Four of the companies covered by this study
were divisions of larger companies. Four were
stand-alone companies. They represented a range
of firm sizes, products, types of manufacturing
(continuous process, batch, and job shop) markets,
and organizational arrangements, as shown in
Table 2. The companies also had different prior
experiences with manufacturing and information
technology. The financial performances of seven
of the eight companies were below the expectations
of their corporate headquarters. Company
G had average profits compared to the industry.
Four companies (A, B, E, and F) were recording
consistently declining profits. Company C
was just breaking even in a growing market,
and companies D and H were losing money. In
addition, they were all experiencing problems
with excessively highinventory levels and low
inventory turnover rates. Only companies D and
H had on-time delivery performances better than
the industry average, while the remaining six
were below average. Corporate and divisional
management for all the companies recognized
the need for immediate strategic and operational
responses to these problems.