RESEARCH ISSUES IN RESPONSIVE AND AGILE MANUFACTURING.docx
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RESEARCHISSUESINRESPONSIVEANDAGILEMANUFACTURING
RESEARCHISSUESINRESPONSIVEANDAGILEMANUFACTURING
PhanikanthRanga
CenterforAdvancedComputerStudies
UniversityofLouisianaatLafayette
Lafayette,LA70504
phani@louisiana.edu
SurenN.Dwivedi
EndowedChairProfessor
DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering
UniversityofLouisianaatLafayette
Lafayette,LA70504
dwivedi@louisiana.edu
ABSTRACT:
Theever-increasingcompetitioninthechangingworldisforcingfirmstoassesstheircorestrategicobjectivesandthebusinessstrategiesnecessarytofulfillthem.Ithasbecomeacommonpracticeforfirmstodiscoverthattheirbusinessprocessesfallshortofachievingthesedesiredobjectivesandthatachangeisnecessarytoputthemonacompetitivetrack.ThevariousresearchissuesrelatedtoResponsive/AgileManufacturingarediscussedinthispaper.
KeyWords:
ResponsiveManufacturing,AgileManufacturing,AdaptationCycles,InformationTechnology.
1.INTRODUCTION
TheconceptofAgileManufacturingisbuiltaroundthesynthesisofanumberofenterprisesthateachhavesomecoreskillsorcompetencieswhichtheybringtoajointventuringoperation,whichisbasedonusingeachpartner’sfacilitiesandresources.Forthisreason,thesejointventureenterprisesarecalledvirtualcorporations,becausetheydonotownsignificantcapitalresourcesoftheirown.ThishelpstomakethemAgile,astheycanbeformedandchangedveryrapidly.AgileManufacturingisverycloselyrelatedtoResponsiveManufacturing.
AResponsiveManufacturingEnterpriseisdefinedasanadaptiveenterprisethatisabletosurvivecompetitionbyoperatingasaneffectivememberofanincreasinglyglobalsupplynetwork,andbyitsabilitytomakearapidandbalancedresponsetopredictableandunpredictablechange.[17]
Responsive/Agilemanufacturingrequiresablendoftechnological,organisationalandhumanresourcestoadapttothefastandunpredictablechangesinthewaythoseproductsaremanufacturedinaglobaleconomy.Themajorforcesinfluencingtoday'smanufacturingenvironmentsareglobalcompetition,shortenedproductlifecycle,increasingrequirementsforqualityandreliability,faster-pacedadvancesinincreasinglycomplextechnology,rapidlyexpandingoptionsinmaterialsandprocessesandincreasedunpredictabilityofsurroundings.Theabilityofanenterprisetotakeadvantageofratherthanbedestroyedbytheseforcesisthekeyingredientofanysuccessfulmanufacturingstrategy.Inordertocreatethekindofradicaltransformationalchangethatisrequiredtorespondtotoday'smarketchallenges,anewstrategicreorientationisneeded.
Table1:
CriticalVariablesAffectingFutureCorporations.[2]
▪Newproductdevelopment
▪Extensivecustomerservice
▪Building/maintainingbrandimage
▪Marketinginnovation
▪Influenceoverdistributionchannel
▪Targetingunexploredsegments
▪Building/maintainingthefirm’sreputation
▪Providingproductswithmanyfeatures
▪Premiumproductquality
▪Operatingefficiency/costmanagement
▪Pricingbelowcompetitors
▪Managingsupplysources
▪Processimprovements/innovations
▪Productcostreduction
▪Servingspecialmarketsegments
▪Beingfirsttoenterintomarket
▪Manufacturing/sellingservices
▪Accuratemarketforecast
▪Broadproductrange
▪Maintaininghighpointof-saleinventorylevel,etc.
Inadditiontothenowmaturemanufacturingparadigmsofflexibleandleanmanufacturing,manynewideasandconceptshaverecentlybeenproposedforshapingthenextgenerationofmanufacturingsystems.Inspiteofattractingmuchattentionfromindustrialpractitionersandacademicresearchersalikemanyofthenewmanufacturingparadigmsarestillintheprocessofbeingdefined,andamorerobustfoundationtoaidthetransformationtothe"factoryofthefuture"isstilltobedefined.Theoverridinggoalofthe"manufacturingenterpriseofthefuture",however,remainsprettyunchanged.Ithastoachieverapid,flexibleandintegrateddevelopmentandmanufactureofinnovativeproductsatapricethecustomerispreparedtopay.Tothriveintheemergingmarketconditionsithastobecapableofrespondingrapidlytomarkettrendsandoperatingasanefficientmemberofanextendedandincreasinglyglobalsupplynetwork.ThecriticalvariablesthatmayaffectmanyofthefuturecorporationsareshowninTable1.
Figure1:
DevelopmentsinManufacturingTechnology.
Althoughtheideaofvirtualorganizationsisnotnewlyproposed,recentdevelopmentsininformationandresponsivenessrelatetotheabilityofmanufacturingsystemstomakearapidandbalancedresponsetothepredictableandunpredictablechangesthatcharacterizetoday'smanufacturingenvironments.The"responsivemanufacturingenterprise",theenterprisethatisabletothriveinthefuture,theworld-classcompetitor,hastoencompassnewprinciplesandmodesofoperation.Itsstrategicfocusshouldbebasedonsettingcoursesofactiondesignedtoachievebalancebetweenstabilityunderconditionsofuncertaintyandresponsivenesstochange.Thiscriticalbalanceofenterpriseresponsesisdesignedontheonehandtoallowthemanufacturingandgrowth.Ontheother,itensuresenterprisesuccessincopingwithdisturbancesinitsenvironmentthroughitsadaptabilityandchangeproficiency.Toachievethis,theenterprisehastoexcelinseamlesslyintegrating,"gluing"together,itstechnological,organizationalandhumanresourcesanddevelopmanufacturingtechnologyasseeninFigure1.
Thecurrentinternationalbusinessenvironmentsrequireinnovationacrosstheentirebusinessprocessesandsupplychainisamainfactorinmanybusinesses.Supplychainmanagementcanreachbeyondtheboundariesofsolitaryorganizationandshareinformationamongsuppliers,manufacturers,distributorsandretailersasillustratedinFigure2.InformationTechnologyplaysakeyrolehereandwiththegrowthofweb-basedelectroniccommerce,supplychainisconvergingtowardsonlinecommunities.
Theresponsive/agilemanufacturingenterprisehasorganizationalcharacteristicsthatallowittooutperformcompetitorsbyexcellingsimultaneouslyinthefollowingthreedomains:
∙productandprocessdevelopment;theadaptabilityoftheenterprisetochangesinitsenvironment
∙abilitytodealwithcontinuouschange
thebalanceofitsresponsetraderconditionsofuncertainty;andefficiencyinoperatingasasmartpartnerinanextendedandincreasinglyglobalsupplynetwork.Workforcecapabilities;theflexibilityandintelligenceoftechnologyandreconfigurabilityofmanufacturingsystems;seamlessintegrationofknowledge,internallybetweenthefunctionswithinanenterprise,aswellasbetweenanenterpriseanditspartnersinasupplynetwork;andtheutilizationofcommunicationstechnologiesareallcriticalenablerstowardsachievingresponsiveness.
Figure2:
CardiffProcessChangeModelAdaptedtoIllustrateInteractiveBarrierstoSupplyChainInformationFlow.
Inspiteofthehugetechnologicaladvancesthathavebeenmadeinassemblyautomationthemajorityofassemblytoolingisstillproductspecific.Relyingonproduct-specificfixturestoprovidepartlocationandsupportduringproductassemblyhastheadvantagesofguaranteeingconsistency,accuracyandqualitybuthastheassociateddisadvantagesofextremelyhighrecurringcosts,longleadtimesandinflexibilityofproducttypesandproductionvolume.Amovetowardsaphilosophyofminimizingoreliminatingproduct-specifictoolingknownas"jigglesassembly"canthereforeoffersignificantcommercialadvantages.AnotherareaofgreatpotentialbenefitisknowledgeintegrationandreuseduringthewholeproductdevelopmentprocessfromconceptualdesigntophysicalassemblyofpartsandmarketwinnersandmarketqualifierswhosefeaturesareshowninFigure3.
Figure3:
MarketWinnersv.MarketQualifiers.
Integratingandutilizingtechniquesandconceptssuchasfeature-baseddesign,assemblymodeling,processcapabilitydescription,toleranceanalysis,measurementsystems,inadditiontotheemergingflexibleassemblytechnology,willhavesignificanteconomicimpactinthefuture.[7]ThevariouscomponentsofcustomerfocusedstrategiesareillustratedinFigure4.
2.ADAPTATIONCYCLES
Theneedofthemanufacturingindustrynowistobeadaptivetochangesandtodealwithlargesystemswithfastercomputation,thusachievingthegoalof"rightfirsttime".MilesandSnowfoundthreedifferentadaptationcyclesthatcanbeusedtoclassifyindividualfirmsbythewaytheyadapttoresponsive/agilemanufacturing.TheyareDefenders,ProspectorsandAnalyzers.
Defendersarethefirmsthatareleastflexible.Theirfocusanddominationisonstablemarkets.Manufacturingproblemareoftenlinkedtoreducingcostswithanincreaseonqualityoftheproductanditsvariability.
Prospectorsarethefirmsthataremostflexible.InnovationsindesigningandmaterialusearethespecialtiesofProspectors.Theirmanufacturingproblemsareassociatedwithfindingflexibleproductionmethodsandreducingthetimebetweendesignandmanufacturing.
Analyzersarethefirmsthatconcentrateonimitation.Theirmanufacturingproblemsareassociatedwithcombininglowcostwitheaseofuseandalsothedesignformanufacture.
Figure4:
Componentsofcustomer-focusedstrategies.
3.INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGYINRESPONSIVE/AGILEMANUFACTURING
Theinformationtechnologyrevolutionthatoccurredinthe20thcenturyrevolutionizedtheentireworld,includingthefieldofManufacturing.Astheprocesslayoutonresponsive/agilemanufacturingincludesgeoreferencedspatialdata,GeographicalInformationSystems(GIS)manag