Developing International Manufacturing Capabilities
Aims
- establish new processes to support the planning of international manufacturing activity.
- develop structured approaches to the capture of international manufacturing expertise and experience to formalise organisational learning in international manufacturing networks.
Background
Global challenges are causing manufacturing managers and engineers to face increasing difficulties in manufacturing system design and operational management. The critical questions are:
- how can a company that wants to gain competitive advantage globally leverage its capabilities around the world so that the company as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts?
- does a company have to trade off between wide dispersion of its manufacturing capabilities for local responsiveness and higher integration for efficiency?
- what is the range of available network options for configuring international manufacturing systems while optimally satisfying strategic requirements?
- how can international manufacturing develop proactive response systems?
- in what ways can manufacturing systems best support corporate international development strategies?
The CIM has been conducting research on these questions since 1994. These studies have utilised case study methodologies and focused on increasing understanding of international manufacturing network configurations and related strategic capabilities. Observations and interviews conducted in more than twenty multinational corporations in four industries have resulted in the development of preliminary models and theory representing the complex manufacturing network situations found in companies that have ëglobalisedí their manufacturing operations.
This project will continue to develop these ideas as well as extend them into the study of the learning and knowledge management systems that underpin best practice within the international manufacturing world. In common with other projects conducted by the CIM the output of this research will be delivered in the form of workbooks intended for use by managers involved in international manufacturing activities.
Research approach
The CIM's research approach, which involves working very closely with small groups of companies to develop practical tools and solutions, is distinguished by its focus on the design, testing and refinement of these tools to establish their robustness and utility. The major stages of this research programme are:
- full literature review on global manufacturing and organisational learning
- detailed case studies from two perspectives of global manufacturing strategy and learning mechanisms in a small set of target industries
- development of a workbook detailing the global manufacturing strategy process together with a series of structured tools
- operational testing of the workbook through tailoring the workbook to fit specific environments of collaborating companies.
Global Manufacturing Strategy Framework for Capability Development:
Outcomes
- workbook for global manufacturing strategy formulation and network design
- workbook for organisational learning and knowledge management in an international manufacturing context
- tools and processes for improving strategic capability and performance assessment
Researchers
Terry Hanby
Yongjiang Shi
Hilary Briggs
