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Development of questionnaire to assess manufacturing capability along different decision areas

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Abstract

Superior manufacturing capability provides long lasting competitive benefits to a company in the market. It is thus imperative to have an instrument to assess the manufacturing capability of companies. However, empirically tested and reliable tools for the purpose of evaluation of manufacturing capability along different decision areas are scarcely available in the literature. This paper develops questionnaires based on generally accepted principle of instrument design to assess the manufacturing capabilities along different decision areas for four categorization schemes of manufacturing decision areas reported in the literature. The reliability and validity of all four instruments are assessed through responses from managers of 32 manufacturing units and are found to be satisfactory for most of the factors. The criterion validity is found to be fairly good for all the four instruments.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    Bhurchand Jain, Gajendra K. Adil & Usha Ananthakumar

Authors
  1. Bhurchand Jain
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  2. Gajendra K. Adil
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  3. Usha Ananthakumar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gajendra K. Adil.

Appendices

Appendices

1.1 Appendix-1 Questionnaire to assess manufacturing capabilities

1.1.1 Capacity

  1. (1)

    Capacity strategy (e.g., amount and timing of capacity addition with respect to demand changes) of your plant is.

    figure a
  2. (2)

    Justification for capacity decision is primarily on the basis of

    figure b
  3. (3)

    Planning horizon [next how many years] of capacity plans in your company is

    figure c

1.1.2 Facilities

  1. (4)

    Degree of specialization of your equipment as compared to industry standard. (shows the percentage of equipments under different ratings)

    figure d
  2. (5)

    Extent of in-house modification/improvement/adaptation of equipment in your organization

    figure e

1.1.3 Process technologies

  1. (6)

    Source of information about new equipment/process technology

    figure f
  2. (7)

    Justification for adoption of equipment/process technologies is primarily on the basis of

    figure g

1.1.4 Vertical integration/vendors

  1. (8)

    Objective of sourcing decision (making in-house or outsource) is primarily

    figure h
  2. (9)

    Relationship with suppliers (shows percentage of items under different ratings)

    figure i
  3. (10)

    Frequency of assistance provided to suppliers in meeting our company’s objectives

    figure j
  4. (11)

    Average number of suppliers (shows percentage of items under various ratings)

    figure k

1.1.5 Human resources

  1. (12)

    Extent to which workers are involved in improving the company’s process/production system

    figure l
  2. (13)

    Scope of workers’ job (e.g., number of jobs performed)

    figure m
  3. (14)

    Level of skill possessed by workers as compared to industry standard

    figure n
  4. (15)

    Frequency of job training in your company as compared to industry standard

    figure o
  5. (16)

    Philosophy of managing workers in your company is:

    figure p

1.1.6 Quality

  1. (17)

    The purpose of “quality measurements” in your organization is

    figure q
  2. (18)

    The overall objective of “quality planning and control function” in your organization is

    figure r

1.1.7 Production planning/material control

  1. (19)

    Involvement of different parts of organization (e.g., marketing, procurements, and production) in preparing production plans

    figure s
  2. (20)

    Way in which uncertainty of demand forecasts is managed in your organization

    figure t

1.1.8 New product development

  1. (21)

    Degree of interaction between various departments (e.g., marketing, production, design) in product development

    figure u
  2. (22)

    Frequency of introduction of new product as compared to competitors

    figure v

1.1.9 Performance measurement and reward system

  1. (23)

    While assessing performance the relative emphasis placed in your organization is:

    figure w

1.1.10 Organization/systems:

  1. (24)

    Level of integration among departments and management hierarchy

    figure x
  2. (25)

    Level of authority of Line function relative to Staff functions

    figure y

1.2 Appendix-2 Benchmarking manufacturing performance

Consider the manufacturing capability dimensions below along with their meaning.

Dimension

Meaning

1. Cost

Production and distribution of the product at low cost

2. Quality

Manufacture of products with high quality and performance standards

3. Delivery performance

 • Dependability of delivery

Meet delivery schedules or promises

 • Speed of delivery

React quickly to customer orders

4. Flexibility

 • Product mix

React quickly to changes in types of products manufactured.

 • Volume

React quickly to volume changes of a given product mix.

For each manufacturing capability dimension, rate Importance that is attached in selling your products in Form I and rate performance of your product relative to your significant competitors in Form II.

1.2.1 Form I. Importance of competitive priorities

For each dimension (i.e., row), tick (√) in the appropriate box.

Manufacturing Capability Dimension

IMPORTANCE of your major product(s) in the market place.

1. Not Important

2. Somewhat Important

3. Quite Important

4. Very Important

5. Extremely Important

1. Cost

 

√

   

2. Quality

   

√

 

3. Delivery performance

     

A) Dependability of delivery

 

√

   

B) Speed of delivery

  

√

  

4. Flexibility

     

A) Product mix

  

√

  

B) Production volume

 

√

   

5. Innovativeness

  

√

  

1.2.2 Form II. Performance of competitive priorities

For each dimension (i.e., row), tick (√) in the appropriate box.

Manufacturing Capability Dimension

PERFORMANCE [as compared to your major competitor(s)].

1. Significantly Lower

2. Somewhat Lower

3. About the Same

4. Somewhat Higher

5. Significantly Higher

1. Cost

 

√*

   

2. Quality

  

√

  

3. Delivery performance

     

3A) Dependability of delivery

  

√

  

3B) Speed of delivery

 

√

   

4. Flexibility

     

4A)Product mix

  

√

  

4B)Production volume

 

√

   

5. Innovativeness

 

√

   

*Cost is on reverse scale, i.e., higher the cost worse is the performance

     

Computation of PC for data given in Forms I and II using Eq. (1).

Production competence, PC = 2 × (6 − 2)* + 4 × 3 + 2 × 3 + 3 × 2 + 2 × 3 + 2 × 2 + 3 × 2 = 48

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Jain, B., Adil, G.K. & Ananthakumar, U. Development of questionnaire to assess manufacturing capability along different decision areas. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 71, 2091–2105 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-013-5589-2

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