What are the key elements of agile manufacturing?

Agile manufacturing mainly includes three elements, production technology, organization mode and management means. The purpose of agile manufacturing can be summarized as: "integrating flexible production technology, skilled and knowledgeable labor force and flexible management (three elements) that can promote cooperation within and between enterprises, and making rapid response to rapidly changing market demand and market reality through established infrastructure". From this goal, we can see that agile manufacturing actually mainly includes three elements: production technology, management and human resources.

I. Production technology

Agility is achieved by integrating technology, management and personnel into a coordinated and interrelated system. First of all, highly flexible production equipment is a necessary condition (but not a sufficient condition) for creating an agile manufacturing enterprise. The necessary production technology is embodied in the equipment: a programmable flexible machine tool set composed of modular manufacturing units with variable structure and measurement; "Intelligent" manufacturing process control device; With the cooperation of sensors, samplers, analyzers and intelligent diagnostic software, the manufacturing process is monitored in a closed loop, and so on.

Secondly, in the process of product development and manufacturing, we can use computer ability and manufacturing process knowledge base to design complex products by digital calculation method; Simulate the characteristics and state of products reliably and accurately. All the work is done at the same time, not in sequence. At the same time, develop new products, prepare production process regulations and sell products. Design work not only belongs to the engineering field, but also is the combination of engineering and manufacturing. In the whole product life cycle from manufacturing finished products with materials to final scrapping of products, representatives at each stage should participate in product design. Technology can give full play to shorten the development and production cycle of new products.

Thirdly, agile manufacturing enterprise is a highly integrated organization. Information constantly flows between manufacturing, engineering, market research, procurement, finance, warehousing, sales, research and other departments, as well as between agile manufacturing enterprises and their suppliers. In agile manufacturing system, users and suppliers should play an active role in product design and development. Every product may use a highly interactive network. People who are actually dispersed and separated in the same company can cooperate with each other or with people from other companies.

Finally, the scattered departments in the enterprise are brought together by strict universal data exchange standards, solid "components" (many people can use the same file software at the same time) and broadband communication channels (transmitting a lot of information that needs to be exchanged). Integrating all these technologies into the existing enterprise integration software and hardware marks the beginning of the era of agile manufacturing. Agile manufacturing enterprises will generally use reliable integration technology to replace reliable large-scale software without interrupting system operation, which will become a normal phenomenon.

Second, the management technology

First of all, one of the most innovative ideas in agile manufacturing management is "virtual company". Agile manufacturing believes that the speed of putting new products on the market is the most important competitive advantage today. The quickest way to launch a new product is to use the resources of different companies, so that the human resources and material resources distributed in different companies can be exchanged at will, and then integrated into a single business entity-virtual company, which is connected by electronic means to complete specific tasks. In other words, a virtual company is like a company that specializes in completing a specific plan. As long as market opportunities exist, virtual companies exist; When the plan is completed, the market opportunity disappears and the virtual company collapses. The ability to form virtual companies frequently will become a powerful competitive weapon for enterprises.

As long as the enterprise resources distributed in different places can be concentrated, agile manufacturing enterprises can set up virtual companies at any time. In the United States, virtual companies will use the national industrial network-the national factory network to combine comprehensive industrial databases with services, so that company groups can create and operate virtual companies, and remove legal obstacles for multi-enterprise cooperation and the establishment of standard legal models. In this way, the component virtual company is as simple as setting up a company.

Some companies always think that independent production is better than cooperation, and this concept must be broken. Overcoming organizational obstacles to cooperation with other companies should be the primary task, not the ultimate task. In addition, it is necessary to solve the intellectual property problems brought by cooperation, develop the technology of management company, mobilize the enthusiasm of personnel, find ways to establish and manage project teams, and establish standards to measure the performance of project teams. These are arduous tasks.

Secondly, agile manufacturing enterprises should have organizational flexibility. Because the fierce competition environment of advanced industrial products and services has begun to form, more and more products have to be put into the ever-changing world market to participate in the competition. The design, manufacture, distribution and service of products will be completed with the help of resources (companies, talents, equipment, materials, etc.). ) distributed all over the world. Manufacturing enterprises increasingly need to meet the objective conditions of various regions. These objective conditions not only reflect social, political and economic values, but also reflect people's concern about environmental safety, energy supply capacity and other issues. In this environment, adopting the traditional vertical integration form and attempting to "build a car behind closed doors" is doomed to be unworkable, and a highly flexible dynamic organizational structure must be adopted. According to different tasks, some can take the form of internal multi-functional teams, and invite suppliers and users to participate in the team; Sometimes we can cooperate with other companies; Sometimes it can take the form of a virtual company. By using these means effectively, we can make full use of the company's resources.

Third, human resources.

The basic idea of agile manufacturing in human resources is that in a dynamic competitive environment, the key factor is personnel. Flexible production technology and flexible management should enable the personnel of agile manufacturing enterprises to realize their own inventions and rational suggestions. There are no fixed principles to guide the operation of such enterprises. The only feasible long-term guiding principle is to provide the necessary material and organizational resources to support the creativity and initiative of personnel.

In the era of agile manufacturing, the continuous innovation and development of products and services and the continuous improvement of manufacturing process are synonymous with competitive advantage. Agile manufacturing enterprises can maximize people's initiative. Knowledge workers are the most valuable assets in agile manufacturing enterprises. Therefore, enterprise management should actively support the continuous education of personnel and continuously improve their quality, which is a long-term investment. The stronger the ability of each employee to digest and absorb information and make creative responses to the possibilities put forward in the information, the greater the possibility of enterprise success. This is true for managers and workers with technical expertise on the production line. The participation of scientists and engineers in strategic planning and commercial activities is a decisive factor for agile manufacturing enterprises. The cooperation of engineering experts is an important resource for scientific and technological knowledge and product development in the manufacturing process.

Everyone in agile manufacturing enterprises should realize that flexibility can transform enterprises into a universal tool, and the application of this tool only depends on people's imagination in using this tool. Large-scale production enterprises have special production facilities, so such enterprises are a special tool. On the contrary, agile manufacturing enterprise is a sustainable manufacturing system, and the ability of this system is limited only by the imagination, creativity and skills of personnel, not by equipment. The characteristics of agile manufacturing enterprises dominate their attitude in personnel management, which is completely different from that of large-scale production enterprises. The hostile relationship between managers and employees is intolerable, which limits employees' access to enterprise operation status information. Information must be completely open, and a relationship of mutual trust must be established between managers and employees. The workplace should not only be complete, but also be attractive to people engaged in creative activities at all levels of the enterprise.