Effective human utilization in an original equipment manufacturing (OEM) industry by the implementation of agile manufacturing: A POLCA approach

摘要

Agile manufacturing (AM) has been recognized as an international strategy for improving industrial competitiveness. Agility refers to the ability of an organization to adapt to changes within its environment and to utilize them for earning profit and constituting a major item of expense for any organization, having a palpable effect on its profitability. Manpower utilization is considered as one of the important attributes affecting the organization's ability to be agile. In other words, an effective manpower utilization in any agile environment can reduce the workload and enhance the profitability of any organization. The efficiency of any agile organization lies in improved production, through the utilization of a smaller workforce without impacting on its work-life balance. Thus, this research is focused on ensuring minimum manpower utilization on the machine shop floor of an Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) industry by implementing the Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Card with Authorization (POLCA) approach. Effective manpower utilization is an important aspect requiring focus in all areas relating to manufacture. However, POLCA, despite being a powerful and multiapplicative tool for AM, has still not been used by researchers for effective manpower utilization. This article takes initiative in this area.