Quality, Time, Cost & Flexibility

Decision Support Tools

Quality, Time, Cost & Flexibility

Competitive Priorities

In 1984 Hayes and Wheelwright suggested that companies compete in the marketplace by virtue of one or more of the following competitive priorities:-

Quality
Lead-time
Cost
Flexibility

Many authors and practitioners have added to and adapted this list over the years.

Foo and Friedman (1992) for example proposed a set of six competitive priorities, adding `Service' and `Manufacturing Technology' to the above while expanding `Time' into:

`time to market' and
`lead times'.

Others have added

`Innovation',
`Dependability' etc.

Quality, time, cost and flexibility can be defined in various different ways to include, for example:

Dimensions of quality:

Performance - the primary operating characteristics.
Features - optional extras (the "bells" and "whistles").
Reliability - likelihood of breakdown.
Conformance - conformance to specification.
Technical durability - length of time before the product becomes obsolete.
Serviceability - ease of service
Aesthetics - look, smell, feel, taste.
Perceived quality - reputation.
Value for money.

Dimensions of time:

Manufacturing lead time.
Due date performance.
Rate of product introduction.
Delivery lead time.
Frequency of delivery.

Dimensions of price and cost:

Manufacturing cost.
Value added.
Selling price.
Running cost - cost of keeping the product running.
Service cost - cost of servicing the product.
Profit.

Dimensions of flexibility

Material quality - ability to cope with incoming materials of varying quality.
Output quality - ability to satisfy demand for products of varying quality.
New product - ability to cope with the introduction of new products.
Modification - ability to modify existing products.
Deliverability - ability to change delivery schedules.
Volume - ability to accept varying demand volumes.
Product mix - ability to cope with changes in the product mix.
Resource mix - ability to cope with changes in the resource mix.

References

Hayes, Robert H., and Wheelwright, Steven C., Restoring Our Competitive Edge: Competing Through Manufacturing. New York: John Wiley, 1984.
Foo, G., Friedman, D.J., 1992, "Variability and Capability: The Foundation of Competitive Operations Performance", AT&T; Technical Journal, July/August, pp 2-9.