Integration, flexibility and quality: The way to a new prdouctive paradigm

The objective of this paper is to report some results of exploratory research carried out in four Brazilian companies. The subject of research is the introduction of a new world-wide productive paradigm. The object of study was the Production Planning and Control Systems. The findings show that there is not a formal methodology for the transition of the productive paradigm. The success depends on people. Moreover, there is a misunderstanding of how the activities of production Planning and Control manage the production process. Such an understanding is a great opportunity for manufacturing systems to manage better their productive processes.