Title: Interrelationship of drivers for agile manufacturing: an Indian experience

Authors: Swagatika Mishra; Saurav Datta; S.S. Mahapatra

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela-769008, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela-769008, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela-769008, India

Abstract: Change seems to be one of the enterprises| important characteristics to have competitive edge in ever-increasing competitive environment. Agile manufacturing is viewed as a winning strategy by the organisations to quickly adapt and orient themselves in changing environments. It is important to identify the agile manufacturing drivers which can be deployed collectively to make the organisation profit making one in the market place. All the agility drivers or characteristics do not require the same focus and attention on the part of decision makers. To this end, interpretive structural modelling (ISM) has been adopted to study drivers of agile concept systematically. ISM is capable of addressing the complexities and dynamics of an issue to ease the decision-making process. The technique presents a hierarchical structure that depicts the direct and indirect linkages between the various components in a system based on primacy, precedence, and causality over and among each other. The key drivers for implementation of agile concept in manufacturing have been identified in Indian environment.

Keywords: agile manufacturing; driving power; dependence; ISM; interpretive structural modelling; interrelationships; India; competitive environments; change; agility drivers; agility characteristics; decision-making; hierarchical structures; direct linkages; indirect linkages; components; primacy; precedence; causality; manufacturing industry; services management; operations management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2012.044798

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2012 Vol.11 No.1, pp.35 - 48

Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

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