Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

5-1988

Abstract

It is shown how the concerns of the managers of firms with flexible manufacturing system projects (FMS) differ from those of manufacturing firms without FMS projects. An economic model is developed from which two hypotheses are obtained. The first hypothesis is that firms were investing in FMS to deal with the variance in their inputs. The second proposition is that firms wished to use FMS to deal with the variance in their outputs. Through an analysis of manufacturing survey data it was found that firms planning to implement FMS were statistically more concerned about vendor quality and vendor lead times than non-FMS implementors. The FMS implementors also thought of their outputs as being too variable. Thus, it appears that the two hypotheses are empirically validated. However, it is also found that FMS implementors are planning on narrowing or standardizing their product lines. The inference drawn from these observations is that manufacturers in North America and Europe are using FMS for its ability to adapt to the variations in the system's inputs and not for product design changes.

Keywords

Flexible manufacturing systems, Europe, North America, Product design, Production systems, Testing, Project management, Pulp manufacturing, Uncertainty, Raw materials

Discipline

Operations and Supply Chain Management

Research Areas

Operations Management

Publication

IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management

Volume

35

Issue

2

First Page

101

Last Page

107

ISSN

0018-9391

Identifier

10.1109/17.6012

Publisher

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1109/17.6012

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