Building the “Triple R” in global manufacturing

Abstract

Responsiveness, robustness and resilience (the “Triple R”) have become key objectives in global manufacturing, as a way of gaining competitive advantage in the global marketplace. The goal is to hedge against business uncertainties, so as to maximize the robustness of operations, maximize responsiveness by generating operational flexibility at the minimum cost, use of inventories and environmental impact, and to build resilience in global manufacturing, in order to achieve strategic flexibility. The Triple R is achieved by integrating major operational items, including planning, scheduling, real-time optimization and control. This article reviews existing contributions in the field of global manufacturing, and synthesizes these into a single conceptual model of Triple R. The overview is provided in terms of the development of decision support tools and methods, particularly the development of mathematical programming. The review reveals the fact that there have been limited contributions on the social side of sustainability. Environmental impact can be assessed by considering the product life cycle, yet the integration of R&D into global manufacturing operations has received limited contributions. On the modelling side, there are three dominant approaches: transfer pricing, strategic sourcing strategy, and logistics networks design. The paper ends by presenting a conceptual model and providing a methodological procedure for building the Triple R in global manufacturing. We also suggest implementing more advanced modelling and solution methods, which cover not only logistics and transports, but also the integration of concurrent engineering (CE) with aggregate production planning and scheduling.