Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present and test a new model for competitive capabilities. Traditionally, a cumulative model has been viewed as having one sequence of building competitive capabilities in a firm in support of market needs, including quality, delivery, cost efficiency...

In this paper we address flexibility and investigate the relationship between volume and product mix flexibility. One view of flexibility is that of being a capability in itself; another view is that of flexibility as an enabler, providing the manufacturing system with properties on which other...

Purpose – The paper seeks to test the relationships among product design and supply chain design, with specific reference to the product‐supply chain model by Fisher. Design/methodology/approach – An extensive empirical survey with data from 128 companies; the approach is basically theory...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the extant literature on the relationship between product architectures and supply chain design to identify gaps in the literature and identify future research opportunities. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines the...

We use the methodology from quality function deployment (QFD) for linking manufacturing flexibility to market requirements. This approach creates a framework for modelling the deployment of the need for flexibility from the customers’ viewpoints into manufacturing flexibility at various...

Safety stocks can be introduced in different ways in production and inventory control systems. The three basic types are physical safety stock, safety lead time, and hedging. Departing from the formula for calculating the number of kanbans , it is shown that all three approaches are implicitly...

Purpose Supply chains evolve and change in size, shape and configuration, and in how they are coordinated, controlled and managed. Some supply chains are mature and relatively unchanging. Some are subject to significant change. New supply chains may emerge and evolve for a variety of reasons....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategic role of plants, in terms of the type and level of site competence, the relationship with the strategic reason for location, and the impact on operational performance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a survey of...