Product and Process Modularity's Effects on Manufacturing Agility and Firm Growth Performance

Modularity in product design has been hailed as a way to speed new product development (NPD), to reduce NPD cost, and to enhance customization possibilities for consumers. Modularity in process design may speed new product manufacturing setup times, reduce costs, and enhance the profitability of the lower volumes that customization often entails. However, empirical evidence is scarce that either product or process modularity—individually, jointly, or sequentially—actually produce these or other proposed benefits (e.g., performance growth). This study builds on general modular systems theory (GMST) by examining the theoretical relationship between product and process modularity and the effects of each on firm growth performance. Using structural equation modeling, partial versus complete mediation by manufacturing agility is also scrutinized. In one pair of models, product modularity and process modularity are separate direct antecedents to manufacturing agility, which is modeled to affect firm growth performance; in a second pair of models, product and process modularity are related antecedents to manufacturing agility, with product modularity preceding process modularity. Results from the best‐fitting model show that product modularity directly and positively affects process modularity, manufacturing agility, and firm growth performance. Process modularity was unrelated to manufacturing agility, and neither process modularity nor manufacturing agility predicted growth performance. Consistent with GMST, the study provides empirical evidence of the power of one element of a modular system to orchestrate a fit between a firm's product and manufacturing strategies and to directly drive system performance. Thus, modularity in product design is revealed as the key to understanding GMST effects concerning how changes in one system generate changes in other systems.     

Lean planning in the semi-process industry, a case study

The lean approach is an idealizing improvement approach that has an enormous impact in the field of operations management. It started in the automotive industry and has since been widely applied in discrete manufacturing. However, extensions to the (semi-) process industry have been much slower. Resource characteristics of the (semi-) process industry obstruct a straightforward application. The notion of the point of discretization for the (semi-) process industry is helpful here. This notion builds on the fact that in most (semi-) process industries there is a point in production where process production turns into discrete production. Downstream of this point lean principles are applicable in a straightforward manner, while upstream lean needs to be interpreted in a more liberal way. In this article we address this issue by a case study. The study considers how the principles of ‘flow’ and ‘pull’ production - suggesting a regular, demand-driven product flow - may be implemented for the (semi-) process industry by introducing cyclic schedules. The conjectures guiding the case study are: (i) Cyclic schedules fit in a lean improvement approach for the semi-process industry, (ii) Cyclic schedules help to improve production quality and supply-chain coordination and (iii) Discrete event simulation is a useful tool in facilitating a participative design of a cyclic schedule. The case study is extensively described to be able to judge how the context of the changes and the intervention process contribute to the results of the intervention.     

The choice between uniqueness and conformity in mass customization

Extant research emphasizes that consumers use mass customization toolkits to create products they consider to be unique, and that perceived uniqueness is an important part of customer value. This research investigates the conditions of the customer's quest for uniqueness. It is motivated by the observation that decisions are often driven by others’ choices and a desire to fit in, rather than to be distinct. We hypothesize that consumers are more inclined to choose uniqueness for hedonic product attributes but tend toward conformity in utilitarian attributes, and that consumers’ need for uniqueness and product involvement moderate the choice. In a series of experiments, we find support for most hypotheses. We introduce conformity as a driver of choice behavior in mass customization toolkits and suggest that mass customization can best be seen as enabling consumers’ preferred mix of uniqueness and conformity. Our results also inform managerial practice, highlighting that mass customization toolkits should consider customers’ uniqueness and conformity requirements. We suggest reducing the number of utilitarian options while increasing the variety for hedonic attributes.     

基于云制造的个性化定制生产模式研究

针对单个企业实施个性化定制生产面临资源不足、能力不强等实际情况，本文结合个性化定制特点及云制造理论提出一种新的个性化定制生产模式。分析了该模式的组织形式，并以云制造平台为核心从内外两个角度研究了该模式的运作方式，最后对其关键技术及优势进行了说明。研究结果表明，基于云制造的个性化定制生产模式不仅能够有效解决单个企业存在的能力不足问题，而且对于提高定制企业应对市场变化的能力也具重要的作用。     

The adoption of radical manufacturing technologies and firm survival

The emergence of dramatically innovative, or radical, new manufacturing technologies can force pivotal and life‐threatening decisions for industry competitors. These technologies can represent a huge cost for adopting firms, but may also offer the chance to achieve competitive advantage through superior manufacturing. While prior research has considered a range of production process decisions (e.g., JIT, mass customization) and outcomes for end‐product technologies, little attention has been given to adoption decisions relative to core manufacturing technologies. This study examines an industry's adoption of major manufacturing technologies over several decades and demonstrates that two groups of contingencies related to adoption (e.g., timing and cumulative effects) have a significant impact on firm performance. Based on a sample of over 1,000 firms, the results provide insights into the effects of adoption timing and ‘manufacturing technology bundles’ on firm survival. We also find that adoption of manufacturing technologies prior to the inflection point of the estimated Bass diffusion curve for each technology leads to significant reduction in firm mortality. Thus, we are able to demonstrate the ability of the Bass model to predict the survival outcomes of firms facing manufacturing technology adoption decisions. The strategic implications of these pivotal decisions are considered. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of design method and process technology in stable outsourcing equilibria

We analyze a model of vertical (dis)integration between manufacturing and design in a monopolistically competitive market. Specialized input manufacturers can serve multiple design firms and the manufacturer-designer pairs negotiate a non-binding contract to share input customization cost and production surplus. Hand-collected data on 387 product lines from 118 semiconductor firms are used to predict the firm’s decision to outsource manufacturing. We find that, for instance, the use of design tools that facilitate collaboration and process technologies that facilitate learning are both positively associated with outsourcing, consistent with the model’s prediction.     

Toward a Parsimonious Definition of Traditional and Electronic Mass Customization

Although mass customization, a term introduced by Davis (1987) to describe the oxymoron of mass producing customized products, has been part of research for more than a decade, literature has not come up with a commonly accepted definition of this term up to now. The present article attempts to close this gap by proposing a definition of traditional and electronic mass customization, which is based on answering three research questions. First, for which kind of customized goods (products versus services) is mass customization applicable at all? Second, at which step of the value creation process must the customer be given the chance to customize his or her good to be able to speak of mass customization? And finally, which prerequisites in terms of production cost and monetary price need to be fulfilled when comparing mass‐customized with mass‐produced goods? Using an extensive analysis of extant literature in the field, the authors develop two definitions of traditional mass customization, a working and a visionary one, as well as one for electronic mass customization, stating how new opportunities arising from advances in communication and information technology can influence this concept.     

Skilled maintenance trades under lean manufacturing: Evidence from the car industry

This article explores how skilled maintenance trades have fared under lean automotive manufacturing, a cohort of workers relatively neglected in the literature. Historically, such trades possessed a distinct ‘craft consciousness’ derived from apprenticed-acquired skill, autonomy in job execution, strict job boundaries and relative occupational status and prestige. The article assesses how lean has impacted this craft tradition over time, drawing on a case study of one UK car plant to assess its trajectory across three decades. Four different skilled cohorts—electrical, mechanical, control engineers and die maintenance fitters—are examined to gauge respective trends in skill, autonomy, demarcation and status. While the study finds variation in experiences across different trades, the general trend points to a deterioration in work conditions on all four benchmarks of assessment. The article concludes by inferring implications for the future trajectory of skilled trades considering recent accounts provided in Industry 4.0 narratives.     

基于大规模定制的羊毛衫产品开发

羊毛衫大规模定制模式下,毛产品开发设计是羊毛衫大规模定制的重要技术之一。文章通过对羊毛衫大规模定制模式下,对毛衫产品开发要求的论述,指出产品开发设计必须能够创新款式、开发技术快速化、生产成本降低化、产品品质最大化,为羊毛衫大规模定制产品开发技术指明了方向,具有较强的现实意义。     

Factors influencing employee perceptions in lean transformations

The purpose of the study was to investigate employee perceptions during a lean transformation.¹ The combination of case study and survey methodologies was used to define elements influencing the perceived lean success of shop floor employees. According to our findings, belief, commitment, work method and communication all have a considerable direct impact on workers' perceptions of lean success. However, their effects are very different based on the scope and focus of changes that is influenced by process characteristics. Perceptions regarding successful lean transformation during a moderate reorganisation of the company's welding plant, where mainly males work, are affected only by commitment and work method, whereas the deep reorganisation of the sewing plant (populated by female employees) is only influenced by belief and communication.     

Indicators of discontinuous technological change: an exploratory study of two discontinuities in the machine tool industry

The objective of this paper is to explore the extent to which a set of indicators of technological and industrial change can act as warning signals for technical change. A particular kind of technical change can give a new substitute such price/performance attributes that it is taken into the reach of mass market segments. Two processes of discontinuous technical change in the machine tool industry are analysed using patent data, bibliometrics, data on new entrants, relative price changes and diffusion data. In the first case (the transition from conventional to CNC machine tools) relative prices and new entrants were the first indicators to react whilst patents and bibliometrics increased in activity in parallel with the large scale diffusion of CNC machine tools. In the second case (the transition from CNC machine tools to flexible manufacturing systems) new entrants and publishing preceded the large scale diffusion by some years. The different patterns between the two cases and between these and what can be found in the literature, suggest that more work needs to be done to understand the conditions under which changes in each of the indicators can be used as a warning signal. The paper is concluded by a brief discussion which may form the basis for some further work in that direction.     

VRP revisited: The impact of behavioural costs in balancing standardisation and variety

The objective of this paper is to bring a new element to the academic (and industrial) debate concerning the optimum level of variety in component design in mass production companies. Many authors have explored the trade-off between functional and variety costs, and this could be considered as a well-acknowledged management issue, at least from an engineering perspective. Nevertheless, while defining the theoretically optimal level of component variety, there are other elements, more related to operators’ attitude or to operative conditions, which may intervene and prevent effective exploitation of the existing variety. These elements have been given scant attention in literature, while they may play a relevant role in real organisations.In this paper, we will present a case study and an analytic model for these “behavioural costs” in manufacturing environments, so as to show how the theoretically optimal amount of variety changes if one takes into account these aspects. Researchers (and practitioners) might leverage on this contribution in order to rejuvenate the Variety Reduction paradigm, and to increase their awareness in designing and managing mass production manufacturing processes.     

Mass or Only “Niche Customization”? Why We Should Interpret Configuration Toolkits as Learning Instruments

In order to configure individual products according to their own preferences, customers are required to know what they want. While most research simply assumes that consumers have sufficient preference insight to do so, a number of psychologically oriented scholars have recently voiced serious concerns about this assumption. They argue that decades of consumer behavior research have shown that most consumers in most product categories lack this knowledge. Not knowing what one wants means being unable to specify what one wants—and therefore, they conclude, the majority of customers are unable to use configuration toolkits in a meaningful way. In essence, this would mean that mass customization should rather be termed “niche customization” as it will be doomed to remain a concept for a very small minority of customers only. This pessimism stands in sharp contrast to the optimism of those who herald the new possibilities enabled by advances in communication and production technologies as the dawn of a new era in new product development and business in general. Which position is right? In order to answer this question, this research investigates the role of the configuration toolkit. Implicitly, the skeptic position assumes that the individual customers' knowledge (or absence of knowledge) of what they want is an exogenous and constant term that does not change during the interaction with the toolkit. However, learning theories suggest that the customers' trial‐and‐error interaction with the configuration toolkit and the feedback information they receive should increase their preference insight. If this was true and the effect size strong, it would mean that low a priori preference insight does not impede customers to derive value from mass customization. Three experiments show that configuration toolkits should be interpreted as learning instruments that allow consumers to understand their preferences more clearly. Even short trial‐and‐error self‐design processes with conventional toolkits bring about substantial and time‐stable enhancements of preference insight. The value of this knowledge is remarkable. In the product category of self‐designed watches, the 10‐minute design process resulted in additional preference insight worth 43.13 euros on average or +66%, measured by incentive‐compatible auctions. A moderator analysis in a representative sample shows that the learning effect is particularly strong among customers who initially exhibit low levels of preference insight. These findings entail three contributions. First, it becomes evident that the interaction with mass customization toolkits not only triggers affective reactions among customers but also has cognitive effects—a response category not investigated before. Second, it suggests that the pessimism regarding the mass appeal of these toolkits is not justified—mass customization has the potential to truly deserve its name. The prerequisite for this, and this normative conclusion is the final contribution, is that the toolkit should not be interpreted as a mere interface for conveying preexisting preferences to the producer. Rather, it should be treated as a learning instrument. Several suggestions are made for how firms employing this innovative business model could design their toolkits towards this end.     

Implementing Lean Sigma in pharmaceutical research and development: a review by practitioners

The authors recount their experience of the implementation of lean thinking and Six Sigma in pharmaceutical development research and development (R&D). Use of Lean Sigma in pharmaceutical manufacturing is widespread and generally noncontentious. Lean Sigma is used successfully to improve the development of new pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. However, the value of the application of lean and Six Sigma ideas to research & development is controversial. Published material is reviewed, and then the methods, tools, barriers and benefits are discussed, with recommendations for implementation of Lean Sigma into an R&D organisation.     

精益建设理论及其实施研究

章介绍了精益生产和精益思想的具体理论，由精益思想在建设领域中运用引申出精益建设含义，分析了建设项目过程中精益思想的具体体现，构建了精益建设系统的基本框架，研究了精益建设的具体实施方法，以及发展精益建设需注意的问题。     

The impact of lean practices on inventory turnover

Lean manufacturing (LM) is currently enjoying its second heyday. Companies in several industries are implementing lean practices to keep pace with the competition and achieve better results. In this article, we will concentrate on how companies can improve their inventory turnover performance through the use of lean practices. According to our main proposition, firms that widely apply lean practices have higher inventory turnover than those that do not rely on LM. However, there may be significant differences in inventory turnover even among lean manufacturers depending on their contingencies. Therefore, we also investigate how various contingency factors (production systems, order types, product types) influence the inventory turnover of lean manufacturers. We use cluster and correlation analysis to separate manufacturers based on the extent of their leanness and to examine the effect of contingencies. We acquired the data from the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS) in ISIC sectors 28-35.     

Assessing performance of utilizing organizational modularity to manage supply chains: Evidence in the US manufacturing sector

Recent competition and customization have motivated manufacturers to institute modular organizations to manage supply chains. Proclaimed as a paradigm shift, organizational modularity manifests agility and flexibility to diversify product offerings, utilize production capacity, and allocate network capital and assets. Whereas studies have conceptualized the impacts of modular organizations, large-scale research that examines modularity's impacts on performance are lacking. The study assesses the impacts of organizational modularity in the US manufacturing sector. A set of hypotheses proposes that higher level of modularity is associated with higher efficiency and profitability. I found modularity to negatively affect product specialization and positively impact capacity utilization, ROI and ROA. The findings help to determine the robustness of utilizing the modularity for complex supply chain coordination.     

Marketing in the emerging era of build-to-order manufacturing

Build-to-order (BTO) and lean manufacturing processes are changing the paradigms under which businesses-to-business marketers operate. For example, BTO processes allow marketers to customize products to a greater degree, creating a competitive advantage over traditional manufacturing. Business-to-business (B2B) marketers who take advantage of the operational efficiencies and effectiveness that emerge from BTO are outperforming firms that utilize traditional manufacturing processes in multiple industries, such as office furniture, personal computers, and windows. This paper examines the long-term impact of the adoption of build-to-order manufacturing strategies on the marketing function and identifies marketing strategies associated with successful BTO companies. Throughout, the paper highlights managerial implications and proposes directions for future research.     

资产专用性、模块化技术与企业边界

交易成本经济学家认为资产专用性决定企业边界，是基于它的独有性。他们否定技术对资产专用性的决定性作用．没有认识到它的技术特征——协同专用性．也就忽视了它的历史局限性。计算机发展的事实说明．呆用模块化技术改变了专用性资产的独有性。模块具有功能的独立性和连接的可分解性；模块化设计使用了分权原则；模块化产品的技术特征是协同非专用性．它适应了消费个性化；因而批量生产转向批量定制。提高产品模块化程度．使协同专用性转向协同非专用性，削弱了资产专用性程度，改变了“资产专用性决定企业边界”的命题．对大型企业重组和改革具有实践意义。     

Cost Accounting and Performance Measurement in a Just-in-Time Production Environment

There are normative statements in the literature, backed up by case observations and anecdotal evidence, which indicate that manufacturing companies operating just-in-time (JIT) production management systems should also change their cost accounting systems and place greater reliance on non-financial performance indicators. This study provides empirical evidence suggesting that JIT manufacturing companies which have made some degree of modification to their costing system demonstrate higher performance than JIT companies which have not made changes. The results also suggest that greater use of non-financial performance indicators is associated with higher performance irrespective of the production management system adopted.