Publication Date

1967

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Green, Gerald G.||Hackamack, Lawrence C. (Lawrence Carroll), 1921-

Degree Name

M.S. (Master of Science)

Legacy Department

Department of Business Administration

LCSH

Electronic industries; Industrial management; Production engineering

Abstract

Planning ia one of the tools which management employs in order to make the best use of its resources. This study dealt with one particular aspect of planning—preplanning. In order to evaluate the importance of engineering preplanning to a modern firm, the following sub-problems were formulated. 1. What benefits does current literature attribute to preplanning? a. What opinion does modern industry have concerning engineering preplanning? 3. What is the relationship between the preplanned goals and the goals the industry establishes at the time of production? 4. Is preplanning economically feasible? 5. The contribution of engineering preplanning to plant efficiency. The data required for the first sub-problem was obtained by performing library research in the field of preplanning for the production engineers. Reference sources employed included magazines, textbooks, and other related literature. The answers to sub-problems two through five were determined by analyzing the data which were received as a result of the questionnaires which were sent out to selected electronic firms in the Rockford and Chicago area. Current literature has attributed many benefits to engineering preplanning and to planning in general. The majority of the literature surveyed indicated that preplanning was essential to the successful allocation of a modern fines resources. In conjunction with the increasing importance of automation, the literature surveyed indicated that the importance of preplanning and planning will increase in the future. The following opinions were found to exist in modern industry. Nineteen of the respondents indicated that they felt that engineering preplanning was very important. Five of the respondents indicated that it was moderately important and one respondent said that preplanning was of no practical value. In addition, to the above information, it was found that 92 per cent of the firms contacted indicated that they employed preplanning at the present time. The greatest positive factor attributing to engineering preplanning was management's ability to establish feasible goals. All of the firms contacted indicated that preplanning does establish feasible goals. Eighty-eight per cent of the firms contacted responded by stating that the cost of establishing a preplanning department would be offset by an increase in plant efficiency. In regards to the per cent of efficiency which could be attributed to preplanning, the following results were obtained. Forty-eight per cent of the respondents attributed 16 to 25 per cent of their efficiency to preplanning. Twenty- eight per cent of the firms contacted attributed 26 to 35 per cent of their efficiency to preplanning. The remaining respondents indicated varying degrees of efficiency. In summation, it may be ascertained that modern managers realize the importance of engineering preplanning as a valuable tool for decision making.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

ix, 70 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

Download

Share

COinS