The evolution of investment patterns on advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) in manufacturing operations: A longitudinal analysis

Abstract

Taking a longitudinal perspective, this paper aims to investigate the evolution of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) investment patterns in manufacturing companies. The data employed in this paper was collected in 2012 from production/technology/plant managers of Danish manufacturing companies. As a result, taxonomy of the evolution of AMT investment patterns is presented in this paper; contextual factors including size and industry type are also considered to investigate their association with AMT investment patterns over time; and the relationship between performance improvement and evolution of AMT investment patterns is finally elaborated. The major theoretical contributions of this paper are addressing the dynamic nature of AMT investment, examining how companies change their patterns of AMT investment over time, and developing further understandings on the evolution of AMT investment patterns per se, as well as its relationships with industry, company size, and performance improvement. Meanwhile, this paper suggests industrial managers to be aware of ever evolving technological developments and understand their own business goals before investing in AMTs, as different ways to evolve AMT investment patterns correlate with diverse performance gains. Moreover, the paper also recommends industrial managers to be patient in order to reap benefits of their AMT investments, as there is an inevitable time interval between AMT investment and its desired performance effects.