A methodology for achieving agility in manufacturing organisations

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.Abstract As we approach the twenty-first century, manufacturing success and survival are becoming more and more difficult to ensure. This fact is rooted in the emergence of a new business era that embraces``change'' as one of its major characteristics. The emphasis is now on adaptability to changes in the business environment and on addressing market and customer needs proactively. The emerging paradigm is agile manufacturing. Understanding and responding to changes, and taking advantage of changes through strategic utilisation of managerial and manufacturing methods and tools, are some of the pivotal concepts of agile manufacturing. This paper discusses these concepts and presents a methodology to assist manufacturing companies to achieve agility. Industrial questionnaire surveys and case studies are carried out to support and validate the methodology. Results and conclusions derived from the surveys and case studies in support of the methodology are reported.

Agility from First Principles: Reconstructing the Concept of Agility in Information Systems Development

“…As stated earlier, it is somewhat difficult to establish the theoretical rationale for labeling some practices as "agile" despite the fact that they are commonly referred to as this in practice, e.g., metaphor or pair programming. In contrast, each subcomponent of the definition and taxonomy proposed in this study is justified by an extensive discussion of why it can be classified as "agile," drawing on arguments from previous conceptual studies of agility outside the ISD domain (e.g., Goldman et al 1991Goldman et al , 1995Preiss 1997;Dove 1994Dove , 1995Kidd 1994;Zhang and Sharafi 2000).…”

“…While some research has looked at each of these subconcepts in isolation, they have not been examined collectively within the broader systemic context. The conceptualization developed in this study provides a macro-level view of ISD agility and its subconcepts, and while frameworks of agility exist in other disciplines (e.g., Goldman et al 1991Goldman et al , 1995Preiss 1997;Dove 1994Dove , 1995Kidd 1994;Zhang and Sharafi 2000), this is the first of its kind in ISD.…”

Supply chain management integration and implementation: a literature review

“…Christopher (2000, p. 43) also stresses that agility in individual organizations can be significantly hindered by the level of complexity in terms of brands, products, structures and management processes. In developing a model for achieving agility in manufacturing organizations, Zhang and Sharifi (2000) identified a number of "agility providers" (practices, methods, tools, techniques facilitating a capability for agility). As a result of surveying 1,000 companies, and conducting case studies in 12 of them, they concluded that practices related to people and organizational issues were both more effective and important for manufacturers.…”

Examining the Impact of Lean Practices on Flexibility Performance: The Moderating Effect of Environmental Dynamism

“…Womack et al (1990) described Toyota's operational flexibility as the ability to compete at the same time on delivery performance, quality performance, differentiation, product price, development time, and lead time reduction. Moreover, Zhang and Sharifi (2000) argued that the leanness level of an organization can be assessed through its flexdibility to respond to changes in business environment and market needs. Similarly, Bessant et al (2003) asserted that flexibility is the key to competitive success and encompasses the ability to respond quickly and flexibly to environmental requirements as well as the ability to respond to emerging challenges with innovative reactions and solutions.…”