Analyzing Interdependencies between Factory Change Enablers Applying Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

Enablers of change play an important role for competitive manufacturing systems in a turbulent corporate environment. In the process of designing factories, companies face the decision of which enablers to choose for dealing with market-induced uncertainties and fuzzy planning data. Current research, however, does not provide information on how the enablers influence each other when implemented in real production systems. This paper first provides an overview of relevant change enablers and categorizes them with regard to their degree of abstraction, based on an intensive literature review and expert interviews. With the aim of creating a method for the selection of feasible enabler-combinations, a fuzzy cognitive map to analyze fuzzy interdependencies between the different change enablers is developed. To validate the relations modelled in the fuzzy cognitive map in industrial practice, a survey-tool is presented and applied in enterprises from the field of factory planning. The developed method for modelling change enablers’ interdependencies empowers the factory planner to actively select a combination of enablers that influence each other positively and thus allow for a cost-efficient design of changeable factory layouts in early planning stages.