Improving Performance through an Integrated Manufacturing Program

Every five to 10 years, a new manufacturing management program is introduced as the panacea for poor performance, although these programs have had mixed success. Many academics and practitioners believe that failures are due to the partial implementation of the programs and incompatible systems within the plant. Yet past research primarily considers manufacturing programs in isolation. In this article, the authors present a framework for integrating manufacturing programs, using the well-developed programs of total quality management (TQM), just-in-time (JIT), and total productive maintenance (TPM). These three programs are often considered components of the popular Lean manufacturing. The authors discuss the theoretical foundation for the positive impact of an integrated manufacturing program on manufacturing performance. They explore the theoretical relationships using structural equation modeling on a sample of 163 manufacturing plants. The authors' analysis provides evidence of the need for integrating the manufacturing practices. In their framework, together the practices of TQM, JIT, and TPM exhibit a consistent positive effect on multiple dimensions of manufacturing performance. The findings demonstrate the importance of implementing manufacturing practices that belong to all three programs and of integrating new programs with existing practices.