Cellular manufacturing and marketing strategy in UK small to medium enterprises

摘要

This article examines the process of introducing AMTs (advanced manufacturing technologies) in response to strategic initiatives in smaller enterprises (SMEs). The research is based on the participation by the authors in a UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) review of strategic initiatives and the corresponding investment programmers. The article focuses on cases where the adoption of a cellular organization was used as a means of implementing a marketing strategy. The research shows that more general AMTs such as cellular systems, may appear to provide advantages even when inadequate market analysis has taken place. However, achieving real competitive advantage requires an effective translation of the market opportunities into internal requirements which can then be supported by appropriate investment.