Value based on products Value based on service
Mass markets Niche markets/individual customers
Efficiency drives competitiveness Innovation drives competitiveness
Internal performance standards World-class benchmarks
Mass production Customization
Growth through higher volumes Growth through innovation
Static production processes Flexible production systems
Stand alone discreet technologies Integrated technologies
Mechanical processes Automated processes
Long production runs Short production runs
Cost cutting Waste elimination
Sequential product development Complex systems
Corporate organizations Business networks
Companies compete Supply chains compete
Purchasing & materials handling Supply chain management
Manual skills Knowledge based skills
Work under specifications Problem solving
Functional materials, products, processes Smart materials, products, processes
Production management Life cycle management
Reactive governance Proactive governance
Pollution control Environmental sustainability

We are a long way from the world of smoke-stack industries, mass production, heavy machinery, and manual labour that characterized manufacturing in the past. Modern manufacturing is highly automated, heavily dependent on technological knowledge and skills, more and more customized and service oriented, and increasingly integrated in international markets and global supply chains. Manufacturers themselves no longer see their activities simply in terms of transforming raw materials into components or finished products. Today, manufacturing is a system that encompasses all the activities required to deliver products that meet customer needs – a system that extends from research and development, design, and engineering, through production, logistics, and supply chain management, to finance, marketing, and customer service, and now frequently to product maintenance and final recycling or disposal as well.