A taxonomy of international manufacturing networks
Feldmann, Andreas and Olhager, Jan LU
(2019)
In Production Planning and Control
30(2-3).
p.163-178
- Abstract
Manufacturing firms with multiple product groups do not need to involve all factories in the production of all product groups. Some factories may specialize on a small set of products, while others participate in the manufacturing of a broader set of products. However, current theories on international manufacturing networks do not explain in detail how organizations design international manufacturing networks for different products or product groups involving different sets of factories. This research investigates 20 product group networks at five global manufacturing firms. We distinguish between three types of factories: component manufacturing factories, assembly factories, and integrated factories (having both component... (More)
Manufacturing firms with multiple product groups do not need to involve all factories in the production of all product groups. Some factories may specialize on a small set of products, while others participate in the manufacturing of a broader set of products. However, current theories on international manufacturing networks do not explain in detail how organizations design international manufacturing networks for different products or product groups involving different sets of factories. This research investigates 20 product group networks at five global manufacturing firms. We distinguish between three types of factories: component manufacturing factories, assembly factories, and integrated factories (having both component manufacturing and assembly). Furthermore, we identify four network types: linear, divergent, convergent, and mixed structures. These four types exhibit distinctly different characteristics in terms of key characteristics, factory roles, product types, process types, market types, sourcing, and key managerial challenges. Most networks are relatively small–on an average consisting of four factories and some contain a number of subnetworks that are self-sufficient in terms of material flow and serve separate market regions. We identify two new types of factory roles related to component manufacturing competences, which we call ‘strategic feeder’ and ‘full lead’.
(Less)
- author
- Feldmann, Andreas
and Olhager, Jan
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2019
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Case study research, configuration, coordination, exploratory study, factory roles, global operations, multi-plant network, subnetworks
- in
- Production Planning and Control
- volume
- 30
- issue
- 2-3
- pages
- 16 pages
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85064546665
- ISSN
- 0953-7287
- DOI
- 10.1080/09537287.2018.1534269
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 33522da6-4e87-4641-b5ee-fe9a23f695f1
- date added to LUP
- 2019-05-06 13:01:12
- date last changed
- 2023-02-17 21:11:23
@article{33522da6-4e87-4641-b5ee-fe9a23f695f1,
abstract = {{<p>Manufacturing firms with multiple product groups do not need to involve all factories in the production of all product groups. Some factories may specialize on a small set of products, while others participate in the manufacturing of a broader set of products. However, current theories on international manufacturing networks do not explain in detail how organizations design international manufacturing networks for different products or product groups involving different sets of factories. This research investigates 20 product group networks at five global manufacturing firms. We distinguish between three types of factories: component manufacturing factories, assembly factories, and integrated factories (having both component manufacturing and assembly). Furthermore, we identify four network types: linear, divergent, convergent, and mixed structures. These four types exhibit distinctly different characteristics in terms of key characteristics, factory roles, product types, process types, market types, sourcing, and key managerial challenges. Most networks are relatively small–on an average consisting of four factories and some contain a number of subnetworks that are self-sufficient in terms of material flow and serve separate market regions. We identify two new types of factory roles related to component manufacturing competences, which we call ‘strategic feeder’ and ‘full lead’.</p>}},
author = {{Feldmann, Andreas and Olhager, Jan}},
issn = {{0953-7287}},
keywords = {{Case study research; configuration; coordination; exploratory study; factory roles; global operations; multi-plant network; subnetworks}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2-3}},
pages = {{163--178}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Production Planning and Control}},
title = {{A taxonomy of international manufacturing networks}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2018.1534269}},
doi = {{10.1080/09537287.2018.1534269}},
volume = {{30}},
year = {{2019}},
}