Manufacturing Strategy

摘要

Manufacturing strategy is, without question, the most important element of the foundry business planning process. Yet we have found that manufacturing strategy is not very well-understood at all. While everyone can easily envision all of the manufacturing tactics surrounding the process of producing castings, manufacturing's link to business strategy is still a mystery to many. It's very useful for foundries and their managers to consider strategy in terms of flexibility and efficiency. On one hand, a flexibility-driven business strategy is one that must give rise to (or, alternatively, is derived from) a manufacturing operation that can effectively handle a wide variety of product types, typically in lower volumes. Businesses in our industry that fit this description have long been described as jobbing foundries, and they must be operated in such a way that the plant's flexibility-its economies of scope-is maximized.