A strategic evaluation of capacity retirements in the steel industry

Over the past twenty-five years there has been a significant reduction in UK iron and steel making capacity. This has happened primarily as a result of a deliberate strategy which places emphasis on maintaining or improving financial performance. An unanticipated but possible scenario of the consequences of this strategy is offered by means of a system dynamics model. It considers both short and long term effects and represents an aid to learning in the face of the complexity which characterises manufacturing operations.