Impact of Digitalization on the Strategic Management of International Manufacturing Networks

Download or read book Impact of Digitalization on the Strategic Management of International Manufacturing Networks written by Christoph Benninghaus and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Manufacturing operations are becoming increasingly global, which makes the management of distributed plants and the resulting international manufacturing networks even more challenging. In particular, manufacturing sites in high-wage locations are facing increasing competitive pressure not only externally within their industry, but also internally within their own manufacturing networks. A possible solution is often seen in the phenomenon of digitalization, which is expected to support factories in such locations and ensure a long-term competitive advantage. Digitalization is driven by various technological concepts and has become a central element in industry and daily-life. However, theory and practice only indicate how digitalization can improve performance levels from a single site perspective. Recent findings focus on plant levels and predominantly on technical aspects, but neglect developments and interdependencies in international manufacturing networks. Additionally, technologies are typically treated as fixed constraints and are not further reflected or specified. The research at hand addresses the deficits of literature and practice and analyzes digital technologies that go beyond single locations and affect whole manufacturing networks. Thus, this thesis combines two fields of study that have been largely separated so far. Accordingly, it contributes to an improved understanding of the impact of selected digital technologies on plant roles and consequences for high-wage locations in manufacturing networks. The thesis is structured into a theoretical, conceptual and empirical part. A review of scientific literature is followed by the identification of 30 technologies that are frequently mentioned in the context of digitalization. Afterwards, these technologies are defined, classified, sorted according to various filter criteria, and matched with different plant role typologies. In this context, a lead factory concept.