A bi-objective model for supply chain design of dispersed manufacturing in China

Dispersed manufacturing achieves the greatest cumulative competitive advantage by dissecting a supply chain and assigning each process to an optimal location. Dispersed manufacturing has been an integral part of global manufacturing in China. This paper presents a bi-objective model for the supply chain design of dispersed manufacturing in the context of rising business operating costs in coastal China. It considers essential trade-offs between supply chain cost and lead time to determine optimal facility locations of manufacturing steps. The model is applied to a representative case to illustrate the cost benefits of dispersed manufacturing as opposed to performing all manufacturing steps of a product at a single facility location. It provides explanations in several factors that have benefited manufacturing growth in China, and offers insights in the emerging global manufacturing trends. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.