All ready with a manufacturing strategy but nowhere to go: linking strategy to process selection in manufacturing

Abstract

Abstract A company's need for long-term strategic planning and technical innovation in manufacturing is addressed. The contributions of a manufacturing strategy to the competitive advantage of a company has been well established, yet little work has been done on developing the tactics and types of technical innovation and organizational development that support the manufacturing strategy. As a result the manufacturing innovation projects that take place are often selected by the manufacturing technologists with little reflection on their contribution to the organization as an integrated system. The paper develops a structured approach that starts with a manufacturing strategy and eventually leads to a set of manufacturing projects that should be implemented. The process innovation model is a 14-step approach that emphasizes a long-term integrated systems approach to manufacturing project development. This model considers the role of organizational change that must take place to complement technical innovation and the necessary integration between people and technology that is critical for manufacturing innovation success. The results of an application of the process innovation model in an electronics firm is discussed. The results of the 14-step process along with the management issues surrounding the use of the process are summarized. This paper's contributions are the development of the process innovation model and a structured approach to translating a manufacturing strategy into a set of tactical manufacturing innovation projects.