Several measures can be used to measure the impact of ITs on key competitive dimensions.
Cost reductions can occur in stock, planning, follow-up, etc. and can be assessed in monetary terms (Table E1).
Table E1. Cost reductions. |
|---|
| Variable | Measure | References |
| Stock | Monetary | Primrose (1990)
Swann and O'Keefe (1990)
Troxler (1990) |
| Planning and follow-up | Monetary | Meredith (1988)
Noori (1990) |
| Handling | Monetary | Meredith (1988)
Noori (1990)
Troxler (1990)
Pasewack (1991) |
| Equipment ‹ maintenance | Monetary | Meredith (1988)
Troxler (1990) |
| Equipment ‹ repair | Monetary | Troxler (1990) |
| Direct labour | Monetary | Troxler (1990) |
| Indirect labour | Monetary | Noble (1990) |
| Implementation | Monetary | Noble (1990)
Noori (1990)
Troxler (1990) |
| Waste | Monetary | Meredith (1988)
Noble (1990)
Noori (1990)
Primrose (1990) |
| Rework | Monetary | Meredith (1988)
Noble (1990)
Noori (1990)
Primrose (1990) |
| Tool | Monetary | Noori (1990)
Troxler (1990) |
| Inspection | Monetary | Meredith (1988)
Troxler (1990) |
| Raw materials (waste) | Monetary | Meredith (1988)
Noble (1990)
Swann and O'Keefe (1990) |
| Down time | Monetary | Primrose (1990)
Swann and O'Keefe (1990) |
| Transportation | Monetary | Primrose (1990) |
| Space savings | Monetary | Meredith (1988)
Noble (1990)
Noori (1990)
Primrose (1990)
Swann and O'Keefe (1990) |
| Sales or customers lost | Monetary | Swann and O'Keefe (1990) |
| New customer requests | Monetary | Clemmer (1990) |
| Order | Monetary | Noori (1990)
Troxler (1990) |
| Warranty | Monetary | Primrose (1990)
Pasewack (1991) |
| After-sale service cost | Monetary | Primrose (1990)
Pasewack (1991) |
| Design | Monetary | Noble (1990)
Noori (1990)
Troxler (1990) |
| Product modification | Monetary | Meredith (1988)
Noori (1990)
Troxler (1990) |
| Financing receivables | Monetary | Meredith (1988)
Noori (1990)
Primrose (1990)
Troxler (1990) |
| Training and recruiting | Monetary | Meredith (1988)
Noori (1990)
Primrose (1990)
Troxler (1990) |
| Information input | Monetary | Swann and O'Keefe (1990) |
| Processing errors | Monetary | Primrose and Leonard (1986a)
Primrose (1990) |
| Training time | Monetary | Swann and O'Keefe (1990) |
| Number of working days lost (work accidents) | Monetary | Swann and O'Keefe (1990) |
Quality is multidimensional concept. IT applications can improve the quality of the product, customer service, management and functional activities, and working conditions (Table E2).
Table E2. Improved quality. |
|---|
| Variable | Measure | References |
| Product |
Performance
| Speed of processing | Juran and Mirano (1980)
Quarante (1984)
Mizuno (1988) |
| Level of product precision | Juran and Mirano (1980)
Quarante (1984)
Mizuno (1988) |
| Level of consumption of resources (energy) for the customer | Quarante (1984)
Mizuno (1988)
Hall et al. (1990) |
| Simplicity of use | Mizuno (1988) |
| Number of options in comparison with competing products | Quarante (1984) |
Aesthetics
| Shapes and proportions of the product | Quarante (1984) |
| Look of the product | Quarante (1984) |
| Product dimensions | Quarante (1984) |
Conformance
| Defect rate | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Number of interventions (guaranteed) | Garvin (1988)
Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
| First-inspection pass rate | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Last-inspection pass rate | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Number of interventions (not guaranteed) | Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
Durability and maintainability
| Mean period between maintenance | Juran and Grynia (1980) |
| Mean time to repair | Juran and Grynia (1980) |
| Mean time to preventive maintenance | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Product life expectancy | Quarante (1984)
Juran (1988) |
| Mean time for breakdowns | Juran and Grynia (1980) |
| Percentage of available time (mean time between failures divided by the mean time between failures plus mean time for breakdowns) | Juran and Grynia (1980)
Hall et al. (1990)
Bartezzaghi et al. (1992) |
| Ratio of maintenance hours to hours of use | Juran and Grynia (1980) |
| Customer service |
Technical assistance
| Mean time between the call and the intervention | Juran and Grynia (1980)
Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
| Number of service calls per 100 guaranteed units | Juran and Grynia (1980) |
| Mean time between service calls | Juran and Grynia (1980) |
Serviceability
| Percentage of repairs correctly done on the first service call | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Number of repairs not done on the first attempt | Garvin (1988)
Juran (1988) |
| Total number of customer complaints | Juran and Grynia (1980) |
| Number of complaints by customers regarding the employees' courtesy | Juran (1988) |
| Mean delay time to perform a repair | Juran and Grynia (1980)
Garvin (1988)
Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
| Time to resolve customer complaints | Clemmer (1990) |
| Management and functional activities |
Administration
| Inventory turnover | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Percentage of documents containing errors | Juran (1988) |
| Billing accuracy (error rate) | Hall et al. (1990) |
Marketing and sales
| Order accuracy (error rate) | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Average customer lead time | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Number of canceled customer orders | Juran (1988) |
| Number of complaints related to product design | Harrington (1991) |
| Customer turnover | |
| Mean time between customer order and delivery | Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
| Mean delivery delay (between end of production and shipping) | Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
Purchasing
| Number of delays for a part shortage | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Percentage of stock shortage | Juran (1988) |
| Longest supplier lead time | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Cost related to acquisition of poor-quality product | Juran (1988) |
| Percentage of repeated orders related to poor-quality product received the first time | Juran (1988) |
| Percentage of defective parts returned to the supplier | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Rate of on-time arrival | Hall et al. (1990) |
Production
| Time to build | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Unplanned equipment down time | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Time devoted to improving the operation's quality | Asher (1988) |
| Average time between customer request and production start-up | Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
| Number of meetings on quality improvement | Asher (1988) |
Human resources
| Time spent on training and recycling | Asher (1988) |
| Average time required to fill vacant jobs | |
Engineering
| Design cost | Bartezzaghi et al. (1992)
Hall et al. (1990) |
| Number of parts | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Drawing accuracy (error rate) | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Time to make changes on plans | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Number of engineering changes per drawing | Harrington (1991) |
| Time spent on new-product and new-process development | Asher (1988) |
Working conditions
| Rate of absenteeism | Swann and O'Keefe (1990) |
| Rate of employee turnover | Swann and O'Keefe (1990) |
| Number of grievances | Swann and O'Keefe (1990) |
Flexibility can be measured with respect to processes, labour and infrastructure, and design and implementation (Table E3).
Table E3. Flexibility. |
|---|
| Variable | Measure | References |
| Processes |
Machine
| Number of different operations | Carter (1986)
Brill and Mandelbaum (1987) |
| Time required to switch from one operation to another | Browne et al. (1984)
Carter (1986) |
Routing
| Robustness of the system when breakdowns occurs | Browne et al. (1984) |
| Percentage of loss of productivity that is due to change in product mix | Carter (1986) |
Production
| Size of the universe of parts the system is capable of producing | Bartezzaghi et al. (1992) |
Operation
| Number of different processing plans for fabrication | Sethi and Sethi (1990) |
Processing
| Extent to which the product mix can be changed while maintaining efficient production | Sethi and Sethi (1990) |
Expansion
| Investment cost required to double the production capacity (ratio of cost of equipment needed to the current equipment cost) | Carter (1986)
Sethi and Sethi (1990) |
Volume
| Ability to operate profitably at different overall output levels | Browne et al. (1984)
Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
Product
| Time required to switch from one part mix to another | Buzacott (1982)
Browne et al. (1984) |
| Labour and infrastructure |
Numerical
| Capacity to adjust work force to sales fluctuation | Atkinson (1985) |
Functional
| Capacity to dispatch work force as function of production need | Atkinson (1985) |
Training
| Average number of abilities or tasks mastered by production employees | Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989)
Hall et al. (1990) |
| Work force mobility | Bartezzaghi et al. (1992) |
Finance
| Capacity to secure the work force by offering good working conditions | Atkinson (1985) |
| Design and implementation |
Modification
| Required time between product change and introduction of the production line | Noori (1990) |
Innovation
| Average number of new products introduced per year | Gerwin (1987)
Maskell (1991) |
| Mean period between two consecutive innovations | Azzone et al. (1991) |
| Percentage of products and models new within 2 years | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Rate of new-product introduction | Stalk and Hout (1990) |
New-product design
| Time required for the design of a new product | Azzone et al. (1991) |
| Degree of customization of products | Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
| Development time of a new model (from concept meeting to first unit produced) | Hall et al. (1990)
Bartezzaghi et al. (1992) |
| Percentage of standard parts included in the design of a new product | Bartezzaghi et al. (1992) |
Market
| Time from customer recognition of need to delivery | Stalk and Hout (1990) |
| Time from idea to market | Stalk and Hout (1990)
Maskell (1991) |
| Time between the decision to introduce a new product or variation and production start-up | Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
Improved dependability can be expressed in terms of equipment and delivery performance (Table E4).
Table E4. Dependability. |
|---|
| Variable | Measure | References |
| Equipment | Mean time between failures | Garvin (1988)
Juran (1988)
Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
| Mean time before first mechanical breakdown | Juran and Grynia (1980)
Garvin (1988) |
| Frequency of failures | Juran (1988) |
| Percentage of new units returned as defective | Hall et al. (1990) |
| Ratio of repairs to 100 running hours | Juran and Grynia (1980) |
| Delivery performance | Percentage of requests answered on time | Harrington (1991)
Oakland and Wynne (1991) |
| Percentage of on-time deliveries | Hall et al. (1990)
Stalk and Hout (1990)
Azzone et al. (1991)
Oakland and Wynne (1991) |
| Required time to correct a problem | Harrington (1991) |
| Time to respond to a customer request | Bartezzaghi and Turco (1989) |
Document(s) 7 of 17
