A number of authors have suggested that the
West has entered a post-industrial society,
characterized by increasing complexity,
uncertainty and change. This society will
require rapidly changing customer require-
ments and increased competition to force
manufacturing enterprises to be more cus-
tomer oriented[1].
To compete successfully a company must
utilize the performance criteria of cost, quali-
ty, delivery, flexibility and reliability. These
product features, generally associated with
product manufacture, are usually determined
during the product design stage. As a conse-
quence, product design must be considered a
vital element during manufacturing strategy
formulation. Although it is a factor not con-
sidered by previous research in this field, the
influence of design to a business is
paramount, with Whitney[2] making the
point:
…design is a strategic activity, whether by
intention or default. It influences flexibility of
sales strategies, speed of field repair, and effi-
ciency of manufacturing. It may well be respon-
sible for the company’s future viability.
Manufacturing performance criteria
When formulating a manufacturing strategy,
typically the strategy is developed in an itera-
tive manner with marketing strategy develop-
ment[3]. To link marketing strategies to
manufacturing strategies the concept of
order-winning criteria[4] is proposed, with
the major criteria being product price, deliv-
ery, quality, flexibility and reliability. These
criteria, although common across all prod-
ucts, will vary in importance with the type of
product and associated market. For example,
there exists a high level of market uncertainty
for capital equipment, so product perfor-
mance is the primary criteria, unlike the low
levels of market uncertainty in the commodity
business, where cost is the primary selling
criteria (Figure 1). Within the literature,
examples are provided of introducing compet-
itive edge relating to these criteria, based on
the manufacturing element. However, these
competitive criteria are all influenced initially
by product design, and attention to this area
can achieve significant benefits within the
framework of existing manufacturing systems.
Similarly, product design determines the level
of product complexity, which has a direct
impact on the manufacturing system. A high
25
World Class Design to Manufacture
Volume 2 · Number 3 · 1995 · pp. 25–32
© MCB University Press · ISSN 1352-3074
Design: a missing link in
manufacturing strategy
Charles Wainwright
The author
Charles Wainwright joined the National Coal Board as an
apprentice draughtsman, during which time many basic
engineering skills were attained. Following his apprentice-
ship he studied for, and was awarded a degree in Mechani-
cal Engineering and won an IMechE prize for project work
relating to the design of squeeze-film damper bearings.
Following his degree the author continued with the
National Coal Board for several years as an engineering
designer before joining Spooner-Vicars as a strategic
planning engineer. While with Vicars the author was
involved with a number of strategic projects, including
capital investment in CAD, CAM and machine tool systems.
During this period the author also gained his PhD from
UMIST. Recently the author joined De Montfort University
as Senior Lecturer to continue research established during
the PhD study. Industrial links are maintained, however,
through collaborative industry/university research projects
and teaching company schemes.
He can be contacted at The School of Engineering,
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineer-
ing, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester LE1
9BH. Tel: 0116 255 1551; Fax: 0116 257 7052.
Abstract
At present manufacturing strategy research is focused on
the interaction between the manufacturing and marketing
functions to the exclusion of product design. As product
design aims to meet the needs of customers, market
knowledge is vital to determine the products to design.
However, without both market and product knowledge it is
impossible to provide optimum manufacturing facilities.
Thus product design should be considered as an essential
aspect during the formulation of manufacturing strategy.
Typically the validity of a manufacturing strategy is
measured using a series of strategic product, order-
winning criteria. Initially discusses the effects of product
design in relation to those strategic criteria, and subse-
quently highlights the need to treat design as a manufac-
turing strategy content variable via a case study conducted
within a medium-sized, multi-product batch manufactur-
ing company.