agile manufacturing information system

AGILE MANUFACTURING INFORMATION SYSTEM

Sunilkumar K R

M.E Computer Integrated Manufacturing

College of Engineering Guindy

INTRODUCTION Lean manufacturing enables high degree of quality and productivity through elimination of waste and it provided services at low price to the customers till yesteryears.

The modern customers not only demand high degree of quality but also new innovative varieties to suit different tastes

This situation calls for producing quickly innovative products to meet customers’ dynamic demands

EMERGENCE OF AGILE MANUFACTURING

On realising the requirement, in the year 1991, a group of researchers at the Iococca University introduced a new system called Agile manufacturing

These researchers started a facility at their university for agility and marked the beginning of research works on agile manufacturing [1].

AGILE MANUFACTURING

Agile manufacturing is the advanced version of Lean manufacturing

Agile Manufacturing : A paradigm that enables an organisation to quickly react in accordance with the dynamic demands of the customers by making use of appropriate technologies and management models

Difference between Agile Manufacturing and Traditional Manufacturing

S. No. Criterion Traditional Manufacturing Company Agile Manufacturing Company

1. Status of Quality Customer satisfaction is the target Customer delight is the target

2. Employee’s status

Employees are inflexible and ignorant to changes

Learning, multi-skilled, multi-functional, self-committed employees

3. Design Improvement Adopted very rarely Adopted very frequently and

systematically by conducting experiments

4. Outsourcing Adopted by subcontractors only Majority of the activities are outsourced

5.Customer response adoption

It takes place very slowly Very fast and 100% response is achieved

Difference between Agile and Traditional Manufacturing explained using Twenty Criterion Agile manufacturing model by Jung et al., 1996 [2]

Conceptual model of Agility

The Conceptual model of Agility showing three main elements explained by Zhang and Sharifi, in the year 2000 [3]

Conceptual model of Agility (Contd.)

1. Agility Drivers - changes/pressures from the business environment that necessitate a company to search for new ways of running its business in order to maintain its competitive advantage.


DE – Design EngineerME – Marketing EngineerFE – Financial EngineerPE – Production Engineer

Traditional Vertical Line Organisation Flattened Organisation


2.Agility capabilities - Essential capabilities that the company needs in order to positively respond to and take advantage of the changes

3.Agility providers - Business practices, methods, tools, and techniques, by which the so-called capabilities could be obtained.

According to this conceptual model, Changes/ pressures in the business environment drives the enterprise to identify agility capabilities that need to be acquired or enhanced in order to take advantage of the changes. This in turn forces the enterprise to search for ways and tools to obtain/enhance the required capabilities

Methodology to achieve agility

1. Determination of a company’s agility needs and its current agility level

2. Determination of agility capabilities required in order for the company to become agile

3. Identification of agility providers or business practices and tools which could bring about the recognised capabilities for the company

Case Study Samsung is a South-Korean

multinational company founded in

1938. The research and development wing of

this company is involved in applying

innovative technologies and

management principles for evolving

products to suit customer’s dynamic

demands. Here, Samsung television is taken as

case study and the agility of its

manufacturing is studied.

Year TV Variant

2007 10mm thick LCD TV

2008 7.9mm thick LCD TV

2009 3.5mm thick LED TV

2010 3D LED TV

2011 Smart TV

2013 Curved LED TV

2013 UHD TV

2014 CURVED UHD TV

Evolution of Samsung Televisions (Source: Samsung.com)

Case study (Contd.)

Evolution of Samsung Televisions (Source: Samsung.com)

Conclusion Agility in practice may be achieved in a manufacturing organisation through the strategic utilisation of best practices and tools. Agile manufacturing is an inevitable condition for survival and prosperity in the increasingly changing business environment

The severity of need for becoming agile is deepening, and the spectrum of organisations that need this characteristic is widening.

Reference [1] Yusuf, Y.Y., Sarhadi, M. and Gunasekeran,A. (1999), ‘Agile manufacturing: The drivers, concepts and Attributes’, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 62, Issue 1, pp. 33-43.

[2] Jung, M., Chung, M.K. and Cho, H. (1996), ‘Architectural requirements for rapid development of agile manufacturing systems’, 18th International Conference on Computers and Industrial Engineering, Vol. 31, No. 3/4, pp. 551-554.

[3] Zhang, Z. and Sharifi, H. (2000), ‘A methodology for achieving agility in manufacturing organisations’, International Journal of Operations & Production Management.

[4] Zhang, Z. and Sharifi, H. (2000), ‘A methodology for achieving Agile manufacturing in practice, Application of a methodology’, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 21 No. 5/6, 2001, pp. 772-794.

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