European industry: the need for speed
Optimising industry and streamlining operations management may have a positive income on jobs and industry across Europe. Traditionally, there has been concern in the EU that low-cost–production companies worldwide are gaining market share over more expensive competitors in the continent. However, European firms have ample opportunity to differentiate themselves by providing added value to customers, such as customised products or faster delivery. Improving our knowledge of how European factories can shorten their delivery lead times and substantially increase their competitiveness will help keep the European job market secure. Recently, lead time reduction has encouraged product conformity at the expense of customisation because production and delivery of individualised products has traditionally taken too long. If lead time reduction methods are improved, this will speed up any process in manufacturing as well as in service businesses. A new EU-funded project, Keeping jobs in EU, is supporting lead time reductions in European industry and providing a source of relevant data on the subject in top journals. Such an endeavour is contributing to the fields of operations management, service operations management and supply chain management. To achieve its aims of keeping jobs and increasing competitiveness, the project is developing a revolutionary computer programme known as 'queuing-based modelling software'. The creation of such lead time reduction software increases industry competitiveness and supports academic research. A state-of-the-art software tool called Rapid Modeler that supports lead time reductions in service and manufacturing industries has already been developed. The Rapid Modeler analyses orders and fulfils them quickly based on well-established queuing theory. The software is set to help companies understand and reconfigure their processes efficiently and effectively. In addition, implementation of the software as a Java application guarantees high flexibility and easy usage. Several case studies from manufacturing and service companies have demonstrated the practical applicability of the approach and the software. Following the 1st first Rapid Modelling Conference in Switzerland in 2009, 46 authors from 14 countries jointly published a book, 'Rapid modelling for increasing competitiveness, tools and mindset'. The publication provides a comprehensive overview on the subject of increasing competitiveness through speed. The ultimate goal of these initiatives is to change how companies think about operations, management practices, and improvement of business processes. The Keeping jobs in EU project results are being disseminated to achieve these goals, with commercialisation of the project in mind. In parallel, the Rapid Modelling Society has been established as a platform for development and dissemination related to the project. Together, these initiatives will help ensure European industry's competitiveness.
