Stuart Chambers

Flexibility – A Manufacturing Conundrum

The word “flexible”, when viewed in an industrial context, although accepted by users and suppliers equally, does not bear uniformity of meaning, as different types of flexibility require different manufacturing responses. Change can be capacity‐related, induced by customers or equipment‐related, and a manufacturing strategy may involve price, and/or speed and reliability of delivery. However, although types of flexibility may interrelate and conflict with one another, organisations must ensure that their investments produce the benefits appropriate to their markets.

Experience curves in services: macro and micro level approaches

Evaluates the benefits and problems of applying the experience curve in two very different service organisations. The first case shows how an experience curve has been calculated at a macro (organisation) level for British Airways over a 20 year period, including the time at which it was privatised. The second example shows an application over the first year of operation of a high‐volume paperwork processing operation within a financial services organisation. These studies demonstrate that experience curves can be applied to great effect in high volume service organisations, but a single measure of output needs to be established. The paper also shows how different phases and rates of learning may be linked to organisational and technological change, and discusses how an experience curve might be used to monitor improvement and establish future cost‐related performance objectives.

Competitive benchmarking: progress and future development

Abstract Companies and their subsystems can best judge competitive performance by reference to external perspectives. The essence of benchmarking is to develop this external perspective, and to search for performance levels and practices that will provide a competitive edge. The resulting baseline, established by a study of organizational performance and practice, is compared to a benchmark created by collecting information on exemplars. This assessment is then used as a stimulus for action, which is intended to improve the organizations relative position.

Cellular manufacturing and marketing strategy in UK small to medium enterprises

This article examines the process of introducing AMTs (advanced manufacturing technologies) in response to strategic initiatives in smaller enterprises (SMEs). The research is based on the participation by the authors in a UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) review of strategic initiatives and the corresponding investment programmes. The article focuses on cases where the adoption of a cellular organisation was used as a means of implementing a marketing strategy. The research shows that more general AMTs, such as cellular systems, may appear to provide advantages even when inadequate market analysis has taken place. However, achieving real competitive advantage requires an effective translation of the market opportunities into internal requirements which can then be supported by appropriate investment.