一、The problem addressed by this research is to implement lean manufacturing in oilfield equipment and service industries. Lean manufacturing has been mandated by various oil service industries as a tool for waste reduction. Operational group must define the objectives of lean manufacturing and deploy the tools to specific work cells. A methodology that provides operational group with a tool to assist in defining the objectives of lean manufacturing is developed. A case study is used to demonstrate the lean implementation in material handling operations of a petroleum drill bit manufacturing company.

二、This research is motivated by an oilfield equipment and service industry where the manufacturing manager needs to determine which parts to manufacture in-house when the capacity is not enough to make all the parts required for their equipments. Working with the management, a Decision Support System (DSS) is developed by integrating several inventory classification methods that consider both quantitative factors (e.g., cost and demand) and qualitative factors (e.g., importance, manufacturing expertise, and changing market conditions). Other decision support systems used in oilfield equipment and service industries will also be discussed.