A review of manufacturing flexibility

In the field of operations management, manufacturing flexibility has been the subject of much academic enquiry. Moreover, the need for this fundamental characteristic has never been more urgent. However, a comprehensive understanding of the subject remains elusive. An extensive review of the literature is used to examine the issues surrounding the concept of manufacturing flexibility. Specifically: the use of manufacturing flexibility as a strategic objective, the relationship flexibility has with environmental uncertainty, the use of taxonomies as a vehicle for furthering understanding of the types of flexibility, the nature of flexibility, and its measurement. Through this process of synthesis, the paper attempts to establish the extent to which knowledge of manufacturing flexibility has now progressed. Suggestions for future research topics in flexibility are also presented. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.