There is now a widely accepted view among manufacturing and service organisations that 'operations' can provide the means of achieving competitive edge. The OMA-UK Sixth International Conference has taken this view as its theme and focuses in particular on how technology and people can be used to improve manufacturing and service competitiveness. These proceedings have been organised according to the topics addressed within the overall conference theme and generally fall within three broad areas: technology-based topics, human resource-based topics and general topics. The technology-based topics are: Materials Control, Supply Chain Management and Logistics Flexibility in Operations Systems Computer-Aided Management of Operations Design, Process Planning and 'Time to Market' Factors Application of KBS, Expert Systems and Modelling Production Planning and Control The human resource-based topics are: Work Organisation Human Factors Managing the Implementation of Technology Managing the Quality Improvement Process Education Training and Development Employee Participation and Involvement The general topics are: Operations Strategy International Comparisons and Country-based Papers Performance and Productivity Measurement and Improvement A particular feature of all the papers is that they emphasise the application of techniques, technologies and concepts rather than concentrating on specific functional description. The authors are drawn from around 14 countries and represent both the academic and industrial communities. Many are involved in the 'mainstream' of operations management while a number are from other disciplines relevant to the conference theme, such as industrial engineering and organisational behaviour.
