Analyzing the agile manufacturing barriers using fuzzy DEMATEL

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the agile manufacturing barriers (AMBs) for establishing a cause and effect relationship among them. Design/methodology/approach A methodology is proposed using fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) to capture multiple experts’ qualitative judgments for mitigating the impact of the AMBs. In order to validate the proposed methodology, it is applied to an Indian automobile manufacturing company. Findings Out of 36 AMBs identified through literature review, 20 AMBs are found to be relevant to the case company. Five AMBs (i.e. lack of resource reconfiguration, inefficient conflicting management styles, imperfect market knowledge, inadequate information handling and improper strategic plan) were identified as significant cause group where the case company has to put efforts and resources. Also the impact relationship matrix for each AMB has been developed to visualize its interactions (i.e. influencing and influenced) among other AMBs. Research limitations/implications The results obtained are specific to the Indian automobile manufacturing company and it cannot be generalized for every manufacturing company or any other sector. However, the proposed approach can be a basis and provide a platform to understand and analyze the interactions between AMBs. Practical implications The proposed methodology will show the appropriate areas for allocating efforts and resources to mitigate the impact of AMBs for successful implementation of agile manufacturing. Originality/value According to the authors’ knowledge, no work is reported in the literature that proposes a framework using fuzzy DEMATEL for the analysis of AMBs in Indian automobile manufacturing company.