All ready with a manufacturing strategy but nowhere to go: linking strategy to process selection in manufacturing

Abstract

A company's need for long-term strategic planning and technical innovation in manufacturing is addressed. The contributions of a manufacturing strategy to the competitive advantage of a company has been well established, yet little work has been done on developing the tactics and types of technical innovation and organizational development that support the manufacturing strategy. As a result the manufacturing innovation projects that take place are often selected by the manufacturing technologists with little reflection on their contribution to the organization as an integrated system. The paper develops a structured approach that starts with a manufacturing strategy and eventually leads to a set of manufacturing projects that should be implemented. The process innovation model is a 14-step approach that emphasizes a long-term integrated systems approach to manufacturing project development. This model considers the role of organizational change that must take place to complement technical innovation and the necessary integration between people and technology that is critical for manufacturing innovation success. The results of an application of the process innovation model in an electronics firm is discussed. The results of the 14-step process along with the management issues surrounding the use of the process are summarized. This paper's contributions are the development of the process innovation model and a structured approach to translating a manufacturing strategy into a set of tactical manufacturing innovation projects.

Notes

HENRIK BUNDGAARD JENSEN is currently a manufacturing systems consultant for Hewlett-Packard's Professional Services Organization in Copenhagen, Denmark. He consults and acts as project manager for implementations of production and materials management application software. Mr Jensen holds a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from The Technical University of Denmark.

BRIAN J. WESTCOTT is a management consultant with A. T. Kearney Technology Inc., an international management consulting firm. He consults in the areas of strategic planning, technology development, and productive product and process development. His assignments have included work in the chemical, automotive, electronics, machinery, and computer industries. Before joining A. T. Kearney Technology, Brian was with General Electric's Corporate Development Group as programme manager of Integrated New Product and Process Development. Dr Westcott has also worked for General Electric's Corporate Research and Development Center in the area of industrial automation, and for Combustion Engineering in the area of power plant automation. Dr Westcott holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University, an MS in mechanical engineering with a specialty in control systems from Stanford University, and a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management from Stanford University. The research for this paper was done during his appointment as a PostDoctoral Research Fellow at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

The article is based on a Master's thesis completed by Henrik Bundgaard Jensen with Dr Brian J. Westcott serving as an associated adviser.