Drum-Buffer-Rope in an engineering-to-order productive system: a case study in a Brazilian aerospace company
Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management
ISSN: 1741-038X
Article publication date: 20 May 2022
Issue publication date: 6 September 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) is a method to adjust production flows, synchronize the release of materials and enable a process of focused improvement in production systems. Literature on DBR applications in engineer-to-order (ETO) production systems, where customers participate in product design decisions and, consequently, in the way production is planned and executed, is rare. However, the interest in improving production management in ETO systems has received attention from the scientific and business communities. The goal of this research was to evaluate the implementation of DBR in an ETO productive system, critically analyzing the necessary adaptations for its use.
Design/methodology/approach
This research was conducted through a case study in a company that manufactures electronic equipment, known as avionics, in the aerospace sector.
Findings
In this context, the contribution of this study consists of evaluation of the implementation of DBR in an ETO productive system, describing the implementation and the necessary adaptations of the DBR to the ETO productive system explored, comparing it with the DBR theoretical proposals and Simplified Drum-Buffer-Rope (S-DBR) methods.
Originality/value
The study contributes to knowledge by expanding the field of the DBR application to make it more precise, and by applying the theory of constraints, in a general manner, to this type of productive environment.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank CNPq and CAPES, the Brazilian government agencies, for supporting the research and for the provision of financial support. The authors also express their appreciation of the company that made this study possible. However, it should be noted that any analysis is the responsibility of the authors, and, therefore, does not represent the company's position. Finally, the authors thank the reviewers for the comments to improve the work.
Citation
Telles, E.S., Lacerda, D.P., Morandi, M.I.W., Ellwanger, R., de Souza, F.B. and Piran, F.S. (2022), "Drum-Buffer-Rope in an engineering-to-order productive system: a case study in a Brazilian aerospace company", Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 33 No. 6, pp. 1190-1209. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-10-2021-0420
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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