Reconfigurations of manufacturing systems-an empirical study on concepts, research, and applications

It is well known that the performance of a manufacturing system is susceptible to sudden changes in demand, either in terms of the quantity of products concerned or the product mix. Traditional manufacturing managers have been dealing with such situations by resorting to outsourcing of products; employing additional resources in terms of overtime, extra shifts, etc.; and adopting back logging policies using the goodwill of customers or making use of effective scheduling and inventory policies. However, in the recent times, they are also presented with the option of reconfiguring the manufacturing system (RMS), which offers a number of benefits. There are several keys enabling technologies to realize these benefits. The review of related literature helped in realizing that there are a number of alternative ways of resorting to reconfiguration. In this paper, the views and experiences of various researchers and practitioners as reported in literature are presented in an encapsulated manner bringing forth the multidimensional aspects of the subject area RMS. From various accounts reported in the international and Indian media, it is evident that the Indian manufacturing sector is performing well and is trying out various innovative practices; interestingly, many of which are related to RMS. A survey of Indian industries was carried out with the help of a survey using questionnaire as an instrument. The survey revealed various interesting facts about various RMS practices followed by the Indian manufacturing sector and the impact of reconfiguration on various performance measures of these organizations. The details of the survey and the findings of the same are also presented in this paper.