Abstract
Advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) require considerable investments that managers often avoid, which makes it difficult to link their production operations with the benefits reported in literature review. The present paper shows a structural equation model that integrates four latent variables to measure the relationship between the levels of advanced manufacturing technologies implementation (Stand-Alone Intermediate and Integrated Systems), as well as the benefits obtained in the productive systems. The variables are related to each other using six hypotheses in order to realise how the AMT implementation level affects the benefits obtained from a quantitative and statistical point of view. The model is evaluated through the partial least square technique with data from 383 responses to a survey. Findings show that Stand-Alone Systems contribute more to obtaining Production Benefits, followed by Integrated Systems and Intermediate Systems. Finally, a sensitivity analysis based on conditional probabilities was performed to evaluate scenarios at different implementation levels in AMT to know how they facilitate the acquisition of the benefits offered.
Highlights
As a matter of fact, manufacturing is evolving constantly as needs and technologies arise, allowing the customer to enjoy a variety of products at lower prices [1]
The questionnaire was applied to the maquiladora industries in Mexico because those companies are characterized by a high technological level and advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) implementation [64], and where research about the benefits gained are required
The survey was focused on the personnel involved in production processes who are directly familiar with AMT usage and management, the sampling is stratified, and the participants proposed other colleagues who should answer the questionnaire, so as a consequence, the snowball method was implemented
Summary
As a matter of fact, manufacturing is evolving constantly as needs and technologies arise, allowing the customer to enjoy a variety of products at lower prices [1]. Garcia-Alcaraz, et al [18] report a list of benefits obtained from the AMT implementation in manufacturing industries, which are classified as operational, productivity, administrative, and human resources. There are a few articles that relate the characteristics and level of implementation of AMT along with the benefits obtained, where there are two weaknesses: The first is that the research is only focused on a specific AMT—for example, Choe [20] related AMT with organizational performance, Gothwal and Raj [21] analyzed only flexible manufacturing systems, García-Alcaraz, et al [22] focused only on the just-in-time technique, Braglia and Gabbrielli [23] only considered robots, and Lee and Shin [12] analyzed only CIM practice.
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