Products

• Manufacturers are moving from standard products to product differentiation in order to escape the effects of commoditization.
• Products are becoming more specialized and more customized to individual requirements.
• The pace of product innovation is accelerating – product life cycles are shrinking.
• Products incorporate a greater degree of technological sophistication.
• Services (design, quality assurance, financing, after-sales services) are now essential elements in adding customer value.

Operations

• Customer-pull systems are replacing production-push manufacturing.
• Production systems are more flexible, allowing them to be reconfigured for shorter production runs.
• Processes are more highly automated, controlled and integrated through advanced information and communication technologies.
• Process efficiency and cost reductions are being driven throughout the business, from materials handling and production processes to information systems and supply chain logistics.
• Lean principles of achieving customer value and eliminating waste are being systematically implemented.
• Inventories are being reduced.
• Time has become the chief metric for making money. Companies are striving to reduce wait times, down times, and the time required for product and process changeovers.
• Greater variability is allowing for greater control over product and production defects through quantitative methods of quality assurance.
• Business strategies for growth must be based on product and process innovations, not simply adding volume.
• Innovation is permeating the organization. It is no longer being performed solely in research and development and engineering departments, but is important on the shop floor, in purchasing and logistics, in marketing and design, as well as in management systems.
• Work is now more flexible and knowledge-intensive. Scientific and technical knowledge is driving product and process innovations. Work requires a much greater degree of technical skills and experience, problem solving, multi-tasking, teaming and collaboration.