Title: The synergisitic impact of time-based technologies on manufacturing competitive priorities

Authors: Mohamed A. Youssef; Eyad M. Youssef

Addresses: College of Business Administration, University of Dubai, Dubai, 14143, United Arab Emirates ' College of Business Administration, Delta State University, DSU Box 3275, 1003 West Sunflower Road, Cleveland, MS 38732, USA

Abstract: The continually deforming business landscape is forcing manufacturing firms to rethink their manufacturing strategies in terms of the appropriate combination of time-based technologies to use. Strategic agility and smart manufacturing will continue to prevail in this and the upcoming decade. Time-based technologies, addressed in this paper, will pave the way for and will become the main pillars of the next generation intelligent manufacturing. In this study we investigate the synergistic impact of four time-based technologies on manufacturing competitive priorities. The analyses in this study are based on data collected from a sample of 122 companies in three industrial sectors in the USA. The results indicate that these four time-based technologies have a positive impact on the four dimensions of manufacturing competitive priorities of cost, quality, flexibility, and responsiveness. The implications of our study are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.

Keywords: time-based technologies; manufacturing performance; competitive priorities; responsiveness; synergy; total quality management; TQM; design for manufacturability; DFM; just-in-time; JIT; group technology; GT; manufacturing industry; manufacturing strategy; intelligent manufacturing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2015.068213

International Journal of Technology Management, 2015 Vol.67 No.2/3/4, pp.245 - 268

Received: 18 Jul 2013
Accepted: 19 Dec 2013
Published online: 29 Apr 2015 *

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