Enhancing Manufacturing Performance in Nigeria through Production Layout and Design

All organizations work towards enhancing their operation given that it is a critical expectation of every firm. This is as a result of the importance of enhanced performance to the organization that ranges from increased output, better quality product, better production techniques etc. In the light of this, scholars in management discipline and business-related fields have made several postulations bordering on enhancing performance. From the volumes of reviewed works on the approaches and suggestion on how to enhance performance, it was observed that there exist variation in views and postulation, maybe due to differences in disciplinary background, standpoint and expected outcomes. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx The examined management literatures do not consider production layout and design as an option for enhanced performance. It is this observed lacuna that informed this study; thus, this study differs from every other study on the subject of performance enhancement because it postulates and approaches performance enhancement through production layout and design techniques. Thus, it attempts to seek explanation on how production layout and design techniques can be used to enhance performance in the manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Production layout and design was measured using product layout; process layout and group technology layout, while improving performance was measured using cost reduction; and improved quality production, the predictor and criterion variables were moderated Organizational Culture. To put the work in focus and proper perspective seven null Hypotheses was structured and tested using Structure Equation Modelling using Amos (version 3.34) and Scientific package for social science (version 3.26). The choice of these statistical tools and package is due to their adequacy and appropriateness to the research. Findings and analysis from the hypotheses reveal that hypothesis one to seven was rejected and thus the alternative one accepted since result did not support the positions of the hypotheses. Results of the one to six hypotheses show moderate impact and positive relationship between the examined dimensions of the predictor and the measures of the criterion variables with varying level of effect size and predictive acuracy. The hypothesis seven where the moderator was introduced show a further reduced impact even if it was still positive. Consequent on those findings six basic recommendations were advanced.