Drum-buffer-rope in an engineering-to-order system: An analysis of an aerospace manufacturer using data envelopment analysis (DEA)

Eduardo Santos Telles, Daniel Pacheco Lacerda, Maria Isabel Wolf Motta Morandi and Fabio Antonio Sartori Piran

International Journal of Production Economics, 2020, vol. 222, issue C

Abstract: Increased productivity and efficiency in industries with engineering-to-order (ETO) production systems have attracted growing interest from academia and business. The application of the Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) from the Theory of Constraints (TOC) is considered an alternative to traditional improvement programs to achieve these ends. Although research on DBR shows benefits to the companies that use it, empirical evidence about these benefits is uncommon in the literature, especially in ETO production systems. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate the effects that the implementation of DBR produces to contribute to the improvement of efficiency in an ETO system. This study analyses the effects of the implementation of DBR on the efficiency of three ETO production lines of an aerospace manufacturer. The effects were evaluated longitudinally through a case study using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), the Wilcoxon test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results show that the DBR implementation resulted in an increase in efficiency up to 19%. The results also establish that the DBR helps prioritization, improves communication among the productive departments, reduces the lead time and lists other variables and qualitative aspects that contributed, positively or not, to the productive efficiency results.

Keywords: Theory of constraints (TOC); Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR); Engineering-to-order (ETO) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:proeco:v:222:y:2020:i:c:s0925527319303202

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2019.09.021

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