Uncertainty reduction through flexible manufacturing

Talaysum, Adil T.; Hassan, M. Zia; Goldhar, Joel D.

doi:10.1109/tem.1987.6499031

Cited by 18 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Even Porter's (1985) competitive strategy typology included hints that strategic flexibility under some circumstances could prove of competitive value. Also the increase in the resource‐based stream of work at around the same time as the original paper used both the anticipation of environmental change (Wernerfelt and Carnani, 1987) as the justification for strategic flexibility, and the necessity to “maintain uniqueness” as industry dynamics converge over time (Talaysum et al , 1987). A related, and interesting set of studies are those by De Toni and Tonchia (2002, 2003a, b).…”

Section: The Ten Observations On Manufacturing Flexibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The changing nature of operations flexibility

Slack

2005

International Journal of Operations &Amp; Production Management

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PurposeThis short paper seeks to explain why the original paper “The flexibility of manufacturing systems” was written (1987), and attempts to examine at least some of the flexibility literature that has followed.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is a review and observations about the 1987 work.FindingsThe original paper treated flexibility in an exclusively manufacturing context. Even in the mid‐1980s one could argue that this was a mistake. If flexibility is an important concept in operations management, it should be explored in all types of operation, not just in manufacturing. Now, more than 80 per cent of economic activity and employment occurs in non‐manufacturing enterprises. Flexibility is no different from most other topics in operations in that it is unreasonably skewed towards the manufacturing sector, it would nevertheless benefit from more empirical and conceptual work in the context of service operations.Originality/valueProvides a useful update on an author's findings from two decades ago.

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Section: The Ten Observations On Manufacturing Flexibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The changing nature of operations flexibility

Slack

2005

International Journal of Operations &Amp; Production Management

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“…Flexibility also provides options for entering new product or geo-Ž graphic markets and adapting to demand Kogut and . Kulatilaka, 1994 . Increased flexibility is undoubtedly driven, in part, by the trend toward mass customization-the manufacture of differentiated, higher margin products that serve smaller market segments and reduce economies Ž. of scale Talaysum, 1987 . Global competition and its resultant uncertainty also shortens product life cycles, thus forcing investment in flexible technologies to speed product introduction.…”

Section: Manufacturing Flexibility In International Operationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An international comparison of environmental management in operations: the impact of manufacturing flexibility in the U.S. and Germany

Klassen

Angell

1998

J of Ops Management

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Pressures to improve environmental management in the U.S. and Germany are among the strongest in the world, demanding quick responsiveness from managers of manufacturing firms. However, even in these countries, the managerial implications of environmental regulation can vary dramatically. Our synthesis of related literatures indicates that manufacturing flexibility, by enabling efficient adaptation to change and uncertainty, can support environmental management. This paper empirically explores the linkage between flexibility and environmental management in the U.S. and Germany. Environmental management was operationalized along two dimensions: level of environmental ambition, defined as scope of environmental efforts; and level of regulatory‐driven motivation. Survey data were collected from a sample of 218 U.S. and German manufacturing sites. Neither the probability of having a dedicated environmental department nor of having an environmental policy statement differed between countries; however, the impact of flexibility on the level of ambition was found to vary significantly between countries. One potential explanation is that command‐and‐control regulation of the manufacturing process is heavily emphasized in the U.S., while closed loop (recycling) regulation of final product disposition is predominant in Germany. Thus, manufacturing firms need to evaluate general regulatory differences between countries before using manufacturing flexibility to support environmental management. Future research needs to explore whether other operational capabilities, such as quality, also support environmental management across international contexts.

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