The Flexibility of Manufacturing Systems

TLDR

Manufacturing managers are increasingly focused on flexibility to meet new environmental pressures, yet the concept varies among managers and multiple legitimate approaches exist. The study examines how managers in ten companies perceive manufacturing flexibility, its contribution to performance, key flexibility types, and desired levels. Using the observations, the authors developed a checklist of prescriptions and a hierarchical framework to organize the identified issues. The investigation yielded ten empirical observations summarizing managers' views on manufacturing flexibility.

Abstract

Many of the new pressures from today's manufacturing environment are turning manufacturing managers' attention to the virtues of developing a flexible manufacturing function. Flexibility, however, has different meanings for different managers and several perfectly legitimate alternative paths exist towards flexible manufacturing. How managers in ten companies view manufacturing flexibility in terms of how they see the contribution of manufacturing flexibility to overall company performance; what types of flexibility they regard as important; and what their desired degree of flexibility is. The results of the investigations in these ten companies are summarised in the form of ten empirical “observations”. Based on these “observations” a check‐list of prescriptions is presented and a hierarchical framework developed into which the various issues raised by the “observations” can be incorporated.