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The maquiladora industry is a manufacturing system that utilizes the Mexican workforce and foreign investment and technology on the border region between the USA and Mexico. This study seeks to explore managerial support and employee involvement as well as quality processes (internal enablers) and supplier selection criteria (external factors) in the maquiladora industry with respect to ISO 9000 certification.

The enablers of ISO certification were studied through a survey instrument and extensive field interviews with experts of maquiladora plants in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. Based on a 78 percent response rate (171 usable questionnaires) and 11 in‐depth interviews of quality experts in eight industries, statistical analyses including reliability and validity analyses, factor analyses, tests of hypothesis, and ANOVA were performed.

The four hypotheses developed were verified. Based on the analyses, ISO‐certified companies exemplified better and longer‐term relationships with main/core suppliers, greater top managerial support and employee involvement and communication, and more effective quality processes than those of non ISO‐certified companies.

The results of the study could assist maquiladoras to improve their internal and external enablers in order to have a better chance of achieving ISO certification. Likewise, the headquarters of the maquiladoras could benefit from the identification and recognition of these internal and external enablers.

The quality of products manufactured in maquiladoras should be congruent with the parts and products produced in their headquarters. The paper addresses the role and importance of ISO certification for both maquiladoras and their headquarters. The headquarters could provide the necessary support and resources for achievement or ISO certification in maquiladoras.

Making improvements in products or in processes can be one of the most challenging tasks confronting an organization. This paper uses design of experiment (DOE) to identify causes of defects associated with plastic injection molding processes at the early phases of designing processes and operations. A detailed eight‐phase methodology is offered through which an identification of defects and effective solutions for their removal could be done. The paper also shows how the parameters of the problem could be established and how DOE could be applied to achieve the stated objectives by using the results of only 18 and ten DOE test runs. The results of the initial experiments are subjected to a verification procedure to determine their viability and accuracy. As a result of this experiment, the company was able to make the changes needed to reduce the cycle time required to produce products and thus, increase productivity while maintaining high quality standards. In conclusion, an assessment of the results is provided and the necessary conditions and prerequisites for the effective utilization of the methodology are presented.

Presents an analysis of the operationalization of concurrent new product development in a sample of UK manufacturing firms. Highlights the background to the change, the main organizational drivers for change and the associated tools and techniques, along with the benefits and adverse effects. Closer meeting customer needs and reduced time to market are key benefits, but the requirements for organizational change are causing significant adverse effects. Explores those factors associated with the achievement of benefits. Shows that the intensity of use of tools and techniques (though crucially not CAD/CAM) is the group of factors most closely associated with success.

The purpose of this paper is to consolidate the critical success factors (CSFs) as published in enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation case studies. The authors perform the analysis and propose the final CSFs based on the reported ERP implementation process stages.

The paper follows the eight category coding steps proposed by Carley (1993) and utilizes only ERP implementation case studies to identify a distinct set of critical success factors. The 37 case studies used in this paper provide a reasonable sample from different countries and contexts. Two methodologies were followed, one for the literature review process and the other for the analysis and synthesis.

Out of 64 reported CSFs that were extracted from the literature and subsequent detailed analysis and synthesis the authors found a total of 22 factors that are distinct. These factors which encompass change management, are proposed with five ERP implementation stages.

The final set of success factors proposed in this study gives a consolidated and unified view of the significant variables to be considered during all the stages of ERP implementation. The research is limited to case study literature and does not account for ERP implementation models and frameworks. Another limitation would be the scope of the literature searched which is that of the Management Information Community.

The proposed CSFs can be used by practitioners in five ways: assess implementation of an ERP; ex-ante assessment; comparative analysis with other implementation experiences; utilize CSFs from model as part of key performance indicators; and utilize the model to establish a concise strategy to project management process for the ERP implementation.

ERP implementation is complex. The promise has not yet been fully realized. An ERP-enabled organization entails primarily strategy and change management. To that effect, all stakeholders are impacted by ERP implementation. This paper, identified CSFs extracted from cases of ERP implementation and proposes a model to support its project management, user satisfaction and sustainability. The results aim at reducing costs, maintaining timeline, reducing employee anxieties and with a successful implementation, better service to customer base.

This paper is the first attempt to present a consolidated list of CSFs and mapping them to the stages of an ERP implementation as reported from the industry. It originality is its focus on utilizing rigorous published case studies with the hope that future case studies would utilize the work to report on the same factors. The value is that as the case studies are increased, comparison and differentiation between is enhanced.