Investigating the effects of variety on the piston rod manufacturing process at Gabriel SA (Pty) Ltd

This thesis investigates the effects of variety on the manufacturing operations system of a automotive component (shock absorber) manufacturer, Gabriel South Africa Pty Ltd. Effective ways to manage this variety are also considered. By variety is meant the total number of possible states that a system can have. The measure of variety can also be considered as the extent of complexity of a system. The variety of product, people (from different cultures, backgrounds, etc.), processes machines and equipment, etc. and a continually changing environment creates a complex situation in which management decisions have to be made. Over the last three years, 1992 to 1994, Gabriel SA Pty Ltd has implemented world class manufacturing initiatives, for example, cellular manufacture, kanban, employee involvement programs, strategic business units, a Total Quality Management System, etc., but the anticipated results of increased production throughput did not occur. A situation has developed where changes had been implemented and there is now a difference between the actual and expected results. This thesis investigates possible causes for this difference. In order to conduct a rigorous and structured inquiry into the problem situation a theoretical research framework was developed. This framework was developed from the ideas of the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (CSP) and that of Chris Argyris. Checkland's, Ackoff's et. al. views on system thinking were also used to form this framework.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Year dc:date.issued

1996

Author dc:creator

• Morar, Bharet

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ryan, Tom

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9251

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9251