Strategic roles of manufacturing

Abstract

PurposeThe challenges facing industrial enterprises include coping with an increased distribution of activities and the related need to deal with task interdependencies, as well as coping with uncertainty and complexity. This opens for a discussion of current thinking and practices of manufacturing and its strategic role. The aim of the paper is to explore future changes in strategic roles of manufacturing.Design/methodology/approachA review of the literature on manufacturing strategy has focused on different ways of positioning manufacturing as a means for identifying and defining the strategic roles of manufacturing in an industrial company. To understand how industrial companies have dealt with some of the global challenges and have changed their strategic roles of manufacturing over a period of 3‐7 years, interviews are carried out in six small and medium‐sized companies, representing different industries, such as textile, mechanical and electronic industries. The case stories form a basis for identifying issues for future manufacturing strategic roles in the form of research propositions and implications.FindingsThe literature review has resulted in a grouping of the strategic roles of manufacturing. The first group of contributions relates directly to the extent and selected objectives of manufacturing contribution to competitive advantage. The second group positions a company in a value chain or a supply chain. The third way of classifying strategic roles focuses on the mutual interplay between functions leading to a primary role and four supporting roles. The fourth classification identifies different roles that a plant can play in a network of manufacturing plants of a company. To a large extent, the groups are mutually exclusive which suggests that an industrial company may use several classifications to find a configuration of strategic manufacturing roles that is in line with the environmental challenges and internal strength. The empirical findings form a basis for developing research propositions about the roles of manufacturing in the future: an important issue for an industrial firm will be to combine the various typologies into a configuration of strategic manufacturing roles; the strategic roles of manufacturing supporting other functions will become increasingly important, emphasizing the importance of strengthening the interplay with other functions and development of holistic competencies and knowledge sharing across functions and disciplines; a company's development over the next years may be seen as a sequence of moves similar to a game of chess, suggesting a capability to develop scenarios for the next series of moves.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests that management of industrial companies: develops a combination of classifications of manufacturing roles appropriate for the company's specific situation; identifies supportive strategic roles of manufacturing leading to explicit focus on the interplay with other functions and strengthening of holistic competencies and knowledge sharing across functions and disciplines; views the pursuit of a global manufacturing strategy as a series of adaptive moves, instead of a once‐for‐all decision.Originality/valueThe findings open for a discussion of current thinking and practice of manufacturing and its strategic roles pointing to a new perception of manufacturing and to future challenges and development patterns.