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This monograph examines research needs in computer aided production management (CAPM). Recommendations for future research and its organisation are made. The monograph is based on an in‐depth study of current CAPM practice in a varied sample of 33 companies. The study conclusions confirm many existing beliefs. Many companies are paying inadequate attention to the necessary prerequisites for successful CAPM implementation. The prerequisites change as the extent of CAPM system integration increases. Organisational rather than implementation issues dominate as integration increases. The proposed research would bring together existing knowledge of best CAPM practice to form methodologies for the audit, design and implementation of CAPM systems. The aim is to reduce the time‐span of the learning curve required for successful CAPM integration. The methodologies need to be specific to particular industrial sectors.

Early in AT & T Bell Laboratories' involvement with plasma smear removal for multilayer boards, the generic problem of uniform etching over large size panels became obvious. Techniques were developed which provide a quantitative measurement of the etch uniformity. These techniques were used to evaluate the etch performance of existing reactors and as an aid in developing a better understanding of the factors which influence etch uniformity. This characterisation procedure enabled the development of new reactor geometries which greatly improved etch uniformity as compared to previously used configurations. This paper describes these steps along the road to uniform etching of printed circuit boards.

ntroducing computerised working scheduling systems into a “not‐for‐ation, addressed by means of a case study based in a high security mental rise to four recommendations: that line authority is required; an “agent needed to push through the momentum of change; collaboration has ed; and because of inertia within the system, change is best implemented ground of crisis or turbulent conditions.

This study aimed to examine factors associated with volunteer role identity in mentors of school-based mentoring programmes.

Drawing on established theoretical models of volunteerism (the Role Identity Model), and research and theory on mentoring programmes, an integrated model of predictors of mentor volunteer role identity was tested. Seventy-one mentors (63 females, mean age 36 years) completed a survey with measures of habit, subjective norms, satisfaction with the mentor-mentee relationship, relationship closeness, social skills and mentor role identity. Path analysis was used for data analysis.

Fit indexes revealed an acceptable fit to the data. There were six significant paths. Habit and subjective norms were directly related to role identity. The association between mentor role identity and two further predictors, satisfaction with the mentor–mentee relationship and social skills was respectively fully and partially mediated by relationship closeness.

Findings can inform mentoring programmes in supporting mentors to develop a close relationship with their mentees and promote the development of a role identity as a volunteer among mentors. A stronger role identity is in turn expected to enhance mentor retention in the programme.

An important and novel finding of this study is that relationship closeness contributes to mentors developing a volunteer role identity. Also, for the first time, the importance for mentors of support from significant others in fostering sustained volunteer engagement has been examined.

Computer production management systems are far more common than they were even five years ago, as a result of reductions in the costs of computer hardware and the growing use of package software by both large and small firms. However, there are still many problems associated with such computer systems. Though the symptoms are somewhat different depending on whether we are concerned with large or small companies, the root cause is the same: a lack of any clear philosophy of what production management systems do and how they should be designed. In addition companies face a need to integrate hardware from many different suppliers and the ability to do this would also be helpful to smaller firms. At the moment such integration is difficult to carry out.

This paper aims to develop efficient decision support tools for a firm’s environment protection by using greening effort while yet improving profitability by utilizing pricing and inventory decisions with discount consideration.

This study proposed a mathematical model for price- and greening effort-dependent demand rate with discount considerations. Later, the mathematical model is extended to the situation in which the demand rate is also dependent on the stock level, in addition to the price and greening effort. Efficient solution methodologies are developed for finding the optimal solution to the proposed models.

Simple yet elegant models are proposed to mimic real-life applications. Structural properties of the models are explored to outline efficient algorithms with quantity discounts.

The paper considers monopoly and assumes deterministic demand. Only a more commonly observed all-units discount scheme is studied.

The models provide decision support tools for firms in pursuit of joint profit maximization and environment consciousness goals.

The study develops environment-friendly approaches for inventory management and improving the profitability alike.

This study is among the first to consider environmental protection with an investment in greening effort along with inventory management and pricing decision. The study also explored the effect of all-unit quantity discounts.

This paper reports on research investigating the process of formation of manufacturing strategy in six UK manufacturing small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Realised manufacturing strategy can be considered to be the pattern formed in the stream of actions taken within a firm’s manufacturing function. The research aims to locate the source of that stream by identifying the causal origins of strategic manufacturing actions using a strategy charting method. The findings indicate that, for these companies, realised manufacturing strategy is predominantly formed through a bottom‐up emergent process, arising from the preferences of personnel within the manufacturing function. For most strategic manufacturing actions, there is no demonstrable link to business strategy. As such, these firms are not following best‐practice manufacturing strategy literature, which advises that manufacturing strategy be derived from business strategy in a top‐down deliberate process. This is the case despite differences in the size, products, customers, ownership structures and histories of the companies. The paper speculates that, in UK SMEs, more widely, manufacturing strategy may similarly not arise from the pursuit of business objectives. This may be because the concept of manufacturing as a potential strategic weapon is absent in the SME community, or because the formalised top‐down deliberate process of developing manufacturing strategy associated with this concept is inappropriate in the dynamic environments in which most SMEs operate.

By law, no substance may be added to fresh meat to enhance its colour; so one might be forgiven for thinking that colour is a good natural guide to meat quality. Indeed, cookery books often urge you to choose bright red meat and avoid that which is dull and brown. But this preference is based on a fallacy. The appearance of bright red meat is undoubtedly psychologically attractive, but it is not an indicator of quality. The fact is that meat colour is not a reliable guide to either freshness or flavour. As we shall see, a number of factors — ranging from the age of the animal through to the eventual packaging and display — can affect the colour of meat; although in most cases they do not affect the eating quality of the meat after cooking. It is the chemistry of the pigment myoglobin which determines meat colour, and it is affected by a variety of chemical and physical factors.