Marketing's influence on manufacturing practices

Abstract

This paper investigates a straightforward proposition. If there is to be meaningful coordination between the sales/marketing function and manufacturing, there should be means by which marketing can have an impact on manufacturing practices. This research seeks evidence that marketing does influence the manufacturing practices of companies in four regions of the world. Evidence of such influence is found when marketing participates in the planning of manufacturing activities, sales sets priorities for production of products or changes in production reflect changes in the market place. To see what empirical evidence there might be for this level of involvement, data from the Global Manufacturing Research Group were compiled on forecasting, production planning and shop floor execution. The data contain a sample of manufacturing practices in each of these areas from North America, western Europe, South Korea, and the People's Republic of China. Effective coordination of sales, marketing and manufacturing should involve a marketing presence in all areas right down to the production of the product on the factory floor. The results of the study do not provide a lot of evidence of marketing influence. The presence of marketing is greatest at the forecasting stage, which is not surprising. Forecasts are important components of production planning, but almost no other sales or marketing input is used at this stage. Evidence of marketing's influence is weakest on the shop floor, perhaps at the stage where it is most critical. There are signs that changes do take place in response to sales' needs, and there are differences between the different regions of the world, but they are weak. More understanding of the mechanisms for coordinating sales, marketing and manufacturing is necessary and a specific study to gain a deeper understanding of the realities of the coordination actually practiced today would be valuable.