Analysis of interactions of criteria for mitigating negative social impacts of next generation manufacturing systems

Adoption of next generation manufacturing systems (NGMS) is the utmost requirement to stay and remain competitive in business. However, there are many social impacts associated with these manufacturing systems. The emphasis of this paper has been to identify critical social impact variables (SIVs) of the NGMS, understand the interactions among them and then develop a framework to mitigate their negative impacts. Interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach has been used to establish the relationship and order among different variables. Also, this research classifies the relationship among various SIVs in NGMS implementation according to their driving power and dependence. The dependent, independent, autonomous and linkage variables have been categorised using MIMAC analysis. This proposed ISM model and MIMAC analysis provide a platform for manufacturing firms to develop suitable strategies to mitigate their negative impacts.