Creating resilient and sustainable manufacturing businesses – a conceptual fitness model

Abstract

Over recent years, UK manufacturing industry has experienced turbulence in its business performance. Lower cost products, and responsive and flexible processes, are now essential in order for a company to capture new markets and to become economically resilient. Business resiliency is a term used frequently to describe a company’s ability to adapt and cope with disturbance. This has led to the generation of many frameworks and models aimed at guiding companies towards improved business performance. However, these frameworks are primarily strategic in nature and do not necessarily focus on creating resilience at an operational level in manufacturing companies. The authors employ a mixed research approach initially undertaking a literature review and then a screening survey in to 25 manufacturing companies in order to identify the key business resiliency techniques employed. Following this, a focus group goes on to detail a new manufacturing resiliency model called the fit operational model. The model’s effectiveness is then assessed and adjusted as a result of being implemented in a subject company.