Canadian manufacturers are restructuring their businesses in response to the challenges they face in global markets.
They are not alone. The emergence of new markets and disruptive low-cost competition, the rapid development of new technological capabilities, more demanding customers, a more demanding public, and intense bottom-line pressures are changing the nature of manufacturing worldwide.
There is a revolution occurring in the business of manufacturing around the world. Business strategies are changing. Manufacturers are entering new markets and striving to meet new and changing customer needs. They are outsourcing more components and services to suppliers on a global basis. Production processes are using the latest in automated technologies. Manufacturers are restructuring their internal operating and information systems and re-engineering production processes to eliminate waste and lower costs. And, they are changing the nature of their organizations by partnering with other companies in complex supply chains and business networks that now extend globally.
Even more changes are to come as businesses respond to the globalization of industrial markets, production systems, supply networks, and competition.
The business of manufacturing is being redefined by changes in the market place and how companies react to them. Manufacturing is being transformed from a traditional model of individual companies working with mechanical mass production systems to produce standard products for local markets. Now, companies are operating with flexible and highly automated production systems, producing customized goods and services, and are both part of and dependent on supply chains with global reach.