained. The major objectives are optimized processes, culture change, employee involvement and proactive processes and these provide the organizations with the ability and flexibility to reduce and eliminate all forms of waste within their supply chain systems. Organizations need to instill a sense of ownership and mutual accountability to their staff, through employee involvement and empowerment initiatives. High skills retention and motivation levels can be achieved in this way and this can greatly reduce the employee turnover rates. Employers need to develop employee suggestion schemes where they give and seek feedback and respond with actions. The South African labor market has become very strike prone and as a result a lot less competitive compared to their overseas counterparts, especially in the mining sector. This has been witnessed in South Africa recently in the Platinum mining sector which is the largest platinum producer in the world. These labor unrests and work stoppages have resulted in some shareholders threatening to pull out, and loss of income by both the mine employees and employers. This unfortunate state of affairs impacts negatively on the South African economy, and greatly frustrates foreign direct investment which is needed to grow the gross domestic product of the nation. WCM implementation is not an overnight endeavor but rather a journey that takes years to accomplish and requires additional training and development of the workforce. These concepts and principles will be greatly explored at length in this research study to uncover the win-win potential gains that might exist for the consumer, customer, employee and South African FMCG companies.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ndiweni, Busani
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Total productive maintenance , Plant maintenance - Management , Just-in-time systems , Total quality management
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/233721 , uj:23868
- Description: M.Phil. (Engineering Management) , Abstract: The study is based on A South African perspective in the implementation of manufacturing and total productive Maintenance (TPM), methodologies and strategies in fast moving consumer goods organizations in South Africa. Major developments have occurred recently in the improvement of asset care systems in South Africa so that the manufacturing plants are operating optimally and minimizing the cost of production. These asset care management philosophies and systems are constantly being optimized, in the true spirit of continuous improvement. The strive for optimum proactive maintenance through the use of just in- time (JIT) and total quality-management (TQM) techniques gave rise to what is termed the total productivemaintenance (TPM) approach and together these concepts have given rise to what is now referred to as World class manufacturing (WCM). This study explores the ways in which South African fast moving consumer goods manufacturing companies can implement WCM and TPM concepts as an organization wide culture for improving its factory performance and reliability. World class manufacturing and total productive manufacturing is a larger companywide program compared to its predecessors. There is much more emphasis now by organizations on being a low cost, demand driven, consumer focused and customer orientated supply chain. The WCM and TPM tools are ways to engage the whole supply chain in clearly identifying problems, and providing corrective and preventative actions to ensure higher levels of customer satisfaction are attained. The major objectives are optimized processes, culture change, employee involvement and proactive processes and these provide the organizations with the ability and flexibility to reduce and eliminate all forms of waste within their supply chain systems. Organizations need to instill a sense of ownership and mutual accountability to their staff, through employee involvement and empowerment initiatives. High skills retention and motivation levels can be achieved in this way and this can greatly reduce the employee turnover rates. Employers need to develop employee suggestion schemes where they give and seek feedback and respond with actions. The South African labor market has become very strike prone and as a result a lot less competitive compared to their overseas counterparts, especially in the mining sector. This has been witnessed in South Africa recently in the Platinum mining sector which is the largest platinum producer in the world. These labor unrests and work stoppages have resulted in some shareholders threatening to pull out, and loss of income by both the mine employees and employers. This unfortunate state of affairs impacts negatively on the South African economy, and greatly frustrates foreign direct investment which is needed to grow the gross domestic product of the nation. WCM implementation is not an overnight endeavor but rather a journey that takes years to accomplish and requires additional training and development of the workforce. These concepts and principles will be greatly explored at length in this research study to uncover the win-win potential gains that might exist for the consumer, customer, employee and South African FMCG companies.
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The development of a just-in-time (JIT) knowledge management model for an enterprise
- Authors: Steyn, Pieter Dirk
- Date: 2009-05-04T09:51:01Z
- Subjects: Knowledge management , Just-in-time systems , Knowledge workers
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:8352 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/2477
- Description: D.Litt. et Phil. , There have been numerous approaches to Knowledge Management (KM) over the past number of years. In addition there is also confusion amongst enterprises and enterprise management as to the role and contribution of KM, the differences between information management, information technology and KM. There has been an overflow of information and “knowledge” in large enterprises and this situation will only worsen if not managed appropriately. Knowledge is now universally accepted as a factor of production and similar to other factors of production viewed as being scarce and expensive. The knowledge inventory of an enterprise should thus be managed in a similar manner as physical inventory – kept at the essential minimum level and to be provided at the time that it is required. The challenge to creating a successful knowledge enterprise is more reliant on the people aspects than technology per se and this view is supported by recent research. This situation is exacerbated by the diversity of participation amongst knowledge workers who as a “grouping” speaks a different language based on their perspectives of issues within and external to the enterprise. Because knowledge is not synonymous with information, information technology cannot deliver knowledge management, yet a large proportion of managements view information technology as the panacea for their failure at implementing successful KM or what they consider to be KM. Another concern of management is that current management approaches cannot handle imperfect information with certainty. Enterprises are thus faced with the situation of not being able to deliver the right information to the right person at the right time because enterprises are unable to predict what is the right information to distribute, who the right recipients of that information should be and all of this may take place under conditions of uncertainty – as found in today’s dynamic business environment. Defining knowledge from an enterprise management perspective or in terms of an organisational context present a number of issues. The most important being that there is no single all encompassing definition of KM. However, in terms of the objectives of this research a definition which relate the dimensions of time, delivery, the right information and the right recipient is applied. KM varies from the perspective of controlling knowledge processes within the enterprise to methods applied to the extraction of knowledge from the flow of information, internal and external to the enterprise. Recent thinking on KM distinguishes between demand-side KM and supply-side KM. The supply-side of KM is associated with the “delivery-oriented” assumptions that valuable knowledge exists within the enterprise and that it is the task of management to find it, codify it and place it into a repository. This is then followed by an approach which “decrees” and determine how it is to be distributed, e.g. via learning, databases, documents, etc. and to whom. Demand-side KM is initiated with an approach requiring a view of where does valuable knowledge exist within the enterprise, is what is required in existence, does it support the enterprise's strategies and how can the use thereof benefit the enterprise's competitive advantage? Obviously the proponents of both of these sides do see the need for closing the gap between supply and demand and that they are in fact complimentary activities. A view is taken on the KM approach / practices undertaken by the enterprise. There are a number of KM taxonomy approaches based upon the process applied in the enterprise to extract knowledge. An understanding of the different approaches employed is necessary to locate the role of the knowledge worker in the overall KM value chain. The knowledge processes approach is considered to be a factor of production where the person is central to the process as the carrier or owner of knowledge. Communication amongst individuals is of primary importance, especially in respect of the management of the enterprise and its outputs. This approach also considers an enabling culture in the enterprise to be a pre-requisite to the successful management of knowledge. The focus of this approach is on knowledge transfer through human interaction. Technology is recognised as playing a supporting role in this approach. Knowledge is more than information and also considers experience, skills, competencies and attitudes as part of knowledge created in the process of human interaction. The term Just-in-Time (JIT) can be defined as a production or inventory scheduling technique found within the more complex production logistics disciplines. JIT is more appropriately thought of as a philosophy as it is more than a mere set of management and production principles. KM JIT is an endeavour to provide the right knowledge at the right time to the right person. This requires an insight into the knowledge demand and supply process as well as the time horizon applicable to the knowledge required. Over the longer term business forecasts, environmental scans, strategic planning, etc. can be applied to close the gap between these variables. However, it is in the short term and immediate requirements that the present systems fail and management concerns are emphasised. To summarise the relationship: JIT KM searches for an optimisation of the matching process between demand and knowledge supply within enterprises, i.e. it endeavours to translate the logistic concept of JIT to the knowledge management field. In addition to JIT KM the concept of real-time KM is introduced as an alternative since present research indicates that the implementation of JIT KM presents major issues in terms of cost and development effort, restricting its use to mission critical applications. A more generic application for JIT KM need to be developed and it is contended that real-time KM fits the requirements of enabling the enterprise to be agile in respect of its ability to respond to present and future knowledge demands. The major difference between JIT KM and real-time KM being the latency of information concept which applies to the latter.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Steyn, Pieter Dirk
- Date: 2009-05-04T09:51:01Z
- Subjects: Knowledge management , Just-in-time systems , Knowledge workers
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:8352 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/2477
- Description: D.Litt. et Phil. , There have been numerous approaches to Knowledge Management (KM) over the past number of years. In addition there is also confusion amongst enterprises and enterprise management as to the role and contribution of KM, the differences between information management, information technology and KM. There has been an overflow of information and “knowledge” in large enterprises and this situation will only worsen if not managed appropriately. Knowledge is now universally accepted as a factor of production and similar to other factors of production viewed as being scarce and expensive. The knowledge inventory of an enterprise should thus be managed in a similar manner as physical inventory – kept at the essential minimum level and to be provided at the time that it is required. The challenge to creating a successful knowledge enterprise is more reliant on the people aspects than technology per se and this view is supported by recent research. This situation is exacerbated by the diversity of participation amongst knowledge workers who as a “grouping” speaks a different language based on their perspectives of issues within and external to the enterprise. Because knowledge is not synonymous with information, information technology cannot deliver knowledge management, yet a large proportion of managements view information technology as the panacea for their failure at implementing successful KM or what they consider to be KM. Another concern of management is that current management approaches cannot handle imperfect information with certainty. Enterprises are thus faced with the situation of not being able to deliver the right information to the right person at the right time because enterprises are unable to predict what is the right information to distribute, who the right recipients of that information should be and all of this may take place under conditions of uncertainty – as found in today’s dynamic business environment. Defining knowledge from an enterprise management perspective or in terms of an organisational context present a number of issues. The most important being that there is no single all encompassing definition of KM. However, in terms of the objectives of this research a definition which relate the dimensions of time, delivery, the right information and the right recipient is applied. KM varies from the perspective of controlling knowledge processes within the enterprise to methods applied to the extraction of knowledge from the flow of information, internal and external to the enterprise. Recent thinking on KM distinguishes between demand-side KM and supply-side KM. The supply-side of KM is associated with the “delivery-oriented” assumptions that valuable knowledge exists within the enterprise and that it is the task of management to find it, codify it and place it into a repository. This is then followed by an approach which “decrees” and determine how it is to be distributed, e.g. via learning, databases, documents, etc. and to whom. Demand-side KM is initiated with an approach requiring a view of where does valuable knowledge exist within the enterprise, is what is required in existence, does it support the enterprise's strategies and how can the use thereof benefit the enterprise's competitive advantage? Obviously the proponents of both of these sides do see the need for closing the gap between supply and demand and that they are in fact complimentary activities. A view is taken on the KM approach / practices undertaken by the enterprise. There are a number of KM taxonomy approaches based upon the process applied in the enterprise to extract knowledge. An understanding of the different approaches employed is necessary to locate the role of the knowledge worker in the overall KM value chain. The knowledge processes approach is considered to be a factor of production where the person is central to the process as the carrier or owner of knowledge. Communication amongst individuals is of primary importance, especially in respect of the management of the enterprise and its outputs. This approach also considers an enabling culture in the enterprise to be a pre-requisite to the successful management of knowledge. The focus of this approach is on knowledge transfer through human interaction. Technology is recognised as playing a supporting role in this approach. Knowledge is more than information and also considers experience, skills, competencies and attitudes as part of knowledge created in the process of human interaction. The term Just-in-Time (JIT) can be defined as a production or inventory scheduling technique found within the more complex production logistics disciplines. JIT is more appropriately thought of as a philosophy as it is more than a mere set of management and production principles. KM JIT is an endeavour to provide the right knowledge at the right time to the right person. This requires an insight into the knowledge demand and supply process as well as the time horizon applicable to the knowledge required. Over the longer term business forecasts, environmental scans, strategic planning, etc. can be applied to close the gap between these variables. However, it is in the short term and immediate requirements that the present systems fail and management concerns are emphasised. To summarise the relationship: JIT KM searches for an optimisation of the matching process between demand and knowledge supply within enterprises, i.e. it endeavours to translate the logistic concept of JIT to the knowledge management field. In addition to JIT KM the concept of real-time KM is introduced as an alternative since present research indicates that the implementation of JIT KM presents major issues in terms of cost and development effort, restricting its use to mission critical applications. A more generic application for JIT KM need to be developed and it is contended that real-time KM fits the requirements of enabling the enterprise to be agile in respect of its ability to respond to present and future knowledge demands. The major difference between JIT KM and real-time KM being the latency of information concept which applies to the latter.
- Full Text:
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