Agility in Business
Agility refers to the power of moving easily and quickly that can also be said to be the capacity of thinking and drawing conclusions in a more intellectual acuity (9). Agility can be said to be the art of maintaining equilibrium with speed, strength, and coordination.
Agility is a concept used in manufacturing to imply that an organization has developed and created strategies, tools, and training that will enable the organization to respond quickly to customer inquiries and needs and to the overall market that keeps on changing while still being able to maintain cost and quality (10). Agility in manufacturing has enabled the agile manufacturers through it enabling factor on the development of manufacturing technology which gives the marketers, designers, and the production workforce to have a common database of the product and the parts and share the information regarding the production aptitudes and the problems arising (10). Agile manufacturing requires a change in the internal structure of the organization from the traditional model, changing the communication level that involves the bosses and including managers to take up roles of being enablers of the responsible employees in small teams so that they can enhance freedom in order to increase skill and creativity with the short uninterrupted cycles that will generate an end result of customers being happy.
Lean manufacturing is an approach to manufacturing that aims at minimizing costs. This translates to minimal money wastage in the amount invested in the raw materials and inventory at all times. This manufacturing approach is founded on a demand-based flow (9). The approach is driven by a state of mind that there is definitely a room for improvement and there are regular measures of the material, facility and time are utilized.
Both manufacturing strategies are best suited for the modern managers who wish for increasing the business sustainability and revenue. Both approaches are designed to make the organization more competitive (10). This is because the strategy creates a proper planning process in all aspects of the process. The process creates a successful business venture as it relies on the open communication that involves all the stakeholders and the statistical analysis.
The Iacocca institute has established means of becoming agile in manufacturing as its new infrastructure. First and foremost the company needs a detailed infrastructure. Despite the dangers that the company is likely to face infrastructure is a prescription for its success (23). The provision of an essential concept is important as it will identify the reason behind the development of the concept. The business should be seen as a basic business concept that brings ideas together in the competitive market. The business should also be ready to take the risk and stop fearing the changes that will occur by viewing the change in a current perspective in relation to mass production (23).
The company should also be able to achieve the needed manufacturing concept that will enhance appropriate manufacturing response in the emerging markets (23). The company should also be able to take advantage of the new market by exploiting the business concepts that are more practicable such as the virtual enterprise by the use of new technologies. Therefore a company must have new manufacturing strategies and the integration of the business is also a requirement where people and the technology are well coordinated in an interdependent system are the means of becoming agile (23).
Work cited
A 21st Century Paradigm
