Andreas Feldmann

Plant roles: Site competence bundles and their relationships with site location factors and performance

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategic role of plants, in terms of the type and level of site competence, the relationship with the strategic reason for location, and t ...

Linking networks and plant roles: the impact of changing a plant role

Many manufacturing firms are expanding their global footprint to explore new opportunities for efficient and effective production. The strategic perspective on international manufacturing networks involves both the network level and the plant level. A key aspect is the relationship between the network and the role of plants. In this research, we investigate the relationship between the network and plant perspectives in international manufacturing networks. We use an embedded case study that includes five plants in two product networks over a period of three years. We analyse how changing the role of one plant affects the network as well as the roles of the other plants in the networks. We find that decisions on plant roles are, to a very high degree, network decisions and not decisions for individual plants. Based on the insights into the case study, we also develop a framework for mapping manufacturing networks, including market coverage, plant location and site competence.

Designing and managing manufacturing networks–a survey of Swedish plants

The design and management of the manufacturing network for a firm is an important factor for its competitive position. By manufacturing network we mean the plant or plants of a manufacturing firm and the relationships with external suppliers. The way that these operate together is crucial for supporting the competition of the products in the marketplace. This article presents the results of a survey of 106 Swedish manufacturing plants. We find that the markets and supply networks of Swedish plants are global, but there is a focus on Europe. The main reason for locating a plant in Sweden is proximity to skills and knowledge, and we find no pure low-cost plants. The overall level of site competence is very high. There are many significant differences between how internal and external suppliers are selected. The choice of internal suppliers, i.e. those suppliers in the manufacturing network that belong to the same firm, is to a large extent based on a single corporate decision reflecting quality and competence, while external suppliers are chosen based on quality, price and delivery dependability considerations. This study provides a broad analysis of the manufacturing networks in which Swedish plants operate, and the roles of these plants.

Designing Manufacturing Networks — An Empirical Study

The design of the manufacturing network for a firm is an important factor for its competitive position. By manufacturing network we mean the plant or plants of the manufacturing firm and the relationships with external suppliers. The way that these operate together is central to the entire supply system supports the competition of the products in the marketplace. The decisions are typically categorised as related to facilities and vertical integration, two decision categories in an operations strategy. This paper presents the results of a survey of 84 Swedish manufacturing plants. The results show that competitive priorities such as quality and price play different roles in the networks, and that there is a significant difference in terms of how internal and external suppliers are selected

Internal Visibility of External Supplier Risks and the Dynamics of Risk Management Silos

This paper investigates the factors behind silo-based risk management practices in organizations. Based on interviews with different actors working with the supply management processes within and across different organizational levels in a major multinational manufacturing corporation, it reveals how silos of risk management activities are formed. The findings show that there are profound differences in risk visibility between different actors due to differences in their hierarchical levels, organizational positions, and business contexts. Drawing on the theoretical lenses of bounded rationality and contingency theory, the paper reveals how these differences in visibility create silo-based risk management processes and discusses the pros and cons of such configurations. It concludes that silo-based behaviors are inherent features of any complex organization and that the implications of managing risks in silos are strongly influenced by the types of dependences (positive or negative) among risks. Therefore, it is elemental for organizations to be aware of this phenomenon and configure their risk management processes accordingly based on the dependences among the various risks to which the organizations are exposed.

Distribution of manufacturing strategy decision-making in multi-plant networks

This paper is concerned with the manufacturing strategy decision-making structure in multi-plant networks, i.e. how strategic manufacturing decision-making authority is distributed between the network level (i.e. headquarters) and the plant level. We use survey data from 107 manufacturing plants. This research identifies three different structures: centralised at the network headquarter, decentralised to the plant and integrated between central headquarters and the plant. All decision areas follow the same pattern, i.e. full centralisation, full decentralisation or full integration. We do not find any support for that some decisions are centralised while others are decentralised. Product volume and process type are significantly associated with the choice of decision-making structure. In particular, high product volumes are associated with a centralised approach, and a low degree of process flow orientation (such as project manufacturing, job shop and flow shop) is associated with a decentralised approach. The integrated approach is associated with a combination of lower product volumes and higher degrees of flow orientation. Choosing the right decision-making structure for the product and process mix seems to lead to high levels of operational performance.

Coordination in International Manufacturing: The Role of Competitive Priorities and the Focus of Globally Dispersed Facilities

In this era of globalization, network integration has received great attention, as it certainly has implications for the competitiveness in international manufacturing. A key issue in integration is to coordinate activities of dispersed facilities in a way to align the target of locating abroad and the priorities to be competitive. This study explores and clarifies the effect of competitive priority and focus of dispersed facilities on coordinating the activities in intra-firm network manufacturing. Based on a multiple case study involving four different companies manufacturing in globally dispersed facilities, the results confirm that both competitive priorities and specific focus of global manufacturing are important for selecting mechanisms to coordinate overseas facilities, with the competitive priorities ‘quality’ and ‘flexibility’ being the more important. Furthermore, the findings reveal that companies place emphasis on informal mechanisms to coordinate the low-cost focused facilities. In turn, the importance of formal mechanisms seems equal for coordinating both low-cost focused facilities and those focused on capturing a local market. Finally, the findings of this paper suggest that elements of competitive priority, as well as the focus of dispersed facilities, should be considered towards making the choice for mechanisms of coordination. The findings bear important implications for the effective coordination of activities in international manufacturing.

Investigating the influence of network-manufacturing capabilities to the phenomenon of reshoring: An insight from three case studies

After a steady growth in global offshoring activities, it appears now a marked flow in the opposite direction with both a partial and full reversal of offshoring decisions. Research on reshoring put less stresses on the operation of dispersed facilities of an intra-firm network manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to address the relevance of strategic capabilities for the operation of international manufacturing to the reshoring decision. The paper reports on retrospective studies of three European based companies, which have had recent reshoring experience. We adopt qualitative research using a case-based methodology that includes multiple in-depth interviews based on three companies. The study demonstrates that managerial challenges in the operation of dispersed facilities have played an important role in the reshoring decision. The findings allow understanding how the capability dimensions, ‘thriftiness’ and ‘learning’ being the most important, connect with the phenomenon of reshoring.

A cumulative model of evolving plant roles : Building production, supply chain and development competences

We present and test a model of the accumulation of plant competences. Fundamentally, the cumulative model consists of three building blocks: production competences, supply chain competences, and development competences, which are added successively. First, the basic production competence bundle comprises manufacturing, technical maintenance, and process development. Second, supply chain competences can be added, which include logistics, procurement, and supplier development. Finally, development competences are added (if needed, from the manufacturing network perspective), consisting of product development, new product technologies and new process technologies. We test this model using structural equations modeling based on data from 109 Swedish plants. The results support the cumulative model. We also test the impact on performance, and find that higher degrees of plant competences have positive impacts on some operational performance measures.