Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

5-31-1986

Degree Name

Master of Science in Management Engineering - (M.S.)

Department

Industrial and Management Engineering

First Advisor

James L. Rigassio

Abstract

There are many theories for the control of production. Also. there are many successful cases for each of the different theories.

Cybernetic theory is quickly evolving as a design basis for management control systems. Cybernetics is the science of self-regulation and its basic tenents are control, or the ability to direct action toward a predetermined goal, and communication, or the ability to send and receive information.

The objective of this thesis is to identify and discuss this theory applied to the management techniques of production control for a Far Eastern textile firm and to investigate the extent that the firm may benifit from applied Cybernetic theory.

The essential finding of this analysis are the following:

In a management system, control is that function by which a critical variable of system behavior is held at a desirable level by a regulating mechanism. The control function is, itself, a sub-system of the system to be controlled.

Cybernetics is applied to the analysis of implicit control systems. The result, often termed " management cybernetics ", is a combination of general system theory and cybernetic theory and reflects the evolutionary characteristics of enterprises.

From this analysis, a number of modification of the existing production control system design are proposed for implementation by the Far Eastern firm. These involved training employees, organizing management tasks, implementing feed back system concepts, computerization of the production control system and continuation of system improvement as a matter of keeping pace with competition.

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