Analyzing the competitive priorities of advanced manufacturing technology: An empirical study

This dissertation examines the overall influence of three different levels of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) on companies ability to achieve the competitive priorities and manufacturing strategy decisions categories.;The three levels of AMT are: (1) computer integrated manufacturing; (2) group technology; and (3) flexible manufacturing systems.;Five industries are analyzed: motor vehicle, machine tools and farm equipment, computer and calculating equipment, electronics, and aerospace. The sample was composed of a total of one hundred and twelve companies, distributed as follows: five responses within motor vehicle industry, thirty-one responses within machine tools and farm equipment industry, twenty-three responses within computer and calculating equipment industry, thirty-one responses within electronic industry and twenty-two responses within aerospace industry.;Factor analysis was used to identify the underlying dimensions of the two models: competitive advantages of advanced manufacturing technology and the impact of AMT on manufacturing strategy decision categories. Three factors were obtained for the competitive advantage model (cost, quality, and flexibility) and four factors for manufacturing strategy decision categories and productivity (production planning/material control and organization structure, capacity and facility, vertical integration, and compatibility between AMT objectives and corporate, business, and functional strategy). Multivariate analysis of variance were used to test the hypotheses.;Although the data were classified by industry, all factors included in the final analysis had high loadings, with scoring coefficients higher than.85 to ensure the reliability and validity.;Regarding companies ability to compete, it was hypothesized that different levels of advanced manufacturing technology users are more likely to gain competitive advantages in terms of cost, quality and flexibility than non-users at different levels of automation. It was further hypothesized that AMT would have an important effect on manufacturing strategy decision categories.;Findings indicate that, there were significant differences between all levels of automation for manufacturing strategy decision categories, productivity, and compatibility among corporate, business and functional strategy. That is, organizations adopted increasingly sophisticated levels of automation, the manufacturing strategy decisions categories changed in the following ways: There was more effective utilization of manufacturing facilities and capacity. Organizational structure moved from bureaucratic to organic. Vertical integration increased. There was greater compatibility among corporate, business and functional strategy.;Industry analyses were performed to identify priorities for all industry. For each industry in this research high and low priorities regarding manufacturing strategy decisions categories and the competitive advantages of advanced manufacturing systems has been identified.;Recommendations as to the manufacturing implications of the findings of this research were offered.