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This study aims to examine the interrelationships among business process management (BPM), supply chain collaboration (SCC), collaborative advantage and organisational performance.

Data were collected from 204 manufacturing firms in Thailand, and the interrelationships proposed in the framework were tested via structural equation modelling.

This study highlights the role of intra- and inter-organisational practices and clearly demonstrates the joint role and impact of BPM and SCC, respectively. The results provide empirical evidence that BPM improves both organisational performance and collaborative activities. Also, SCC and collaborative advantage can have indirect positive impacts on organisational performance.

This work could be expanded by adopting a supplementary dyadic or extended supply chain (SC) approach and could also consider contextual factors, which were outside of the scope of this study.

The BPM approach has a positive impact on organisational performance, which is essential for collaborative activities between a firm and its SC partners. Further, effective BPM and SCC practices lead to enhanced performance and collaborative benefits. Practitioners should be better able to define and measure specific actions relating to their BPM and SCC practices.

This paper stresses the need to consider the interrelationships between BPM, SCC, collaborative advantage and organisational performance for both direct and indirect effects. Rather than focusing only on improvement at individual firm level, SCC is vital to compete in the market. Improving the effectiveness of SC allows higher organisational performance levels than those that could be achieved in isolation.

This paper aims to achieve a better understanding of the dissemination and adoption of quality management in China, in the context of theory on management trends and fashions, dissemination and adoption.

Following a literature review, the research adopts a qualitative, multiple case‐study approach, based on the study of six Shanghai manufacturers.

A dissemination and adoption model is presented, which contains nine observed dissemination and adoption factors. These factors and their relationships are identified, analysed and discussed.

The selection of case study companies was constrained by practical considerations of location and access. Further constraints of time and resource meant that only 14 interviews with managers from case‐study companies and three interviews with quality experts and consultants were conducted.

The findings will be of interest to those involved in developing QM within China, or working with Chinese manufacturing partners. They suggest that Chinese businesses do not blindly adopt QM initiatives simply because they are the current trend or fashion – instead, companies make decisions based on several rational adoption factors.

The research contributes to a richer understanding of the dissemination and adoption of QM in China, and extends understanding of QM dissemination in the context of management fashion and dissemination theories, using a qualitative approach.

The development of a quality database is central to effective automation of the operational activities of quality control. The importance of automation to quality data management is stated and a quality database structure outlined. The analysis and specification phase for a prototype system is discussed, with the functional requirements identified, and the choices of software, hardware and communications strategy described. Integration requirements with other computer systems are considered.

The paper describes the methods of manufacturing process optimization, using Taguchi experimental design methods with historical process data, collected during normal production.

The objectives are achieved with two separate techniques: the Retrospective Taguchi approach selects the designed experiment's data from a historical database, whilst in the Neural Network (NN) – Taguchi approach, this data is used to train a NN to estimate process response for the experimental settings. A case study illustrates both approaches, using real production data from an aerospace application.

Detailed results are presented. Both techniques identified the important factor settings to ensure the process was improved. The case study shows that these techniques can be used to gain process understanding and identify significant factors.

The most significant limitation of these techniques relates to process data availability and quality. Current databases were not designed for process improvement, resulting in potential difficulties for the Taguchi experimentation; where available data does not explain all the variability in process outcomes.

Manufacturers may use these techniques to optimise processes, without expensive and time‐consuming experimentation.

The paper describes novel approaches to data acquisition associated with Taguchi experimentation.

The variety of possible quality management (QM) and continuous improvement (CI) initiatives and their various possible permutations can make it difficult for a company to choose the best approach for their requirements. This paper aims to address the selection issue by presenting a method to compare popular QM and CI initiatives from the perspective of the pay‐offs, or expected benefits, to an organisation which successfully adopts the approach.

The relevant QM and CI literature was analysed, examining key initiatives and their reported pay‐offs to the organisation. A matrix diagram approach is introduced which presents the extent and credibility of arguments advanced for these initiatives, in seven categories of pay‐off. A system of assessment is proposed, which quantifies the extent and weight of empirical evidence and estimates the strength of the claim for each pay‐off.

The pay‐off matrix summarises the claims in each of the pay‐off categories, assesses their credibility, and displays the similarities and differences for six key initiatives: total quality management, six sigma, ISO 9000, business process reengineering, lean and business excellence. Graphical pay‐off profiles are presented. Significant differences between the claimed pay‐offs for these initiatives are identified, analysed and discussed.

The proposed matrix and assessment system attempts to support a comprehensive and rational approach to assess the pay‐offs of QM and CI initiatives. As with any analysis of literature, there is inevitably an element of selection, but this approach consciously attempts to avoid omission and promote objectivity. The analysis is based on articles published between 1990 and 2005. Hence, new research and additional evidence may change the weight and credibility of claims.

This paper suggests a way in which evidence from the literature might be most effectively used by managers for decision support in the choice of quality and improvement initiatives. A similar approach might also be used for other areas, where businesses face choices and a considerable body of evidence exists to assist the decision‐making process.

The effects of the choice of inspection level are poorly understood by many manufacturing companies and frequently result in waste or customer dissatisfaction. Describes the use of a quality simulation technique to generate cost data related to manufacturing quality performance and inspection strategies. Reviews underlying ideas concerning quality characteristics, process capability and quality performance measures and describes the simulation assumptions and technique. Presents simulation results which show the quality‐related costs associated with various inspection strategies for a range of quality performance.

The purpose of this paper is to describe new methods to manage variation in complex manufacturing process chains and to show synergies between the variation risk management (VRM) and six‐sigma approaches.

The research methodology was experimental prototyping conducted in collaboration with industry partners. A prototype IT system was developed and tested to implement the approach. A quality cost‐based system was used to assess variation at each operation stage, for every product characteristic.

A comprehensive approach to the management of manufacturing variation is introduced, based on a new process risk matrix which can be used to specify an individual variation risk for every manufactured characteristic, throughout a manufacturing process chain. The approach has been implemented in a prototype software system and is aimed at the complex products such as those manufactured by the aerospace industry.

The IT approach described was developed during the research and is not commercially available.

Manufacturing industry should be able to use this approach, in particular the process risk matrix concept, to develop more effective management of product variation and resultant cost, in complex process chains.

The paper describes a novel approach to combine VRM and six‐sigma concepts, and introduces the process risk matrix as a structure to understand process variation.

Control charts for statistical quality control have been the subject of academic study for many years. Various analytical approaches to economic control chart design have been advanced, although none has found wide use in practice. Describes a simulation approach to the investigation of control chart economics. Simulation can provide guidance on chart design issues such as sample size, sampling interval and the use of alternative chart alarm rules. Applies the method to the economic comparison between variables control charting and other inspection strategies such as 100 per cent inspection. Presents some generalized results, allowing comparison to be made for various scenarios. Emphasizes the importance of process capability in the choice of quality control strategy and demonstrates the economic advantages of control charting where special or assignable causes exist.

Describes research which has been carried out using case‐study analysis to investigate how three Thai companies have adopted TQM. As Japanese and US companies are major investors in Thailand, one purpose of the study was to compare approaches to TQM implementation between three ownership categories: Thai, Japanese, and US‐owned companies operating in Thailand. A framework of TQM implementation developed from change management theory has been adopted for this study. The methodology used involved structured interviews with key staff throughout the selected organisations. The data collected were analysed for content using interview phrase‐matching. This method of analysis proved effective and can form the foundation for an in‐depth understanding of TQM implementation. The case study analysis illustrates that the companies studied have adopted distinct approaches to the implementation of TQM, which are described and placed in the context of the theoretical framework. Also describes the common characteristics of the TQM company which were found in the companies investigated.