Increasing Flexibility: What Are Your Options?
Management Services › Vol. 51 Nbr. 1, April 2007
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Summary
Customer order patterns in both the industrial and commercial sectors have become more uncertain; the reasons behind the unpredictable demand are varied. The most responsive operation will win the contract and in doing so will set new expectations for flexibility -- expectations that all competitors must subsequently try to meet. The authors recently investigated the issue of flexibility in manufacturing. As part of the study they conducted a series of interviews with senior manufacturing managers to discover just what actions they had taken to increase their operations flexibility. The use of overtime is one of the most common methods used to increase manufacturing flexibility. When devising a change program to enhance manufacturing flexibility it is important to characterize the degree of demand uncertainty together with levels of mix and volume flexibility that will be required. An understanding of the processes in operations and the performance gaps will in turn, lead to an estimate of the require improvements in the capabilities.
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Increasing Flexibility: What Are Your Options?
Customer order patterns in both the industrial and commercial sectors have become more uncertain; the reasons behind the unpredictable demand are varied. Customer in industries as diverse as retail, computers and car manufacturing will only buy materials and components at the moment they are needed.
New technologies can make old stock worthless overnight, and can also create urgent demand for what is novel - and, of course, what is different! The most responsive operation will win the contract and in doing so will set new expectations for flexibility - expectations that all ...See the full content of this document
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