These files are distributed with the book ‘Global Manufacturing Practices: A Worldwide Survey of Practices in Production Planning and Control’, edited by D. Clay Whybark and Gyula Vastag, and published by Elsevier in 1993. This data base is copyrighted by the Global Manufacturing Research Group. Use of the data for academic purposes is granted and encouraged. The commercial sale of this data, however, is strictly prohibited!

The data was gathered using the questionnaire presented in the first section of the Global Manufacturing Practices book. The file structure, variable names and field lengths used for coding the data are also described there. An introduction to the files and some information on the data from each country is included here. In addition to the data files, this disk also contains a data base utility program that allows the user to access the files. A brief description of that program is presented here also.

Introduction

The GMRG data base contains descriptions of manufacturing practices in the small machine tool and non-fashion textile industries from twelve different regions of the world. The twelve regions incorporate data from more than twenty countries. The data were compiled from surveys administered between 1985 and 1990. The data are distributed here in non-indexed dBASE III files, with a file for each region-industry combination.

A substantial amount of effort has gone into the coding of the data to assure that the formats are consistent for every file. In addition, an effort was made to make sure that the treatment of missing variables is consistent throughout. Any time this much data is pulled together, especially from around the world, inconsistencies may arise. As always, therefore, it is a good idea to do a quick visual check of the data before performing any analysis. If there are questions on the data from any region that are not answered in these files, we have provided the names and locations of the principal researcher(s) for each region.

In addition to checking data accuracy and consistency, this disk has been checked for viruses. However, neither the publisher, the editors, the Global Manufacturing Research Group, nor the authors make any warranty or representation, express or implied, with respect to the usefulness of the data contained in these files or assumes any liability with respect to the use of, or for damages arising from the use of, the data contained herein.

The links to the data files can be found below: