Service operation
The principles of Agile Manufacturing
Agile manufacturing is a strategy used by organizations in creating competitive advantage and maintaining a competitive edge in the market. Organizations that use agile manufacturing produce high quality products that satisfy the needs and wants of the consumers. Agile organizations focus on product design, information technology, corporate partners and knowledge culture which all play a significant role in producing high quality products and satisfying consumers (Hormoze, 2001, p. 133). Due to the ever-changing market, the pillars help the organizations adapt to the changes. The employees’ intellectual power, the product-development teams, goal setting, flexible management and smooth flow of information play a significant role in creating competitive advantage and maintaining a competitive edge (Hormoze, 2001, p. 133). The principles of Agile manufacturing are as follows;
Customer prosperity
Customer prosperity is an important principle which means that the agile organizations should manufacture products and services of high value. Even though the World class manufacturers maintains a strong relationship with customer, customer prosperity in agile manufacturing means that products and services produced should add value to the consumers (Maskell , 2001, p. 7). In other words, the organization should have a detailed and a thorough understanding of the customers’ needs and wants, and ensure that the products and services satisfy the consumers. Other point to note is that organization should design products that meet the customer’s requirements and this can be done by using Computer Aided Design where customers, corporate partners and suppliers will co-operate in manufacturing products that will meet the customer needs (Maskell, 2001, p. 7).
People and information
People and information are an integral part since they provide the organization with skills and knowledge in the product manufacturing, customers’ needs and service requirements. In order to meet the customers’ needs, there should a relationship between customers and organization’s people and this will foster customer awareness (Maskell, 2001, p. 8). There should also be knowledge-based system where organization will derive product information, product upgrades, analysis and other relevant information needed by authorized users. The company’s information system such as internet will allow the customers to place orders, specify their needs and in turn, the organization will access the information and meet the needs (Maskell, 2001, p. 7).
Co-operation
Co-operation in agile manufacturing is an important principle which means that organization should cooperate with other firms to gain skills and knowledge in order to meet the customer’s needs. There are various ever-changing needs in the competitive market and co-operation will provide organization with a great deal of information based on product design, special skills and more (Maskell, 2001, p. 9). Information technologies such as internet and multi-lingual system connect the company with other firms where they communicate and help each other in meeting the customers’ needs.
Fitness for change
Change is inevitable in modern markets and agile manufacturing should be ready for change in order to meet the customers’ needs. When organization is forced to make changes, it should effectively adapt to the changes and quickly recover from the disruption. Agile organization should also consider reorganizing the structure and the process should require management skills, effective decision making, highly skilled workforce, effective leadership and trust (Maskell, 2001, p. 10). In making change, agile organization should make a clear vision, mission and goals of the company.
By comparison, lean and agile manufacturing focus on increasing sustainability and revenue and creating a competitive position in the market. Maskel asserts that for a company to become an agile manufacturing, it should have already existed as a lean manufacturing. This creates a comparison in that lean manufacturing focus on customer, cost maximization and just-in-time operations to ensure customers’ needs are met. Similarly, agile manufacturing puts customer first and treat them as individual, focus on product, knowledge culture and more in order to meet the needs of customers and maintain the competitive edge. However, Maskell states that the difference between lean and agile manufacturing is that the latter performs role that every organization can control but the former moves beyond this and performs roles that organization cannot control (Maskell, 2001, p. 8). In other words, agile manufacturing allows the organization to thrive and prosper in the midst of changing environment and unpredictable change. Unlike lean manufacturing that focus on cost maximization, price flexibility and higher inventory, agile manufacturing focus on factors such as unpredictable change and for this reason, it focus on low volume but high quality products and specific products that meet the different customers’ needs. Agile manufacturing uses a low inventory for modular construction and product customization. To put it clear, agile manufacturing understands the changing customer demands and it quickly and effectively respond to the demand (Richards, 1993, p. 63).
Observational analysis
Retail operation
On observational analysis, the main activities in retail operations are based on day-to-day functions and the main objective is to maximize profits and this is achieved through offering high quality products and services to the customers. The retail operation has strategies that help maximize profit and these include understanding the customer-this means that this retail operation targets females as it sells women’s clothing. The retail operation has a strong relationship with its customers and it offers personalized offers, special rewards, discounts and more. On the transformational processes, the high level of competition and unpredictable change forces the retail operation to have an input-transformation in order implement an output model. This means that in order to meet the different needs and wants of consumers, the retail operation brings resources needed in producing quality products to its customers (Richards, 1993, p. 61). From the observation, the retail operation makes the transformation process by focusing of functional-level- teams and managers create objectives and understand their responsibility. The retail operation also focuses on operational planning-analysis of human resources. Finally, on adaptive capacities, the retail operation has a business model adaptation that makes the organization become alert and proactive. For example, the observation helps understand that the retail operation has multiplexity which means that there is a cross-functional activities which foster knowledge sharing and combinative capabilities thereby increasing the adaptive capacity. Second, it has resource redundancy which increases management attention, innovation and experimentation. Last, it uses loose coupling which minimizes mistakes and increases knowledge assimilation (Richards, 1993, p. 61).
Agile Manufacturing principles have great applicability in both the activities that I observed and those I didn’t. In the observable activities, the principles such as enriching the customers are applicable for the retail operation to meet the needs and wants of the customers. People and information is also applicable in that the retail operation needs to know more on customer awareness, product upgrades as well as specification (Maskell, 2001, p. 7). The principles are also applicable to the activities which I didn’t see. For instance, I cannot tell whether the retail operation has partnering firms but the principle is applicable for the business to gain special skills needed in the ever-changing market. The principle of fitness for change is also applicable since organization structure need to be changed to fit the ever-changing needs (Maskell, 2001, p. 8).
Reference
Hormoze M. Amir. (2001).Agile manufacturing: the next logical step. Benchmarking: An International
Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 132-143
Maskell B. (2001). Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 6 Issue: 1, pp.5-11,
Richards W. Chester. (1996) AGILE MANUFCATURING: BEYONG LEAN? Production and Inventory
Management Journal; Second Quarter; 37, 2; Business Premium Collection pg. 60
