A heuristic for formulating within-plant manufacturing focus

The concept of manufacturing focus suggests that each plant is assigned a unique set of manufacturing tasks derived from the firm’s competitive strategy. Many empirical studies have verified the importance and benefits of manufacturing focus in enhancing a firm’s competence in the market. Nonetheless there is no methodology offered for designing such a manufacturing system with considerations of resource requirements although the need has been recognized. In this study, the authors propose a methodology that can help managers arrive at a manufacturing focus design within a plant. Because of the large size and nonlinear nature of the problem, a heuristic solution is proposed. The heuristic translates the strategic concept of competitive priorities into management parameters, thereby allowing incorporation of market factors into manufacturing process design. Experimental results show that the proposed methodology offers managers the opportunity to generate and assess alternative focus designs which are otherwise unavailable. The use of the heuristic is straightforward in practical situations and should greatly facilitate the achievement of manufacturing focus with minimal resource requirements. Overall, this research provides an analytical framework for further research in focused manufacturing.