為實(shí)現(xiàn)可持續(xù)的優(yōu)勢(shì)，生產(chǎn)效率必須與創(chuàng)新的新產(chǎn)品相配合。在新的全球環(huán)境下，那些能提供更好客戶價(jià)值，而不只是生產(chǎn)生產(chǎn)低價(jià)商品的公司將是贏家。
在美國(guó)和幾乎每個(gè)先進(jìn)經(jīng)濟(jì)體系中，制造業(yè)——將材料轉(zhuǎn)化為產(chǎn)品的產(chǎn)業(yè)——在過(guò)去的50-60年中已不再是繁榮的主要來(lái)源。但對(duì)于許多自動(dòng)化公司來(lái)說(shuō)，它卻具有極為重要的戰(zhàn)略意義。
自動(dòng)化所帶來(lái)的生產(chǎn)力提高，已使美國(guó)受聘于制造業(yè)的員工百分比自20世紀(jì)60年代以來(lái)穩(wěn)步下降，由25％下降至今天的不足10％。甚至中國(guó)也正在喪失制造業(yè)職位——1995-2002年中國(guó)喪失了1500萬(wàn)個(gè)制造業(yè)就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)，相比之下，美國(guó)只喪失了2百萬(wàn)個(gè)。
在新世紀(jì)的頭十年討論制造業(yè)的戰(zhàn)略問(wèn)題有點(diǎn)像在上世紀(jì)初討論農(nóng)業(yè)戰(zhàn)略問(wèn)題。那個(gè)時(shí)候，美國(guó)的農(nóng)業(yè)雇用了約35％的員工，而現(xiàn)在則低于2％，并生產(chǎn)出過(guò)剩的食品和農(nóng)產(chǎn)品。大部分的農(nóng)業(yè)生產(chǎn)都是通過(guò)自動(dòng)化完成的——巨型拖拉機(jī)、收割機(jī)以及類(lèi)似的農(nóng)業(yè)機(jī)械。
在這個(gè)世紀(jì)之交，為了更進(jìn)一步注視這兩個(gè)有著相似之處的產(chǎn)業(yè)，我們可以看到美國(guó)的農(nóng)業(yè)到處都有高科技、生物技術(shù)和信息技術(shù)。在全球農(nóng)業(yè)系統(tǒng)的各個(gè)層次中，也有日益增長(zhǎng)的生產(chǎn)、加工和分配方面的縱向一體化。人們想知道農(nóng)業(yè)的發(fā)展歷程對(duì)本世紀(jì)制造業(yè)的發(fā)展有多少預(yù)見(jiàn)性。
現(xiàn)在仍將我們的視野限制在本十年中，許多公司針對(duì)制造業(yè)都采取新的策略，這些策略正將他們的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力提升到新的水平。很多計(jì)劃，如fms、jit、tqm、cim和mrp ii，已經(jīng)實(shí)施，并被集體貼上了“新一波制造業(yè)”的標(biāo)簽 。我們必須承認(rèn)，美國(guó)在這些方面并沒(méi)有壟斷地位；它們正在被改變并被全球的從業(yè)人士所采納。
在這個(gè)新的時(shí)代，制造業(yè)的戰(zhàn)略可被界定為一整套協(xié)調(diào)制造業(yè)各個(gè)職能的目標(biāo)，其宗旨在于確保可持續(xù)的優(yōu)勢(shì)。通常所闡述的問(wèn)題包括：制造能力、生產(chǎn)設(shè)施、技術(shù)優(yōu)勢(shì)、縱向一體化、質(zhì)量、生產(chǎn)計(jì)劃/物料控制、組織和人員。當(dāng)然，戰(zhàn)略必須與務(wù)實(shí)的態(tài)度相結(jié)合，在操作層面上不斷改進(jìn)，以確保在全球市場(chǎng)上的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力。
制造業(yè)戰(zhàn)略的一個(gè)關(guān)鍵部分是產(chǎn)品是否會(huì)繼續(xù)在傳統(tǒng)制造業(yè)產(chǎn)地進(jìn)行生產(chǎn)，或者所提供的成本/利益比決定是否值得將其轉(zhuǎn)移到境外。其中，著名的波士頓咨詢集團(tuán)建議說(shuō)，沒(méi)有考慮境外戰(zhàn)略相當(dāng)于放棄了較大的成本優(yōu)勢(shì)。但即使如此，起初急于向境外轉(zhuǎn)移的做法已經(jīng)被更為謹(jǐn)慎的做法所取代；很多公司都考慮到了在遙遠(yuǎn)國(guó)家建立和經(jīng)營(yíng)設(shè)施所帶來(lái)的現(xiàn)實(shí)的和物流上的困難以及整體的財(cái)政影響（不僅僅是原始勞動(dòng)力成本）。
對(duì)于美國(guó)的制造業(yè)公司來(lái)說(shuō)，關(guān)鍵的總體目標(biāo)仍然是——制訂戰(zhàn)略以和國(guó)內(nèi)及國(guó)際市場(chǎng)上的低價(jià)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手進(jìn)行競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。當(dāng)國(guó)內(nèi)的大客戶正在將生產(chǎn)和裝配作業(yè)轉(zhuǎn)移到境外以期利用似乎是不可阻擋的成本優(yōu)勢(shì)時(shí)，那些規(guī)模較小的美國(guó)公司能做什么？
答案是確定客戶的價(jià)值，它能提供除價(jià)格以外的其他優(yōu)勢(shì)。關(guān)鍵的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)優(yōu)勢(shì)包括快速交付非標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的和半定制的組件。必須利用制造業(yè)的戰(zhàn)略和生產(chǎn)技術(shù)（可編程自動(dòng)化，先進(jìn)的機(jī)器人等）以增加制造業(yè)的靈活性和快速反應(yīng)能力以及有效應(yīng)對(duì)有關(guān)產(chǎn)品變化和真正定制需求所帶來(lái)成本。
為實(shí)現(xiàn)可持續(xù)的優(yōu)勢(shì)，生產(chǎn)效率必須與創(chuàng)新的新產(chǎn)品相配合。許多成功的自動(dòng)化公司已經(jīng)不再生產(chǎn)和銷(xiāo)售工具，轉(zhuǎn)而提供針對(duì)使用和設(shè)備總壽命的更復(fù)雜服務(wù)。智能產(chǎn)品可被設(shè)計(jì)成能夠捕捉那些有助于增加客戶生產(chǎn)力的運(yùn)行信息，然后使用這些信息調(diào)整產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)，以進(jìn)一步改善客戶產(chǎn)品的性能。有了可在開(kāi)放平臺(tái)間進(jìn)行交互并提供新的節(jié)約成本機(jī)會(huì)的產(chǎn)品，對(duì)于客戶來(lái)說(shuō)，解決方案往往比產(chǎn)品本身更有價(jià)值。
在過(guò)去的三至五年間，真正的創(chuàng)新型公司，其收入的大部分來(lái)自產(chǎn)品設(shè)計(jì)。施耐德電氣和abb是在這方面具有代表性的兩家公司。施奈德在20個(gè)國(guó)家擁有大約3000名開(kāi)發(fā)工程師。abb拿出年收入的8％以上和20％的企業(yè)資源進(jìn)行新的開(kāi)發(fā)和改進(jìn)。在新的全球環(huán)境下，那些能提供更好客戶價(jià)值，而不只是生產(chǎn)生產(chǎn)低價(jià)商品的公司將是贏家。

automation plus innovation wins

to achieve sustainable advantage, manufacturing efficiency must be coupled with innovative new products. companies that go beyond manufacturing low priced commodities and offer improved customer values are the winners in the new bbbbbb environment.
manufacturing-the transbbbbation of materials into products-is no longer a primary source of prosperity in the u.s. and almost every advanced economy in the last two generations. but for many automation companies it has vital strategic importance.
productivity improvements through automation have caused the percentage of people employed in manufacturing in the u.s. to decline steadily since the 1960s, from 25% then to less than 10% today. even china is losing manufacturing jobs-between 1995 and 2002, china lost 15 million manufacturing jobs, compared with just 2 million in the u.s.
discussing manufacturing strategies in the first decade of the new century is somewhat like discussing agricultural strategies at the start of the last century. farming used to employ some 35% in the us at that time, and now employs less than 2%, generating a surplus of food and agricultural products. most of this came through automation-giant tractors, harvester combines and the like.
to follow this time-shifted parallel a bit further, at the turn of this new century, agriculture in the u.s. is all about high-tech, bio-tech, and info-tech. also there抯 increasing vertical integration of production, processing, and distribution at all levels within the bbbbbb agricultural system. one wonders how much of that is prescient for manufacturing in this century.
still, limiting our vision to the present decade, many companies are adopting new strategies for manufacturing, which are taking their competitiveness on to new planes. a whole array of initiatives, such as fms, jit, tqm, cim, and mrp ii, have been introduced, collectively labeled "new wave manufacturing". it must be recognized that the u.s. doesn抰 have a corner on these; they are being proselytized and adopted by all bbbbbb players.
in this new era, manufacturing strategy can be defined as a set of coordinated bbbbbbives applied to manufacturing functions and aimed at securing sustainable advantage. issues generally addressed include: manufacturing capacity, production facilities, technology advances, vertical integration, quality, production planning/materials control, organization and personnel. of course, strategies must be combined with a pragmatic approach to continuous improvement at operational levels to ensure competitiveness in bbbbbb markets.
a key part of a manufacturing strategy is whether products will continue to be produced at traditional manufacturing sites, or if the cost/benefits offered make it worthwhile to move manufacturing offshore. the respected boston consulting group, among others, has suggested that not considering an offshore strategy is tantamount to giving up on major cost advantages. but even so, the initial rush to offshore manufacturing has given way to a more cautious approach; many companies are taking into account the practical and logistical difficulties and the overall financial implications (beyond just raw labor costs) of setting up and operating facilities in remote countries.
the key overall bbbbbbives remain for u.s. manufacturing companies-developing strategies to compete with low-priced competitors in domestic and bbbbbb markets. what can smaller u.s companies do when their large domestic customers are moving production and assembly operations off shore to take advantage of seemingly irresistible cost advantages?
the answer is to identify customer values that offer advantages beyond just price. key competitive advantages include fast delivery of non-standard and semi-customized items. manufacturing strategies and production technologies (programmable automation, advanced robotics, etc.) must be utilized to increase manufacturing flexibility with the capability to respond quickly and cost effectively to demands for product variations and truly customized requirements.
to achieve sustainable advantages, manufacturing efficiency must be coupled with innovative new products. many successful automation companies have gone from producing and selling widgets to providing more complex services that address usage and total equipment life cycles. smart products can be designed to capture operating inbbbbation that increases the customer’s productivity, and then use that inbbbbation to adapt products and services to improve the customer抯 perbbbbance even further. with products that interact across open platbbbbs and provide new savings opportunities, the solutions are often more valuable to the customer than the product itself.
truly innovative companies generate a major segment of their revenue from products designed within the past three to five years. schneider electric and abb are two companies that stand out in this respect. schneider has approximabbby 3,000 development engineers across 20 countries. abb allocates more than 8% its revenue and 20% of its corporate resources to new developments and improvements. companies that go beyond manufacturing low priced commodities and offer improved customer values are the winners in the new bbbbbb environment.