| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/L63037/01 |
| Title: |
DEVELOPING MANUFACTURING AGILITY IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES |
| Principal Investigator: |
Bessant, Professor J |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Centre for Research in Innovation Man |
| Organisation: |
University of Brighton |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 July 1997 |
Ends: |
30 June 2000 |
Value (£): |
372,948
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Manufact. Business Strategy |
Manufact. Enterprise Ops& Mgmt |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Manufacturing |
Electronics |
| Retail |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Changing priorities in the external environment require manufacturing firms to develop agility - the ability to identify and deploy relevant changes in structure and infrastructure. Research on agility suggests that it depends on clear strategic focus, deployment and monitoring of that manufacturing strategy through appropriate performance measures, active management of interdependant linkages with external agencies and high levels of participation in learning and problem-solving. These characteristics are clearly associated with successful performance: however, relatively few UK firms achieve this standard and the problem is particularly severe for SMES. The proposed research will identify characteristics of agile manufacturing and pay particular attention to the question of implementation of relevant practices within an SME environment. A major hypothesis is that adoption of new technologies/techniques is insufficient to ensure the development of agility, and that research is needed to understand the barriers and enabling mechanisms associated with learning in order to develop this capability.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.bton.ac.uk |