Coordination in collaborative manufacturing mega-networks: A case study

Collaborative manufacturing networks are becoming popular. Today, the scale of these networks can be enormous, and include a complex myriad of partners from numerous companies and organizations spanning several countries and even continents. This paper explores how these partners successfully coordinate projects through an investigation of one such “collaborative manufacturing mega-network” or CMMN in the commercial aerospace industry. The case is analyzed with the aid of the literary state-of-the-art, and a number of organizational, structural, and cultural issues are discussed including mass customization. Finally, some of the most important factors for the successful CMMN are presented.