Life in the Cell: Supervision and Teamwork in a ‘Manufacturing Systems Engineering’ Environment

David Buchanan, Professor of Human Resource Management and Diane Preston, Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour, at the University of Loughborough Business School present the findings of a case study which explores the implications of manufacturing systems engineering (MSE) for the role of foremen and for shopfloor autonomy in an engineering company, Moore Components. MSE is a currently fashionable socio‐technical systems approach to production facility design, combining aspects of group technology, cell autonomy, ‘facilitative’ supervision, and just‐in‐time workflow. The case is used to identify key aspects of emerging new manufacturing methods, to indicate the potential of these methods for developments in work organisation and management practice, and to demonstrate how specific HRM policies can inhibit or facilitate the changes in supervision and teamwork which MSE ostensibly encourages.