Information-based agile manufacturing

Information-based agile manufacturing is better understood when placed within the larger context of the "new economy." Agility is a business-wide capability that embraces organizational structures, information systems, logistics processes, and, in particular, mindsets. To be truly agile, a manufacturer must possess a number of distinguishing characteristics. The use of information technology to share data between buyers and suppliers is, in effect, creating information-based agile manufacturing. This paper suggests that the key to survival in changing conditions is through "agility," in particular by the creation of responsive manufacturing. A distinction is drawn between the philosophies of "leanness" and "agility," and the appropriate application of these ideas is discussed.