Title: Manufacturing strategies and next century enterprises

Authors: Allan Hodgson, Guihua Li, Richard H. Weston

Addresses: MSI Research Institute, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK, LE11 3TU, UK. ' MSI Research Institute, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK, LE11 3TU, UK. ' MSI Research Institute, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK, LE11 3TU, UK

Abstract: The findings of two different approaches to predicting the future of manufacturing industries are reviewed to identify general design guides for future companies. One of these approaches deployed a ||scenario planning|| technique to define an ||envelope|| within which we might expect all manufacturing enterprises to operate during the next decade. The second approach identified possible attributes of future manufacturing companies by placing present day enterprises within distinctive groupings and extrapolating their properties based on an analysis of current trends. The findings of the two approaches are contrasted and compared. This has led to the specification of design guides for manufacturing enterprises. The purpose here has been to enable manufacturing companies to position themselves relative to their competitors by using these guides. The guides also serve to illustrate aspects of contemporary manufacturing strategies and to highlight possible trends with respect to their development and future use.

Keywords: manufacturing strategy; scenario planning; factory of the future; manufacturing industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPM.1998.004547

International Journal of Business Performance Management, 1998 Vol.1 No.1, pp.90 - 109

Published online: 21 May 2004 *

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