Editorial

Citation

Radnor, Z. and Heap, J. (2006), "Editorial", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 55 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2006.07955haa.001

Editorial

As we reach the end of another volume, we can look back at a successful year – in terms of the number and the quality of papers submitted to IJPPM – both of which have been rising. Of course, as performance measurement and management experts, you know that too often we use such input measures to describe our performance. When we stop to think (or more likely are encouraged to do so by some external force) we remember that it is outcomes that really matter. The success of a journal such as this lies in your opinions of what we publish and then in the longer term the impact it has on research and practice. For now, we’ll just consider it encouraging work-in-progress.

The very perceptive of you will recognise that we attempt to theme particular issues and to link papers in some way. This helps build a body of thought and opinion more quickly. (Of course the links have to be genuine. Otherwise we end up with links like those on TV or radio where the announcer says something like … “Talking about shark fishing in Buenos Aires, we now present a short film on the agonies suffered by Michelangelo as he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel”.) This issue does have a real focus – or perhaps a pair of linked foci (or should that be focuses) - on the area of maintenance and manufacturing with both of the academic papers concerned with maintenance and both applied papers with improvement methodologies in manufacturing companies.

The paper by Al-Najjar and Kans presents a model which can support manufacturing organisations in building up a database in order to make cost-effective maintenance decisions. They argue that analysing a store of historical data enables the identification of root sources of problems which in turn allows continuous improvement by eliminating those root causes at early stages. The case study presented presents the model and comments on its usefulness.

The paper by Lopez and Centeno also presents a system or model acting as an information support tool to assist maintenance mangers. This time the resulting information is used to help support decisions, particularly related to resource management, that maximize efficiency in transit operations. The model presented combines the scheduling of jobs and maintenance, time standards and forecasting in order to allocate resources effectively.

Sehgai et al., take us through a specific project to re-engineer the supply chain for an Indian paint company. Interestingly – for this journal – the case for change was made on the basis of existing performance measures which were felt to be unacceptable. The level of detail of the case study involved helps draw out some of the practical implications of the theory presented and allows the connections between theory and professional practice to be better understood.

Bhuiyan et al., use a similar theory-practise linkage to demonstrate a particular approach to continuous improvement exemplified in an aerospace company. They point out, quite rightly, that there is no east answer, no “magic bullet”, to continuous improvement. However they show that a structured and systematic approach which recognises the cultural components as well as the technical is more likely to succeed.

So, though we write this earlier in the year, it just remains for us to wish you a happy holiday season and to join us again for our next issue. After reading the papers in this volume (and particularly in this issue) we have a better understanding of continuous improvement and you can expect us to continue improving the journal. We also recently started to receive statistical information on the way in which the associated website is used and we can thus use this performance information to aid our own development activity. We like to practise what we preach!

Zoe Radnor, John Heap