This paper examines an important scheduling problem resulting from a new process for continuously casting steel. A master slab caster produces slabs which are wider than customer needs, and therefore, these must be ripped longitudinally at least once before they can be processed to a...

A rapidly changing competitive landscape and dynamic customer expectations require manufacturing firms to seek flexibility in product development. Product concept flexibility (i.e., developing design options) and product prototype flexibility (i.e., creating working models) emerge as effective...

Purpose – To respond to increasing environmental uncertainty, manufacturers are enhancing flexible manufacturing competence (FMC) as a source of competitive advantage. This study aims to extend research on FMC to its antecedent variables by investigating the impacts of advanced manufacturing...

Purpose – To succeed in an uncertain environment, firms must respond to changing customer needs, and logistics flexibility is an important part of the response. This paper defines logistics flexibility, creates a framework to understand it, and shows how it relates to customer satisfaction....