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Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2016) | Viewed by 80995

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Tin-Chih Toly Chen

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Guest Editor

Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Interests: ambient intelligence; ergonomics; cloud and virtual manufacturing; applied soft computing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleague,

With the trend of globalization, the competition within some industries is becoming increasingly fierce. To survive in the industry, every firm must strive to continually improve its competence in one way or another. For example, some firms do not have their own factories, so that they can focus on activities that are more profitable, while others continue expanding their manufacturing capacity to further drive down costs. Other common strategies include: outsourcing, blue ocean strategy, green and lean technologies, applying the competitiveness diamond model, developing next-generation technologies, forming alliances, etc.

In contrast, some studies have shown that even with considerable R&D capabilities, manufacturers cannot guarantee long-term competitiveness (i.e., sustainability). In addition, in the past, support from the government enabled the continued growth of manufacturers in some regions. After such support disappears, maintaining competitiveness and sustainability becomes a big problem. Further, the rise of the Chinese market, and of its manufacturers, bring opportunities and threats to existing firms.

This special issue is intended to provide details regarding sustainable development and competitive strategies, and their applications to manufacturing, for researchers in product engineering, industrial engineering, marketing, and business administration, as well as practicing managers/engineers. This special issue features a balance between state-of-the-art research and more conventional reported applications. This special issue also provides a forum for researchers and practitioners to review and disseminate quality research work on competitive and sustainable manufacturing strategies and their applications, and to identify critical issues for further developments.

Topics

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

* competitive and sustainable strategy: continuous measurable improvement
* competitive and sustainable strategy: statistical thinking
* competitive and sustainable strategy: constraint-focus
* competitive and sustainable strategy: people development/empowerment
* competitive and sustainable strategy: knowledge transfer
* competitive and sustainable strategy: differentiation
* competitive and sustainable strategy: partnering and collaboration through networking
* competitive and sustainable strategy: geographic reach

Prof. Dr. Tin-Chih Toly Chen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

the rise of China market and manufacturers - opportunities and threats
the role of government support
foundry
agile manufacturing, lean manufacturing
cloud manufacturing, ubiquitous manufacturing
energy-efficient manufacturing
advanced manufacturing technologies
design manufacturability, design into manufacturing, design-manufacturing integration
competitiveness assessment and enhancement
long-term competitiveness, sustainability
remanufacturing, green manufacturing
virtual factory, internet manufacturing and services
benchmarking
next-generation factory
factory automation
other related topics

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Editorial

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164 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization

by Toly Chen

Sustainability 2017, 9(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/su9010026 - 24 Dec 2016

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4879

Abstract

Competitiveness is the ability and performance of a firm, subsector or country to sell or supply goods or services in a given market. The competitiveness and sustainability of an enterprise are closely related. Competitiveness has received ever-growing attention in the era of globalization. This Special Issue provides a forum for researchers and practitioners to review and disseminate quality research work on competitive and sustainable manufacturing in the era of globalization and their applications, and to identify critical issues for further developments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

2879 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Supernetwork-Based Model for Design Processes of Complex Mechanical Products

by Yu-Jie Zheng, Yu Yang, Na Zhang and Yao Jiao

Sustainability 2016, 8(10), 992; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8100992 - 09 Oct 2016

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4891

Abstract

Complex mechanical products are a priority area of advanced manufacturing strategy in the USA and Europe. Excellent models for design processes of complex mechanical products are essential for managers or designers to manage design processes and further improve design efficiency. Multiple elements and complicated relationships between elements in the design processes of complex mechanical products cause difficulties in systematically and quantitatively expressing the design processes. Therefore, we put forth a supernetwork-based model for designing complex mechanical products. First, we identified the key elements in the design processes of complex mechanical products. Next, based on this we analyzed sub-elements of the key elements and relationships between sub-elements. Then we built sub-networks with sub-elements as nodes and their relationships as edges and the supernetwork model for design processes of complex mechanical products based on the sub-networks and their relationships. Meanwhile, we also present a method for combining linguistic variables with the corresponding triangular fuzzy numbers, and a max/min synthesis method to accurately compute the edge weights. Finally, we suggest the practical applications of the proposed model and give a comparison of the proposed model and existing ones to verify the feasibility and validity of this study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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1944 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Extended FMEA for Sustainable Manufacturing: An Empirical Study in the Non-Woven Fabrics Industry

by Thanh-Lam Nguyen, Ming-Hung Shu and Bi-Min Hsu

Sustainability 2016, 8(9), 939; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8090939 - 13 Sep 2016

Cited by 38 | Viewed by 7705

Abstract

Failure modes and effects analysis (

F M E A

Failure modes and effects analysis (

F M E A

) substantially facilitates the efforts of industrial manufacturers in prioritizing failures that require corrective actions to continuously improve product quality. However, the conventional approach fails to provide satisfactory explanation of the aggregate effects of a failure from different perspectives such as technical severity, economic severity, and production capacity in some practical applications. To fulfill the existing gap in the

F M E A

literature, this paper proposes an extension by considering associated quality cost and the capability of failure detection system as additional determinants to signify the priority level for each failure mode. The quality cost and capacity are considered as key factors for sustainable survival and development of an industrial manufacturer in the fierce competition market these days. The performance of the extended scheme was tested in an empirical case at a non-woven fabrics manufacturer. Analytical results indicate that the proposed approach outperforms the traditional one and remarkably reduces the percentage of defective fabrics from about 2.41% before the trial period to 1.13%,thus significantly reducing wastes and increasing operation efficiency, thereby providing valuable advantages to improve organizational competition power for their sustainable growth. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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Open AccessArticle

The Sustainability of Global Chain Governance: Network Structures and Local Supplier Upgrading in Thailand

by Sungchul Cho and Up Lim

Sustainability 2016, 8(9), 915; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8090915 - 08 Sep 2016

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4275

Abstract

Although it has been widely accepted that insertion into global production networks may play a critical role in fostering local supplier upgrading, scholars have yet to fully incorporate heterogeneous configurations of buyer-supplier relationships within networks into empirical testing. Using a representative sample of manufacturing firms in Thailand, we propose a more nuanced empirical framework that asks which features of buyer-supplier relationships are related to which aspects of local supplier upgrading. Our findings, derived from latent class analysis, show that the ways value chains are governed can exert varying effects on different types of technological upgrading. Being a multinational corporation (MNC) supplier was found to have positive effects on process and minor product upgrading, irrespective of the types of buyer-supplier networks. However, we found a more radical type of upgrading (i.e., the development of own brands) to be negatively related to insertion into ‘quasi-hierarchical’ or ‘buyer-driven relationships’, whilst involvement in ‘cooperative networks’ was associated with a significantly higher tendency of product and brand upgrading. Understanding this inherent relationality provides a crucial balance to previous firm-level findings, suggesting that the sustainability of participation in global value chains depends on the relational structures in which local manufacturers are embedded. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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455 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Transferring the Cost of Wage Rigidity to Subcontracting Firms: The Case of Korea

by Kwangho Woo and Joonmo Cho

Sustainability 2016, 8(9), 845; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8090845 - 30 Aug 2016

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3897

Abstract

We select a Korean case with ample subcontracting practices and a rigid wage system. Workplaces with subcontract transactions would have reason to impute the additional wage incremental costs associated with the seniority-based wage system (Hobong in Korea) to subcontractors. Our empirical results identify the cost-transferring mechanism under which the cost of wage rigidity for contractors is transferred to subcontracting firms and aggravates the wage inequality among workers in contracting and subcontracting firms. We analyze the industrial difference in the intensity of this transferring mechanism and probe policy directions considering the improvement of both the subcontracting structure and pay system simultaneously. For the sustainability of firms, they need to reform a seniority-based wage system, an incentive-based wage system or a job-based wage system and the exploited subcontracting structure for creating share value. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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Open AccessArticle

The Ethical Judgment and Moral Reaction to the Product-Harm Crisis: Theoretical Model and Empirical Research

by Dong Lu, Yide Liu, Hongfeng Zhang and Ivan K. W. Lai

Sustainability 2016, 8(7), 626; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8070626 - 02 Jul 2016

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 7351

Abstract

Based on the dual-process theory of ethical judgment, a research model is proposed for examining consumers’ moral reactions to a product-harm crisis. A national-wide survey was conducted with 801 respondents in China. The results of this study indicate that consumers will react to a product-harm crisis through controlled cognitive processing and emotional intuition. The results of the study also show that consumers view a product-harm crisis as an ethical issue, and they will make an ethical judgment according to the perceived severity and perceived relevance of the crisis. The ethical judgment in the perceived crisis severity and perceived crisis relevance will affect consumers’ condemning emotions in terms of contempt and anger. Through controlled cognitive processing, a personal consumption-related reaction (purchasing intention) is influenced by the perceived crisis severity. Furthermore, a social and interpersonal reaction (negative word of mouth) is influenced by the perceived crisis relevance through the controlled cognitive processing. This social and interpersonal reaction is also influenced by the perceived crisis severity and perceived crisis relevance through the intuition of other-condemning emotion. Moreover, this study finds that the product knowledge negatively moderates the impact of the perceived crisis severity on the condemning emotions. Therefore, when a consumer has a high level of product knowledge, the effect of perceived crisis severity on the condemning emotions will be attenuated, and vice versa. This study provides scholars and managers with means of understanding and handling of consumers’ reactions to a product-harm crisis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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An Innovative Approach to Enhancing the Sustainable Development of Japanese Automobile Suppliers

by Chia-Nan Wang, Ying-Fang Huang, Thi-Nham Le and Thanh-Tuan Ta

Sustainability 2016, 8(5), 420; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8050420 - 28 Apr 2016

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 7380

Abstract

The Japanese automobile industry has been hit sharply by the economic downturn of recent decades. The rise in costs and decline in sales have led to serious problems in the auto industry. In order to address these issues, most companies engage in downsizing and redesigning production operations. It is crucial to investigate the time wasted by replacing assembly boards occurring in manufacturing lines. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide an integrated approach, Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskih Zadatch (TRIZ), to providing efficient solutions for the automobile industry. The first step of this methodology is to detail the technical problems using the Function and Attribute Analysis (FAA) model. Secondly, a contradiction matrix and the inventive principle were applied to find the solutions. In this study, an auto part supplier named Sumi-Hanel located in Hanoi, Vietnam, was taken as a case study; the empirical results showed that waste time had been reduced to 67%, nearly 8400 square meters was saved, and a 20% cost reduction was achieved by reusing old frames. The research proves that the combination of TRIZ and lean manufacturing successfully increases production performance and reduces waste due to technological advancements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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Open AccessArticle

The Sustainable Improvement of Manufacturing for Nano-Titanium

by Chia-Nan Wang, Han-Sung Lin, Ming-Hsien Hsueh, Yen-Hui Wang, Thi-Hao Vu and Tsung-Fu Lin

Sustainability 2016, 8(4), 402; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8040402 - 23 Apr 2016

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4779

Abstract

Scientists have found that nanomaterials possess many outstanding features in their tiny grain structure compared to other common materials. Titanium at the nano-grain scale shows many novel characteristics which demonstrate suitability for use in surgical implants. In general, equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is the most popular and simple process to produce nano-titanium. However, ECAP is time-consuming, power-wasting, and insufficiently produces the ultrafine grain structure. Therefore, the objective of this research is to propose a new method to improve the ECAP’s performances to reach the ultrafine grain structure, and also to save production costs, based on the innovation theory of Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskih Zadatch (TRIZ). Research results show that the process time is reduced by 80%, and 94% of the energy is saved. Moreover, the grain size of the diameter for nano-titanium can be reduced from 160 nanometers (nm) to 80 nm. The results are a 50% reduction of diameter and a 75% improvement of volume. At the same time, the method creates a refined grain size and good mechanical properties in the nano-titanium. The proposed method can be applied to produce any nanomaterial as well as biomaterials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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Open AccessArticle

A Novel Environmental Performance Evaluation of Thailand’s Food Industry Using Structural Equation Modeling and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Techniques

by Anirut Pipatprapa, Hsiang-Hsi Huang and Ching-Hsu Huang

Sustainability 2016, 8(3), 246; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8030246 - 08 Mar 2016

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 7358

Abstract

Currently, the environment and sustainability are important topics for every industry. The food industry is particularly complicated in this regard because of the dynamic and complex character of food products and their production. This study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) and a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) to investigate which factors are suitable for evaluating the environmental performance of Thailand’s food industry. A first-stage questionnaire survey was conducted with 178 managers in the food industry that obtained a certificate from the Department of Industrial Work of Thailand to synthesize the performance measurement model and the significance of the relationship between the indicators. A second-stage questionnaire measured 18 experts’ priorities regarding the criteria and sub-factors involved in the different aspects and assessment items regarding environmental performance. SEM showed that quality management, market orientation, and innovation capability have a significantly positive effect on environmental performance. The FAHP showed that the experts were most concerned about quality management, followed by market orientation and innovation capability; the assessment items for quality policy, quality assurance, and customer orientation were of the most concern. The findings of this study can be referenced and support managerial decision making when monitoring environmental performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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Open AccessArticle

Optimal Control Approaches to the Aggregate Production Planning Problem

by Yasser A. Davizón, César Martínez-Olvera, Rogelio Soto, Carlos Hinojosa and Piero Espino-Román

Sustainability 2015, 7(12), 16324-16339; https://doi.org/10.3390/su71215819 - 10 Dec 2015

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6921

Abstract

In the area of production planning and control, the aggregate production planning (APP) problem represents a great challenge for decision makers in production-inventory systems. Tradeoff between inventory-capacity is known as the APP problem. To address it, static and dynamic models have been proposed, which in general have several shortcomings. It is the premise of this paper that the main drawback of these proposals is, that they do not take into account the dynamic nature of the APP. For this reason, we propose the use of an Optimal Control (OC) formulation via the approach of energy-based and Hamiltonian-present value. The main contribution of this paper is the mathematical model which integrates a second order dynamical system coupled with a first order system, incorporating production rate, inventory level, and capacity as well with the associated cost by work force in the same formulation. Also, a novel result in relation with the Hamiltonian-present value in the OC formulation is that it reduces the inventory level compared with the pure energy based approach for APP. A set of simulations are provided which verifies the theoretical contribution of this work. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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Open AccessArticle

A Mathematical Programming Approach to the Optimal Sustainable Product Mix for the Process Industry

by Noha M. Galal and Ahmed F. Abdul Moneim

Sustainability 2015, 7(10), 13085-13103; https://doi.org/10.3390/su71013085 - 25 Sep 2015

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 7043

Abstract

The increasing concerns about the environment and the depletion of natural resources are the main drivers for the growing interest in sustainability. Manufacturing operations are frequently considered to have an adverse effect on the environment. Hence, the sustainable operation of manufacturing facilities is a vital practice to ensure sustainability. The aim of this paper is to find the optimum product mix of a manufacturing facility to maximize its sustainability. A mixed integer non-linear programming model is developed to specify the product mix in order to maximize a proposed sustainability index (SI) of a manufacturing facility. The sustainability index comprises the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainability in a weighted form using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The model results allow the identification of the prospective improvements of manufacturing sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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Open AccessArticle

Predicting the Trend of Taiwan’s Electronic Paper Industry by an Effective Combined Grey Model

by Ying-Fang Huang, Chia-Nan Wang, Hoang-Sa Dang and Shun-Te Lai

Sustainability 2015, 7(8), 10664-10683; https://doi.org/10.3390/su70810664 - 07 Aug 2015

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5924

Abstract

Electronic paper (e-paper) is a major sector of Taiwan’s Optoelectronic industry. It has paid much attention on the development of flexible displays. Even though the market is booming, the future is still unclear for business development. No research has yet forecasted the future market size of the e-paper industry. In addition, proposing an appropriate forecasting model to understand the trend of this industry plays a crucial role for market players and government’s authorities in formulating correct strategies. Therefore, in this paper, the future market size of Taiwan’s e-paper industry is predicted by an effective combined grey model. Two combinations of DGM(2,1) and Verhulst model with Fourier series and Markov chain, namely FM-Verhulst and FMDGM(2,1), were presented. Based on the annual data of Taiwan’s e-paper industry, the results show that the forecasting performances of two FM-Verhulst and FMDGM(2,1) models are highly accurate compared with other grey models. Precision is 96.36% and 97.77%, respectively. However, for long-term prediction, the FMDGM(2,1) model obtains the best performance in all proposed grey models. With obtained forecasting results in Taiwan’s e-paper industry by the FMDGM(2,1) model, it can be pointed out that the future market size of Taiwan’s e-paper would slowly increase in the next few years. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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Open AccessArticle

Exploring the Upgrading of Chinese Automotive Manufacturing Industry in the Global Value Chain: An Empirical Study Based on Panel Data

by Fucai Lu, Wei He, Yang Cheng, Sihua Chen, Liang Ning and Xiaoan Mei

Sustainability 2015, 7(5), 6189-6211; https://doi.org/10.3390/su7056189 - 20 May 2015

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 7647

Abstract

In the age of globalization, the upgrading of China’s manufacturing industries has attracted great attention from both academicians and practitioners, as it certainly has great implications for the development of China and, even further, for the development of the whole world. To address this issue, the study clarifies the effects of the internal technological innovation capability (ITIC) and external linkages (ELs) on upgrading the Chinese automotive manufacturing industry (CAMI) in the global value chain, in order to indicate the appropriate way for the CAMI to be further upgraded and provide references for the formulation of regional automotive industrial policies. Based on Chinese panel data, the results confirm that both ITIC and EL are important for the upgrading of the CAMI, with ITIC being the more important. Improvement of ITIC facilitates the industry’s cooperation with the EL, resulting in better knowledge access. Furthermore, the results of cluster analysis reveal that regions with relatively developed automotive industries place emphasis on both the ITIC and EL. However, in some regions (e.g., Shanghai and Chongqing), the utility of EL seems insufficient. Therefore, the results of this paper, on the one hand, suggest policies should be directed towards increasing the ITIC of CAMI. On the other hand, in some regions, managers and policymakers need to explore further the advantage of clustering. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Competitive and Sustainable Manufacturing in the Age of Globalization)

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