Global Operations Networks (GONE)

Globalisation is revolutionizing the way manufacturers operate. Forward-thinking companies see this as an opportunity to innovate their operations systems seeking lower cost, new manufacturing capabilities, improving customer responsiveness, and entering new markets. These companies have succeeded in developing innovative and robust operations systems, from which other companies competing within different industries may learn. The purpose of the project is to develop methods for studying the industries and companies that have been exposed to globalisation over a longer period of time, and to identify underlying methods and practices, which have enabled their innovative engagement with this process. As such the project aims to identify the factors that are critical to the success of future operations systems, and will map the process innovations that underpin successful operations systems of the future. The project aims to conceptualise these practices into sets of operations systems configurations, which may be transferred across industrial and corporate domains. Based on this the project will engage with the participating companies through a number of action research projects through which the models of the future operations system or key elements hereof will be implemented and tested. Finally, the project will disseminate the results to the research community, to policy makers, and to industry and industrial associations.