How Flexible Is Your Factory

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How Flexible Is Your Factory?

Flexibility is more important than ever.

f you practice yoga, flexibility is extremely important. Bending and stretching helps people accomplish difficult poses such as downwardfacing dog or the standing halfmoon. Flexible thinking is equally important in today’s complex business world. In fact, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants GmbH (Munich, Germany) recently conducted a study in which it discovered that the key to success in a slow economy is flexibility. “Companies that react quicker to changes in the market are able to stay solidly in the black,” says Thomas Ring, a partner in Roland Berger’s operations strategy competence center. “The best companies actually act against the cycle, using their competitors’ weaknesses to strengthen their own position. “In a rapidly changing environment, the ability to shift from growth plan to capacity cutting and back when the market recovers is becoming a competitive success factor,” adds Ring. “Global competition drives the speed of changed market requirements. The ability to quickly adjust is critical to leverage market cycles and sustain earnings, even during downturns.”

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Flexible assembly lines allow companies to react quickly to constantly shifting customer demands and short product life cycles. Photo courtesy Honda Motor Co.

By Austin Weber Senior Editor

As markets increasingly become less predictable, Ring says flexibility will become even more critical to manufacturers. Flexible assembly lines allow companies to react quickly to shifting customer demands and short product life cycles. A flexible machine can be easily changed to adapt to new production processes or product designs. Typically, a flexible assembly system consists of a standard platform and a series of interchangeable process and test modules that can be removed, modified and replaced quickly and easily. It allows for the future assembly of similar, possibly unrelated or currently...