Designing Manufacturing Networks - An Empirical Study

摘要

The design of the manufacturing network for a firm is an important factor for its competitive position. By manufacturing network we mean the plant or plants of the manufacturing firm and the relationships with external suppliers. The way that these operate together is central to the entire supply system supports the competition of the products in the marketplace. The decisions are typically categorised as related to facilities and vertical integration, two decision categories in an operations strategy. This paper presents the results of a survey of 84 Swedish manufacturing plants. The results show that competitive priorities such as quality and price play different roles in the networks, and that there is a significant difference in terms of how internal and external suppliers are selected.