As customers ask for increasing levels of performance, functionality and customisation, firms rely on suppliers not only as a source of components, but also as a source of innovation. Several researchers have investigated the adoption of co‐design, its potential benefits and its costs....

Purpose – In many industrial contexts, firms are encountering increasingly uncertain demand. Numerous factors are driving this phenomenon; however, a major change that is spreading among different sectors is the ever‐growing attention to customers. Companies have identified that customers...

Defines a new manufacturing paradigm and investigates its adoption and performances, within the assembly industry on a global basis. The definition of the paradigm is based on a set of basic principles to design and manage production systems which discard the traditional way of organizing...

Part of a research programme being undertaken in Italy on the applicability of the just‐in‐time (JIT) approach. The programme includes both the development of methodological concepts to evaluate JIT applicability and an extensive survey of the value of JIT implementation as seen by Italian...

Gives results of a survey on the application of the just‐in‐time (JIT) approach in Italy, based on a sample of 173 industrial companies. The methodological framework used to evaluate JIT application was described in a previous article ( International Journal of Operations & Production...

Explores the implementation process of the customer‐supplier partnership in the machinery industry. Aims to assess the dynamic impacts on performance of various practices that are generally regarded as typical of a customer‐supplier partnership. Also, investigates internal consistency of...

Purpose – The increasing importance that customers give to the aesthetic, symbolic and emotional value of products leads companies to approach the product design as a means to create a competitive advantage. Considering that competing through design involves the development of new product...

Purpose – The main objective of this article is to propose an interpretive model that attempts to decipher a product's values in terms of functionality, usability and meaning. This model can support companies in better integrating these values in their product offering and in defining the most...

Purpose – Nowadays, the strategic role of design is reinforced by the increased attention that customers pay to the aesthetic, symbolic and emotional values of products. These values can be communicated through the appropriate combination of product signs (such as form, colours, materials and...

Purpose – Product functionalities aim to satisfy the operative needs of the customer, while product meanings (i.e. the emotion and the symbolic values represented by the product) aim to satisfy the emotional and socio‐cultural needs of the customer. What consumers are increasingly looking...