Adaptability within a Multi-variant Serial Production

Shorter product and market life cycles with reduced forecast accuracy and frequent new product launches demonstrate the necessity of appropriate measures to increase the market adaptability of manufacturing enterprises. Depending on the extent of changing market demands the product and production process innovation is a necessity for market adaptability. In order to realize a product and production process innovation, specific product and production process technologies are needed. This article analyzes and defines four most promising technological success factors to increase the market adaptability within a multi-variant serial production. In order to analyze and define the technological success factors for adaptability, the model “Patterns of Industrial Innovation” by William J. Abernathy and James M. Utterback is further developed. The aim is to achieve a more efficient and effective multi-variant serial production. Therefore, the developed model illustrates how to response to the increasingly dynamic and partially unpredictable market situation in a competitive way. It can be demonstrated that enterprises can increase their adaptability within a multi-variant serial production through simultaneously pursuing the four technological success factors. Finally, it is shown a mathematical description of these identified four technological success factors. This enables manufacturing enterprises to quantify and assess their actual condition as well as the definition of targets to increase their adaptability within a multi-variant serial production.