Why Wait for Crises to Reveal the Unusual Opportunities for Management Science Applications in Your Organization?

This paper presents four case studies in which factories were operating in apparently healthy states until crises revealed the inadequacy of their information and control systems. Investigations following each of the crises disclosed that: (1) The efficiencies of these factories, while in apparently healthy states, were well below their potentials, (2) Management was making decisions without meaningful information, on the basis of irrelevant information and/or without knowledge of large variations in their testing and production process and (3) The information and control systems often lacked valid links with either the suppliers or customers. Additionally, these systems often lacked the necessary underlying logic that would permit them to cope with significant changes in raw materials, machinery, personnel, customer requirements, etc. These four case studies were selected from twenty years of experience in the paper industry, but similar studies could be taken from personal experiences in the apparel, cosmetic, toiletry and electronics industries.