Flexibility adoption in Indian manufacturing firms:a current perspective

摘要

This study examines the current state of flexibility adoption in manufacturing firms in India, considering the important flexible equipments and indeed, this is the first such attempt. Adoption/implementation includes equipments such as work centre, process centre, support stations, network communications, integration and control. Questionnaire survey methodology is used for status evaluation: not implemented, implementation in progress, and fully implemented. It is found that adoption follows an incremental, piecemeal progression from the least complicated through intermediate to integrated technologies. A few important equipments currently adopted are: universal machining centre, local area network, automated inspection and testing station etc. In-house development, supplier's development and flexibility outcomes play central role for flexibility adoption-related issues. The results empirically support and cast insights into the flexibility adoption trend. Based upon the findings, various important strategies are suggested to interpret the benefits of and realise flexibility. The results support the notion of a 'stepwise' implementation process of equipments for a continuous technological change.