Exploring work system practices for time-based manufacturers: their impact on competitive capabilities

Manufacturing firms operating in a post-industrial environment have customers who demand specialized products and short lead times. To meet these needs, organizations are adopting time-based manufacturing practices to cut time and improve performance. The central tenet of this study is that rime-based manufacturers employ traditional work system practices including standardization, formalization, and routinization plus integration to improve competitiveness. This study measures the levels of time-based manufacturing practices, work system practices, and competitive capabilities of 265 firms. The results indicate that firms with high levels of time-based manufacturing practices tend to have high levels of standardization and formalization as well as integration. Firms with high levels of standardization and integration tended to have enhanced competitive capabilities. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.