A HEURISTIC FOR FORMULATING WITHIN-PLANT MANUFACTURING FOCUS

The concept of manufacturing focus suggests that each plant is assigne d a unique set of manufacturing tasks derived from the firm's competit ive strategy. Many empirical studies have verified the importance and benefits of manufacturing focus in enhancing a firm's competence in th e market. Nonetheless there is no methodology offered for designing su ch a manufacturing system with considerations of resource requirements although the need has been recognized. In this study, we propose a me thodology that can help managers arrive at a manufacturing focus desig n within a plant. Because of the large size and nonlinear nature of th e problem, a heuristic solution is proposed. The heuristic translates the strategic concept of competitive priorities into management parame ters, thereby allowing incorporation of market factors into manufactur ing process design. Experimental results show that the proposed method ology offers managers the opportunity to generate and assess alternati ve focus designs which are otherwise unavailable. The use of the heuri stic is straightforward in practical situations and should greatly fac ilitate the achievement of manufacturing focus with minimal resource r equirements. Overall, this research provides an analytical framework f or further research in focused manufacturing.