Purpose The purpose of this paper is to synthesize a manufacturing value network for digital multinationals that combines the global reach of multinationals, the power of platform business models and digitalization. Toward this, the authors assess the critical roles platform ecosystems, and Industry 4.0 play in resolving the key challenges associated with asset specificity, location specificity and

Purpose This paper explores growth opportunities for a contract manufacturer (CM), which operates a global virtual manufacturing network (GVMN). The Swiss factory should play a profitable role in the holding's competitive strategy, in spite of lower-cost alternatives within its network. Design/methodology/approach The study applied a design science method over a period of two years of collaboration

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of process quality management (PQM) activities on firm's operational performance (OP) through the mediation of firm's absorptive capacity (AC). Design/methodology/approach This research builds on the theory of knowledge-based view to conduct a survey of 294 manufacturing companies in India. With the use of Hayes' PROCESS Macro in SPSS, the collected

Purpose This study is to compare the impact of organizational agility and flexibility on performance of each type of product innovation (radical vs incremental innovation). Additionally, the moderating effect of technological turbulence on the relationship between the two types of organization is examined. Design/methodology/approach Based on gaps in the existing literature, the survey data are collected

Purpose Sustainability failures have increased the pressure for manufacturing firms to come up with innovative solutions to resolve the sustainable matters. Drawing on the resource-based theory, the purpose of this study is to examine how supply chain visibility moderates the effects of sustainable practices on sustainable performance. Design/methodology/approach The data employed in the current work

Purpose Whilst capabilities in exploiting existing assets and simultaneously exploring new opportunities have proven essential in today's organisations, an understanding of how these so-called ambidextrous capabilities are deployed remains elusive. Thus, the authors aim to investigate the role of better management practices (BMP), as organisational routines, in deploying ambidextrous capabilities in

Purpose Environmental sustainability is one of the most pressing issues faced by the electric and electronics industry today. Industries are being challenged to incorporate environmental initiatives in their corporate strategies. Thus, this study aims to investigate the impact of stakeholder pressures (regulatory, internal and market) on green supply chain management and green corporate resources as

Purpose This study examines the motives and enabling factors regarding reverse factoring (RF) adoption in the automobile industry's supply chain. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative case study based on in-depth interviews with financial institutions in two countries having different statuses within the automobile industry global value chain: Mexico as a peripheral and Spain as a semi-peripheral

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyse the effect of different forms of service supplier involvement on the service business dimensions necessary for servitisation and on the resulting servitisation performance. Design/methodology/approach Three different configurations of service supplier involvement are considered in this study: black box (service design and execution driven by the service

Purpose This study proposes the Smart SME Technology Readiness Assessment (SSTRA) methodology which aims to enable practitioners to assess the SMEs Industry 4.0 technology readiness throughout the end-to-end engineering across the entire value chain; the smart product design phase is the focus in this paper. Design/methodology/approach The proposed SSTRA utilises the analytic hierarchy process to prioritise

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of rational culture in the relationship between lean manufacturing practices and operational productivity in the machinery and equipment industry. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a cross-sectional quantitative approach to conduct the research. Using an online survey questionnaire, 118 responses were collected. SPSS was used to assess validity

Purpose Recent research has shown that the implementation of Industry 4.0 requires companies to (re)adjust their human resource (HR) policies. This article focuses on the relationship between Industry 4.0 and three HR practices: i.e. employee involvement, job design and skill development. Design/methodology/approach We use data of the European Company Survey (ECS) (2019). This nationally representative

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of operational stickiness on product quality. Particularly, it analyzes the moderating effect of product diversification on the relationship between operational stickiness and product quality of exporting firms from China. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 3,567 exporting firms between 2002 and 2012 in China, this paper develops

Purpose The concept of robustness in manufacturing is not easy to capture and even harder to quantify. This paper elaborates an approach to assess robustness in production systems from a holistic input-throughput-output perspective using a pragmatic robustness indicator. Design/methodology/approach First, in order to have a precise understanding of what needs to be measured, a concept of robustness

Purpose Although additive manufacturing (AM) has been demonstrated to have significant potential in improving spare part delivery operations and has been adopted to a degree in the aviation and automotive industries, its use in spare part production is still limited in other fields due to a variety of implementation barriers. The purpose of this article is to assess the significance of previously reported

Purpose This paper presents an exploratory investigation of myths on lean production (LP), by identifying, dispelling and assessing their pervasiveness. Design/methodology/approach A list of myths was proposed mostly based on seminal LP texts and our rich experience from researching, teaching and consulting in lean journeys. Complexity thinking was adopted as a lens for dispelling the myths, as it

Purpose This paper reviews research on the intersection between additive manufacturing technologies (AMTs) and business models (BM). The purpose of the review is to synthesize past research for the benefit of researchers, to describe the dominant research themes and aggregated research questions and to identify research gaps in the literature. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review

Purpose This research empirically builds a manufacturing firm's power construct that can be used to assess the changes suppliers are willing to make in their operations decision areas, such as quality systems, product management, process management, material management systems and information systems. This approach has not been empirically explored in the operations and supply chain management literature

Purpose The Toyota Production System has been studied for its business success for several decades. Many companies have tried to imitate but have not achieved Toyota-like results. Failure in the ability to replicate Toyota's supportive culture has been suggested as a cause for the lack of success. Studies on lean implementation have been conducted from external views focusing on visible indicators

Purpose This paper aims to investigate if the world top manufacturing corporations' cost structures are moving from tangible to intangible activities and their impact on profitability. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical approach is interdisciplinary, combining global value chains, international manufacturing networks, cost management literatures. The empirical approach has a sample out of

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the mediation effect of volatile economic conditions on performance benefits of successful kean manufacturing implementation (LMI). The mediating factor of economic volatility (EV) is constructed based on four macroeconomic dimensions – supplier uncertainty, market demand fluctuations, governmental policy changes and peer competition. Design/methodology/approach

Purpose This paper addresses the most important factors for the selection of additive manufacturing (AM) technology as a method of production of metal parts. AM creates objects by adding material layer by layer based on 3D models. At present, interest in AM is high as it is hoped that AM contributes to the competitiveness of Western manufacturing industries. Design/methodology/approach A literature

Purpose Three-dimensional (3D) printing (3DP) offers a promising value proposition across multiple manufacturing industries. Despite the variety of production benefits the technology entails, its rate of adoption is still low compared to industry forecasts. In face of this challenge, industry as well as academia requires more information and guidance. This review aims to examine the characteristics

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic caused global supply disruptions and shortages that resulted in countries battling over desperately needed (medical) supplies. In this mayhem, additive manufacturing (AM) provided relief to the strained healthcare systems and manufacturing environments by offering an alternative way to rapidly produce desired products. This study sheds light on how AM was used globally

Purpose This paper introduces interactive research as an emerging approach within a broad family of collaborative research approaches in management and organization research. Interactive research is a way to contribute to the dual tasks of long-term theory development and innovation and change processes in organizations. One of the distinguishing features of interactive research is a focus on continuous

Purpose The research purpose is to analyse when and how innovation support programmes (ISPs) can affect collaboration between universities and established small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The paper specifically considers SME’s absorptive capacity. Design/methodology/approach A Swedish research centre is studied in the context of innovation support and two of its SME-ISPs are examined with

Purpose The aim of this paper is to explore how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan employ technology to participate in global supply chains so as to respond to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Design/methodology/approach This study chose four small to medium textile SMEs using qualitative exploratory multiple case studies to examine their participation in the global value chain (GVC) and

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce, summarize and combine the results of 11 articles in a special issue on the implementation of Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 emerged as a phenomenon about a decade ago. That is why, it is interesting now to explore the implementation of the concept. In doing so, four research questions are addressed: (1) What is Industry 4.0? (2) How to implement Industry

Purpose Although prior studies have identified several technologies related to Industry 4.0 and their individual potential, it is still unclear how these technologies could be integrated to achieve better results. Based on this, we propose several collaborative networks combining technologies associated with Industry 4.0. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was performed using a research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of five dimensions of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices (i.e. internal environmental management, green purchasing, cooperation with customers, eco-design, and investment recovery) on three dimensions of organizational performance (i.e. environmental, economic and operational performance). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected

Purpose This paper analyzes the effects on local suppliers of the adoption of a modular platform, taking into account different supply-chain relations. Design/methodology/approach The authors’ research follows an interpretive case study methodology based on a theoretical approach that seeks to validate the approach while making conclusions about the case study. Findings The traditional pyramidal structure

Purpose Additive manufacturing (AM) is one technology among the many under the umbrella of Industry 4.0 technologies. AM is developing rapidly, and extant research reveals that the technology contains possibilities for firms to develop competitive advantages, but that it also poses several challenges to overcome before such benefits can be achieved. To provide further insight into this topic, this

Purpose The objective of this study is to propose a sequence of implementation of the core characteristics of reconfigurability: modularity, integrability, diagnosability, adaptability and customization. For this purpose, the relationships among the core characteristics and Industry 4.0 technologies are analyzed as well as the impacts of one core characteristic on another. Design/methodology/approach

Purpose This study investigates business model innovation in small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) and its impact on firm growth. Design/methodology/approach The study was based on analyzing data collected through a questionnaire survey. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the hypotheses. Findings Business model innovation has a positive effect on SME growth in the manufacturing

Purpose While manufacturing digitalization is currently considered an important enabler of competitive advantage, its applicability across the industrial spectrum is unclear. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the use of digital technologies and different production environments and company sizes. The focus is on three aspects of digitalization: shop floor digitalization, technologies

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the moderating effects of the role a plant plays in a manufacturing network on the relationships between its level of integration with other plants in the same manufacturing network (referred as “internal manufacturing network integration” in this paper), its interactions with suppliers/customers (referred as “external supply chain integration” in this paper)

Purpose This study aims to suggest that firms and stock market investors are more sensitive about inventory leanness when industry information technology (IT) usage is high. First, when industry IT usage is high, a firm's inventory leanness is more responsive to information inputs (cash holding and sales efficiency). Second, when industry IT usage is high, the price-to-earnings ratio (indicative of

Purpose The purpose of this study aims to develop and test a motives-mass customization (MC) capability-performance model by dividing MC capability into product-oriented MC capability and service-oriented MC capability. Design/methodology/approach This research tests the hypothesized relationships using survey data from 277 Chinese manufacturing firms. Findings The results indicate that instrumental

Purpose Product configurators are expert systems that support product customization by defining how predefined entities and their properties may be combined. Developers of configuration systems act as designers, although they do not often recognize that they are performing as such. Moreover, exploring solution spaces is typically not integral to configuration projects, as this task is typically perceived

Purpose Smart manufacturing can lead to disruptive changes in production technologies and business models in the manufacturing industry. This paper aims to identify technological topics in smart manufacturing by using patent data, investigating technological trends and exploring potential opportunities. Design/methodology/approach The latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling technique was used

Purpose Exploring ways to sustain competitive positions as well as improve firm performance through environmental production initiatives has been a major preoccupying topic for mostly practitioners and researchers. Despite several studies on the influence of environmental initiatives on firm performance, many questions remain unanswered as to how to further extract more gains from environmental production

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify a comprehensive list of main enablers of successful implementation of green manufacturing (GM) practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Based on the inputs from Irish SMEs' experts, a validated conceptual hierarchy model of the identified enablers is developed to analyse and prioritise the most dominant ones. Design/methodology/approach

Purpose This study analyzes how technological changes in the context of Industry 4.0 influence buyer-supplier relationships (BSRs). Design/methodology/approach The study is explorative in nature; hence, an empirical qualitative research design is applied. It bases on 45 expert interviews with managers from German and Austrian industrial companies as empirical data. A qualitative content analysis is

Purpose Although the adoption of lean inventory management for performance improvement has been widely recognized, sticky inventory management is still a stopgap measure for new small and medium enterprises (SMEs) against survival risks. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the nonlinear relationship between new SMEs inventory stickiness and venture survival by focusing on the moderating effects

Purpose Increasingly, dynamic market environments lead to growing complexity in manufacturing and pose a severe threat for the competitiveness of manufacturing companies. Systematic guidance to manage this complexity, especially in the context of Industry 4.0 and the therewith rising trends such as digitalization and data-driven production optimization, is lacking. To address this deficit a case-based

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contribution to improving the efficiency of the focal firm made by lean management at the internal and supply chain levels. Design/methodology/approach An empirical study was conducted of 285 Spanish focal companies from industrial sectors that occupy an intermediate position in the supply chain. The data gathering method consisted of a telephone

Purpose The aim of this paper is to develop a contribution to knowledge that adds to the empirical evidence of predictive condition-based maintenance by demonstrating how the availability and reliability of current assets can be improved without costly capital investment, resulting in overall system performance improvements Design/methodology/approach The empirical, experimental approach, technical

Purpose The purpose of this research is to detect, through applying a process-based view, how to manage economisation of the maintenance and modification operations in offshore petroleum logistics operations. Design/methodology/approach A single case study of engineering services, more specifically, maintenance and modification service operations, on a Norwegian Sea oil platform reveals the dynamics

Purpose The authors’ main objective is to examine the resource alteration underlying the digital manufacturing transformation. The authors rely on the adaptation aspect of dynamic capabilities (DC) theory and their analysis shows how and why a factory adapts its resources and capabilities during digital transformation. Design/methodology/approach To grasp the change, the authors apply the longitudinal

Purpose The aim of this study is to explore the link between green manufacturing practices, operational competitiveness, firm reputation and sustainable performance dimensions as well as advance a mediation approach. Design/methodology/approach The study resorted to structured questionnaire to collect data from 158 manufacturing firms from different industries, and partial least square–structural equation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of lean criteria on leanness as well as prioritize them, taking the relationships between dimensions into consideration for manufacturing enterprises. Design/methodology/approach This study considers leanness over quality, cost, delivery and innovation (QCDI) performance dimensions. Twenty eight criteria related with these dimensions were

Purpose The paper explores coordination practices in digital–physical product development and their consequences for companies traditionally relying on physical product development. Design/methodology/approach Using an embedded case study design, the paper reports four action research initiatives addressing the digital–physical coordination challenges encountered by a leading B2C company. Findings

Purpose This paper sets out to identify barriers to intra-network exchange within international manufacturing networks (IMNs) from the micro-level perspective of key actors at the plant level, namely, plant leaders. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through interviews with 12 plant leaders from nine different firms operating in at least three geographically dispersed manufacturing facilities

Purpose Cloud manufacturing (CMfg) has emerged as a service-oriented paradigm that enables modularization and on-demand servitization of resources in the context of manufacturing. The plethora of studies on CMfg has led the authors to investigate its implementation, as most of the literature is theoretical or simulation-based. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the reality of the

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how the introduction of new technologies can lead to reconsidering the division of the production process as well as the location of each stage, which may mean reshoring some of them. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on the analysis of the consequences of new technologies developed and introduced in the market to be applied in the

Purpose This article explores a particular on-demand fabrication unit, the microfactory (MF). It identifies and contrasts several MFs and proposes a taxonomy. This research also explores online manufacturing platforms (OMP) that complement certain MFs. Design/methodology/approach This research implements a multiple case study (71 cases in 21 countries), triangulating data available on the web with

Purpose The desire for firms to gain competitive advantage and improve performance has resulted in the adoption of several practices. Green supply chain practices (GSCPs), just in time (JIT) and total quality management (TQM) are some of the practices adopted by firms to improve operational performance (OP) and business performance (BP). This study examines the direct influence of GSCPs, JIT and TQM

Purpose Adoption of blockchain technology (BT) leads to shrinking supply chains, produces a better quality product, saves product development time and increases the customized offering to the customer. Since it is a new and growing area of research, researchers and practitioners are not entirely aware of challenges in the adoption of BT in supply chain (SC). Therefore, the objective of this research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a decision support system (DSS) to assist supply chain (SC) risk managers to select a suitable risk management (RM) strategy and expedite the implementation of corresponding RM enablers. The relationship between RM strategies and RM enablers is explored by identifying the underlying factors between them, which is further used to build the DSS. Design

Purpose Green Lean concepts offer methods for managing manufacturing organizations with the goal of improving organizational performance. Green Lean practices are good options to increase the environmental and operational performance of manufacturing industries. However, there are some barriers to implement Green Lean in manufacturing industries. This paper aims to identify these barriers by reviewing