Purpose: To present a successful implementation of a comprehensive Workload Control
(WLC) concept; and to describe the associated implementation process.
Design/methodology/approach: Longitudinal action research using a contingency-based
approach to ensure alignment between: the case company and the characteristics of the WLC
approach; and the resulting expected improvements in performance. A set of 17 issues and
responses from the literature is used as a checklist for implementing WLC.
Findings: Performance improvements include reduced lead times; significant improvement in
lateness and tardiness; reduced costs; improved internal and external co-ordination; and
higher quality. The relevance of 15 of the 17 implementation issues from the literature is
confirmed along with the same response for 10 issues and an improved response for 5 issues.
In addition, 3 new issues are identified and addressed.
Research limitations/implications: Dependability was a more important competitive priority in
this company than speed; and therefore the ability of WLC to reduce lead times was not fully
assessed.
Practical implications: The importance of a contingency-based approach to production
planning and control is confirmed. Comprehensive WLC approaches are closely aligned with
the high-variety/low-volume context of Make-to-Order (MTO) companies.
Originality/value: This is the first paper that shows performance improvements resulting from
WLC alongside a detailed discussion of the implementation process. Few examples of successful
implementations have been published previously, and these tend to treat the implementation
process as a ‘black box’. Where more detail on the implementation process has been given in
previous studies, evidence of effectiveness in practice was not provided.