MIT Libraries logoDSpace@MIT

MIT
View Item 
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • Sloan School of Management
  • Sloan Working Papers
  • View Item
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • Sloan School of Management
  • Sloan Working Papers
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Tautologies, models and theories--can we find "laws" of manufacturing?

Author(s)
Little, John D. C.
Thumbnail
DownloadSWP-3386-92-MSA-25761447.pdf (724.4Kb)
Other Contributors
Sloan School of Management
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
Are there "laws" of manufacturing? If so, what do they look like? If not, what other forms of knowledge might comprise intellectual foundations for a discipline of manufacturing? We differentiate among mathematical tautologies, laws, models, and theories, giving examples of each. Laws closely analogous to those of nineteenth century physics appear to be unlikely but empirical models offer the prospect of building new understanding of manufacturing, even if they may lack the precision of their classical counterparts. Descriptive models serving scientific goals tend to differ from prescriptive models for problem-solving. The latter must be complete enough to solve the practical problem at hand and yet be selective in their detail so as not to paralyze problem-solving with irrelevant complication. A growing collection of parsimonious models and theories can form a basis for the design, analysis and control of complex manufacturing systems.
Description
"This is a revised version of Little (1992) in Manufacturing Systems: Foundations of World-Class Practice, J.A. Heim and W.D. Compton, eds."
Date issued
1992
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/57511
Publisher
Cambridge, Mass : Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Series/Report no.
Working paper (Sloan School of Management);3386-92-MSA

Collections
  • Sloan Working Papers

Browse

All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

OA StatisticsStatistics by CountryStatistics by Department
MIT Libraries
PrivacyPermissionsAccessibilityContact us
MIT
Content created by the MIT Libraries, CC BY-NC unless otherwise noted. Notify us about copyright concerns.