Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
5-31-1988
Degree Name
Master of Science in Management Engineering - (M.S.)
Department
Industrial and Management Engineering
First Advisor
Carl Wolf
Abstract
The flexible automation of production systems (FA) provides the technology necessary for competitive success. However, the use of traditional budgeting methods has proved unsatisfactory when evaluating this type of investment, primarily because of the inadequate consideration being given to the resultant strategic benefits.
A methodology considered suitable for evaluating FA investments is proposed together with an illustrative application. To determine its industrial usefulness, manufacturing managers of North American and West German companies were surveyed both via interviews and via questionnaires. Their response confirms the merit of the procedure, despite the differences in competitive foci found between the American and the German participants who emphasized product and service differentiation in contrast to cost related advantages by U.S. managers. Also indicated was the need for cross-functional cooperation to obtain reliable input data. Further research should be directed at how to achieve such cooperation, and what motivates the difference in weight given to potential benefits by the German and American managers, in order to achieve an improvement of the presently employed "gut feeling" decision making approach.
Recommended Citation
Eikenbusch, Werner A., "A methodology for evaluating prospective investments in flexible automation" (1988). Theses. 3064.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/theses/3064
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons
