Discusses the conventional approach to manufacturing system design. Argues that this top‐down, uni‐directional approach is not sufficiently robust or easy to implement, particularly in brown‐field sites where maintaining focus has been found to be difficult. Suggests a three‐dimensional...

To help meet competitive realities operations managers need to know more about the strategic aspects of manufacturing flexibility. This paper takes steps toward meeting that need by critically reviewing the literature and establishing a research agenda for the area. A conceptual model, which...