Process-oriented change within the industrial supply systems -- A systematic evaluation of current practices [Jan Wilton, ISSS 1998 Paper Session, July 23/98]

These notes are a rough transcription, prepared as each individual presenter and/or commentator spoke at the ISSS 1998 conference. Gaps and errors have likely occurred. For more accurate citations, please consult the original presenters. These notes have been contributed to the ISSS by David Ing, of the IBM Advanced Business Institute (sabi@systemicbusiness.org).

Jan Wilton, City U. Business School, London

Change is prevalent: from Drucker discontinuity, to Moss-Kanter's Olympics

• Driving forces:
• Technological innovation, advances in science base, environment ...

1950s-1960s quality

1970s-1980s time

1980s-1990s technology

Themes

• Taylorism
• Deming / Juran / Taguchi
• Concurrent engineering, involving customers and suppliers along product life cycle
• Should now be looking at holistic management

• Moss-Kanter, giants learn to dance, in outsourcing and subcontracting.
• Then suppliers have to learn to dance as well, in quality, process, innovation
• Welch: If you can't meet quality and price standards, you're not in the game.

• State of disintegration, down to core competencies.
• Suppliers adding increasing value to the offering.
• Interactions between suppliers is changing to partnership.
• Porter's value chain is increasingly being attacked, as too simplistic:
• Too linear -- Normann and Ramirez value constellation.
• Clewer promotes a supply system.
• Schon's comment at the beginning of Normann and Ramirez.

• In the middle, a systems tier, where suppliers all need to work together.
• Could be minor parts or intermediate parts supplier.

• Deming's "production viewed as a system" is attributed as the spark that ignited Japan
• Have we learned from this work? What process improvement practices have been conducted?
• Quality
• BPR.
• Projects being shot down in press, but companies are still doing them.

Use Critical Systems Theory to evaluate process improvement: pluralism, critical awareness,

• Use Total/Local System Intervention: 3 modes

• Understand 3Ps of methodology
• Critique
• Contribution towards creativity, choice or implementation
• Four dimension ..
• ...
• ..
• ...

• Huge disparity of practices, no one way.
• Methods have been put on retrospectively (pragmatically), not done in advance.
• Implementation rather than creativity or choice.
• Predominantly internally-focused, doesn't look at effects on suppliers or customers.
• BPR as operational or strategic?
• How does BPR fit in with 4 principles (wholistic, participative, reflexive and emancipatory) of TSI?
• Wholistic, somewhat participative, not very reflexive, weak on human aspects.
• Overall critique:
• BPR scope is not well-defined -- discontinuous change
• Quality and reengineering seen as methods, rather than large scale.
• Four dimensions: processes, design, culture, politics.
• What about resources (finances, skills)?
• TSI is very internally-focused, as well, doesn't discuss working with suppliers very much.

• Automotive: suppliers to Ford
• Saturated, cost-conscious industry, focusing on consolidation
• Looked at service supplier, rather than component suppliers.
• CTL and Lorien, do data management, distance training of dealers.
• Interaction with other suppliers, sometimes with competitors, complex per project (rather than simple supply chain)
• Ford 2000 is a global "mother of reengineering", will cut down service suppliers by 90%.
• Mobile Telecomm: suppliers to Ericsson
• Ericsson growing exponentially, the question is where is the plateau?
• Growing internationally from Sweden to become multinational.
• Working with Nolato, Holmsbergs, Fremach, IMS Connectors
• Want to get from 1800 parts per million failure to 1 over two years.

• Supply system must be more systemic.
• Critiqued some current practices
• The real important concepts -- the theory of the system, and its cooperation.

Questions

• Systems science as an emerging issue.`