Simulating the cladistic evolution of manufacturing

Summary

A common belief within manufacturing is ‘the only constant is change’. Manufacturing cladistics was first developed in the early 1990s not only as a means of classibling manufacturing organisations but also, and perhaps more importantly, as a tool to both help deal with change, and use as a guide for organisational re-engineering. However, this approach has one major limitation — it is only a description of the past; the future is not represented. Uncertainty in decision-making and unknown barriers are thought to be major inhibitors behind the introduction of important innovations in technical, organisational and social domains. This paper reports on the results of a study that interprets two complimentary, but currently unrelated, areas of research, manufacturing cladistics and evolutionary systems methodology. This new framework would enable the exploration of evolutionary processes involved in the interactions of technologies and practices, facilitating decision-making as well as the exploration of new organisational structures.

Key Words:

• manufacturing cladistics
• evolutionary systems modelling
• management’ decision making
• organisational transformations