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222 MANAGING KNOWLEDGE WORK AND INNOVATION

help either. They run in purely monetary terms, with a target of $60,000 value
of production a day (in terms of ultimate sales prices). You are concerned that
the present production control system depends too much on Robin Johnston,
the Production Scheduler. Robin quite clearly enjoys the influence afforded by
special knowledge of the finished goods inventory and makes the most of it. But
what would happen if he fell under a bus? Or took a dislike to one of your poli-
cies? You shudder to think.

>> ROWAN GREGORY: CHIEF DESIGNER
In a few minutes, you will be attending a meeting of a working group chaired by
Alex Rheingold (your MD) to discuss the possible adoption of an ERP system
in Oakland. The meeting will include a consultant’s presentation. As an ambi-
tious designer, you are keen to make a name for yourself in the industry. You
would like to challenge the quality image of Scandinavian design with a distinc-
tive English ‘Oakland style’. Oakland presently produces five major ranges: the
York, the Winchester, the Westminster, the Salisbury and the Coventry. These
are distinguished by their overall style, by the wood used (variation in wood is
part of its natural beauty), by hardware and by the elements available within the
range. This leads to many possible permutations. You want to continue to create
successful, established ranges, with new and imaginative product introductions
within these ranges. This contrasts with the current policy of continual turnover
of established ranges and a more or less standard range of products within each
range. You are also very keen on bespoke opportunities. Indeed the company
has established quite a reputation in this respect, mainly thanks to your creative
efforts. You think new technology is a great thing in general – the computer-
aided design system in the Design shop is brilliant. But will a standardized ERP
software platform restrict your scope for refining designs? Will it force the com-
pany even more down a standards route?
You became involved in the management buyout to increase creative scope,
not diminish it. You were the main driver and ideas person behind the recent
investment in a new computer-controlled panel machining centre and were able
to get special terms from the German machine tool firm which developed the
machine. This automated machine greatly facilitates the production of high-
quality, complex (and ornate) designs of panels, surfaces and doors. It allows
complicated cuts to be made in panels, enabling the automatic replication of,
for example, surface carving. Your contribution was to help devise a ‘clever’
adaptive randomization program. This enables variation in replication to be
achieved. It is also able to cater (up to a point at least) for variations in the
natural characteristics of the wood being machined. Together, these features
enable the machine to provide a convincing emulation of the unique variation
found with hand carving. It is also very flexible: once the complicated pro-
grams had been developed, machine set-up time was quite fast. The acquisition
of this machine is an essential part of your longer-term plans for CAD/CAM
(computer-aided design and manufacturing). Unfortunately these benefits have

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