Sustainability - in light of competitiveness

There is cause for concern that many current practices in the strategic use of advanced manufacturing technologies are unsustainable since they lead to increased resource consumption in the aggregate. This article examines the ways the current generation of production technologies structure the formation and growth of product markets and explains why firms, driven to stay competitive, are adopting manufacturing strategies based on reducing the time it takes to develop and manufacture new products. As experience in the use of advanced manufacturing technologies has accumulated, distinctive patterns in market organization have emerged, which, in turn, cause more firms to adopt these technologies. In effect, the markets and productions systems have co-evolved. Faster product cycles presage new product variants and faster product obsolescence linked to intensified customers' needs. This interdependency of market needs and the strategic use of manufacturing technologies has significance for drafting sustainable consumption policy. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.