Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Purpose: Literature on World Class Manufacturing is very limited. Some information exists on the concepts behind it, but very little exist on the framework and physical implementation. Also, a lot of information is available on other productivity improvement initiatives but not a lot is mentioned about the implementation thereof and the difficulties experienced during the implementation. This paper aims to provide not only an overview of the framework of World Class Manufacturing as interpreted by ArcelorMittal, but also a case study of such an implementation. Design/Methodology/Approach: The approach taken with this paper is to give an overview of the World Class Manufacturing framework as interpreted by ArcelorMittal and to provide a case study of an actual implementation thereof. Findings: Productivity improvement initiatives have real value for the companies that implement them, but this value can only be sustained if the principles behind them are entrenched in the company’s strategy. Practical Implications: The result of this paper is the design of a Business Management Framework that will support the sustainability of a World Class Manufacturing implementation. Originality/Value: The value of this paper lies not only with the building of the body of knowledge with respect to World Class Manufacturing but also in the design of a new concept for the support of sustained value creation of World Class Manufacturing. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Doel: Literatuur oor “World Class Manaufacturing” is baie beperk. Daar is wel literatuur oor die konsepte agter dit, maar daar bestaan baie min literatuur oor die raamwerk asook die fisiese implementering. Daar bestaan ook baie literatuur oor ander produktiwiteits verbetering initiatiewe, maar daarin word daar ook baie min melding gemaak van die implementering asook die probleme wat ondervind word gedurende die tyd. Die verslag se mikpunt is om ’n oorsig te gee van die raamwerk van “World Class Manufacturing” soos wat dit deur ArcelorMittal geinterpreteer word, asook om ’n voorbeeld te gee van so ’n implementering. Ontwerp/Metodologie/Aanslag: Die aanslag wat geneem is met die verslag is om ‘n oorsig te gee van die raamwerk van “World Class Manufacturing” soos wat dit geinterpreteer word deur ArcelorMittal asook om ‘n voorbeeld te gee van die implementering daarvan. Bevindings: Produktiwiteits verbetering initiatiewe lewer regte waarde aan die maatskappye wat dit implementeer, maar die waarde kan net volhou word as die beginsels agter die initiatiewe ingeburger word in die maatskappy se strategie. Praktiese Implikasies: Die resultaat van die verslag is die ontwerp van ‘n Besigheids Bestuur Raamwerk wat die volhoubaarheid van die implementering van “World Class Manufacturing” sal ondersteun. Oorspronklikheid/Waarde: Die waarde van die verslag le nie net in die opbou van die kennis wat beskikbaar is oor “World Class Manufacturing” nie, maar ook in die ontwerp van ’n nuwe konsep for the onderhouding van volhoubare waarde skepping met “World Class Manufacturing”.

Thesis (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / Some companies composed of different branches or centres or business units, are frequently following different financial operating procedures. They use different financial systems that are not aligned. This lack of process standardisation and control can be seen as a “drag” on the business. Due to this challenge, management might be at risk to focus on the administrative processes, instead of the core-business of the company. This risk has lead to more and more organisations considering implementing shared services for finance, believing that through the implementation thereof there is an opportunity to reduce costs, improve quality, timeliness, and transparency of data. The main aim of this report is to verify whether the implementation of shared services at the Accounts Payable (AP) function within ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) did add value to the stakeholders of the business. Managing a shared services operation includes the implementation of benchmarking and continuous improvement and must involve planning for enhancements. Increased automation should enable departments to operate more effectively and efficiently in the future by streamlining processes, improving service levels and internal control as well as increasing data analysis. The main reasons for implementing a Shared Services Centre (SSC) at AMSA are explained and the processes that AMSA followed in implementing a SSC in Vanderbijlpark are described. Specific reference to the AP function is given. The SSC AP function of AMSA should operate as an internal customer service business. Currently the internal customers of this function are not satisfied with the operation of the function and a lot of the difficulties and mistakes made during implementation and operation of the SSC AP need to be solved, although the centre has been implemented six years ago. A customer survey and interviews with three managers of AMSA, who were involved in the implementation and operation of the SSC, was done to determine the value and success of the centre. According to the feedback, the SSC of AMSA has become a static shared service unit that satisfied the needs of the customers and the organisation only at the beginning of implementation. The service currently runs the risk of becoming just another centralised function that is subject to the same problems that originally caused AMSA to seek a new means of organising. The management of the SSC of AMSA needs to look beyond what it does today, linking its plan to overall company goals and assessing how it can optimise its contributions on behalf of all parties within AMSA. The management of the shared services unit needs to develop competence in finding and exploiting leverage opportunities to be continuously of value to AMSA. Possible corrective actions to get the SSC to be customer orientated are discussed. By solely relying on centralisation and standardisation, significant benefits of the shared services operating model was omitted and not implemented. The management of AMSA needs to consider the restructuring of the SSC to ensure the reshaping of the operation into the high-performing, service-oriented “business within a business” originally intended for shared services.

Organizations are expected by their shareholders to continually deliver above industry returns on capital invested and to remain competitive in the industry of choice through productivity, safety and quality. The maintenance function is a key area in which competitiveness through efficiencies and world–class performance can be attained by focusing on the prevention and reduction of long and costly equipment repair times. The question is: how can the mean time to repair of equipment already installed in the plant be reduced? To answer the above question correctly and comprehensively, the research explored mixed methods in finding answers. Quantitative methodology using a survey was used for data collection. Observations and interviews were held with maintenance personnel to uncover information that couldn’t have been obtained by means of a survey. The survey was limited to equipment performance measures, human factors, environmental factors, planning, spare parts, maintainability, procedures and training. To test consistency and accuracy of representation of the total population under study, a reliability test was done by using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. To determine whether there are any differences between groups, an ANOVA test was used. Cohen’s d–value was used to determine practically significant differences between one set of data with another and correlation analysis was used to determine the relationships between the variables. The approach designed and delivered by this research flowed from the existing body of knowledge, case studies and survey findings. The approach adopts some of the elements of the failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) procedure and differs from other work that has been done by others by taking into account the competency and experience of maintenance personnel and assigning to them factors which are used to compute anew MTTR of the equipment. The cost of implementing the recommended corrective actions for realising the new MTTR is determined and evaluated against an improved equipment availability that will be achieved as a result of the recommended corrective actions assuming that the failure rate of the equipment remains constant. This evaluation step imbedded within the approach is valuable for the maintenance function and management for decision making in ensuring that resources at the organization’s disposal are used productively. Validation and test results of the approach showed that the MTTR of equipment installed in the plant can be reduced. The results also indicated that through the use of the designed approach a regular pattern of repair or replacement times can be followed well in advance and that it is practical, user friendly and it also delivers on its objective of offering a structure for analysis and decision making aimed at reducing the MTTR. Included with this dissertation is feedback information that can be included in a maintenance job card feedback section to capture information about factors that can be improved to lower the MTTR as part of a continuous improvement process. Included also is a spare part development and management procedure that can be used by the maintenance function. Recommendations on training of maintenance personnel on the maintainability of equipment, the FMEA procedure and maintenance procedures are highlighted. Information that flowed from this approach will be valuable for continuous plant performance improvement and during the design, installation and operation stages of a blast furnace. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Organizations are expected by their shareholders to continually deliver above industry returns on capital invested and to remain competitive in the industry of choice through productivity, safety and quality. The maintenance function is a key area in which competitiveness through efficiencies and world–class performance can be attained by focusing on the prevention and reduction of long and costly equipment repair times. The question is: how can the mean time to repair of equipment already installed in the plant be reduced? To answer the above question correctly and comprehensively, the research explored mixed methods in finding answers. Quantitative methodology using a survey was used for data collection. Observations and interviews were held with maintenance personnel to uncover information that couldn’t have been obtained by means of a survey. The survey was limited to equipment performance measures, human factors, environmental factors, planning, spare parts, maintainability, procedures and training. To test consistency and accuracy of representation of the total population under study, a reliability test was done by using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. To determine whether there are any differences between groups, an ANOVA test was used. Cohen’s d–value was used to determine practically significant differences between one set of data with another and correlation analysis was used to determine the relationships between the variables. The approach designed and delivered by this research flowed from the existing body of knowledge, case studies and survey findings. The approach adopts some of the elements of the failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) procedure and differs from other work that has been done by others by taking into account the competency and experience of maintenance personnel and assigning to them factors which are used to compute anew MTTR of the equipment. The cost of implementing the recommended corrective actions for realising the new MTTR is determined and evaluated against an improved equipment availability that will be achieved as a result of the recommended corrective actions assuming that the failure rate of the equipment remains constant. This evaluation step imbedded within the approach is valuable for the maintenance function and management for decision making in ensuring that resources at the organization’s disposal are used productively. Validation and test results of the approach showed that the MTTR of equipment installed in the plant can be reduced. The results also indicated that through the use of the designed approach a regular pattern of repair or replacement times can be followed well in advance and that it is practical, user friendly and it also delivers on its objective of offering a structure for analysis and decision making aimed at reducing the MTTR. Included with this dissertation is feedback information that can be included in a maintenance job card feedback section to capture information about factors that can be improved to lower the MTTR as part of a continuous improvement process. Included also is a spare part development and management procedure that can be used by the maintenance function. Recommendations on training of maintenance personnel on the maintainability of equipment, the FMEA procedure and maintenance procedures are highlighted. Information that flowed from this approach will be valuable for continuous plant performance improvement and during the design, installation and operation stages of a blast furnace. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

D.Phil. (Sociology) / In this thesis I am examining the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and Solidarity‘s responses to technological changes at the ArcelorMittal (formerly known as Iron and Steel Corporation of South Africa (Iscor)) Vanderbijlpark Plant in the south of the Gauteng province between 1989 and 2012. As part of the restructuring plans of the Apartheid government, Iscor South Africa was privatised in 1989. At that time the plant was also in a process of restructuring, which included technological changes and work reorganisation, the objective of which was to prepare Iscor South Africa and the plant for competing in a global steel market. Therefore the subsequent technological changes in the plant were also part of the plant‘s positioning in the global competition of the steel market. The ownership of the plant by ArcelorMittal International after 2006 meant that the plant was fully integrated into the global steel market because it became part of the other global plants of the ArcelorMittal International Group in other parts of the world. Technological changes and work reorganisation led to a massive displacement of workers at Iscor South Africa. For example, in 1988, Iscor had about 59 000 employees and this number was reduced to about 9 300 employees in 2010. The key objective of the thesis is to conduct a sociological analysis of trade union responses to the technological changes at ArcelorMittal Vanderbijlpark Plant. One of the discoveries of this thesis is that both trade unions – Solidarity and NUMSA- were not proactive in responding to technological changes at the plant. They argued for more consultation on technological changes, training, and deployment of workers who had been displaced by machines, work reorganisation, and retrenchment packages for retrenched workers. Solidarity, a predominantly white workers‘ union, with its skilled workforce did not use its membership‘s strategic location at the point of production to help it proactively to respond to technological changes. On the other hand, NUMSA, a predominantly black union which was part of a vibrant antiapartheid movement with traditions of grooming worker intellectuals, did not respond proactively to technological changes at the plant.Even after the wave of restructuring and technological changes of the 1990s to early 2000s, both unions did not move away from a reactive approach towards a proactive approach to production technology. The two unions did not combine reproduction and production issues in their bargaining strategies. The unions were still focusing on wages or reproduction as a strategy of engaging factory owners. Production in the form of technological changes and work reorganisation was not being addressed by the union and yet changes in production processes play a major role in determining the number of workers in a plant and the profile of the workforce as shown in this thesis. The reactive responses of both trade unions and a focus on wages is theorised as reproduction reductionism. This means that unions tend to focus on wages and other spheres of income such as politics of ‗upward mobility‘ which play a central role in reproducing workers and their leaders. The focus on these issues means that the unions are prioritising reproduction over production. This then leads to management of the plant having free reign in the sphere of production and technological changes.