Transferring Knowledge in the Relocation of Manufacturing Units

ABSTRACT
Purpose--The global spread of production makes companies relocating their
manufacturing units frequently. Not only equipments, systems and facilities, need to be
moved, but the transfer of operational knowledge and experience seem to be a major
challenge. However, discussions on knowledge transfer are derived predominantly from a
cognitive perspective and normally focus on the organizational level. Thus, from the
perspective of operations management, this paper aims to explore how to transfer
production know-how on the shop floor level when manufacturing units are relocated and
the paper indicate which means can be used to support this intra-firm transfer process.
Design/methodology/approach--Four cases are identified from two action research
projects on the basis of observations over one-and-half years and semi-structured
interviews with more than 59 people. Other methods, such as surveys of documents,
questionnaires, and Delphi are also used for supplementary.
Findings--Four cases are analyzed from four aspects. By doing so, different relocation
situations are identified; different types of transferred knowledge are recognized;
different groups of means for knowledge transfer are introduced and classified according
to their usages.
Practical implementations--A framework is summarized to integrate all the elements
discussed in this paper, which provides strong supports and clear directions to industrial
managers when they need to transfer knowledge in the relocation projects. Together with
the framework, a process to help managers implement their knowledge transfer is also
proposed.
Originality/value-- Besides the framework and process, this paper also indicates that
absorptive capacity of a production unit depends not only on the level of technical
competence at its site, but also on whether real manufacturing environment has already
existed or not. Two means for establishing virtual manufacturing environment are
suggested.