The impact of reengineering in manufacturing companies: a methodology for operations improvement and manufacturing productivity

Many manufacturing companies today are facing the problem of loosing their competitive edge in international markets. This is partly due to the outdated manufacturing processes. This study is examining the improvement methods and suggesting a methodology whose scope is wider than small changes. This type of improvements requires a radical change in the manufacturing processes. The word reengineering, meaning process redesign, is used to describe this method for achieving the manufacturing productivity considering the cost, quality, customer service, time and management issues. First chapter is defining reengineering. The techniques, methods and a step-bystep approach for productivity projects are explained in the second chapter. Chapter three includes an analysis of a Turkish case company with the methods given in chapter 2. The thesis questioning the applicability of reengineering projects for manufacturing companies in Turkey in chapter 4. It is examining the difficulties that the project teams would face.