The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has come across as an exogenous shock to the firms and their supply chains. It has led firms to rethink and rework their existing robust and resilient supply chains. The purpose of this study is to move beyond robustness and resilience and shift to an antifragile supply chain that sees disorder as an opportunity to learn and grow. In this study, various factors to attain an antifragile supply chain have been identified through literature review and experts’ opinions. Using TISM-MICMAC, structural relationships among these factors have been developed, and, then the factors have been classified as drivers or dependents. The study reveals the importance of having proactive top management as a major driving power to build an antifragile supply chain. Development of a strategy for collaboration and innovation, development of a skilled workforce for technology adoption, and resource allocation for digitalization are some other factors with strong driving power. The novelty of the study lies in its effort to drive the attention of researchers and practitioners towards thinking beyond robustness and resilience and shifting towards antifragility. The study will help firms in strategic decision-making for the adoption of additive manufacturing technology to develop antifragility in the supply chain and save itself from negative consequences in the face of disruption.
Purpose
A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) helps improve the system’s performance, thus increasing its overall competitiveness. FMS is an essential component of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), which has revolutionized the way firms manufacture their products. This study aims to investigate the diverse focus of the research being published over the years and the direction of scholarly work in applying FMSs in business and management.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 1,096 bibliometric data were extracted from the Scopus database from the years 2001 to 2021. A systematic review and bibliometric analysis were performed on the data and related articles for performance measurement and scientific mapping on the FMS themes.
Findings
Based on co-keyword, the study reveals four major themes in the FMS field: mathematical models and quantitative techniques, scheduling and optimization techniques, cellular manufacturing and decision-making in FMSs. Based on bibliometric coupling on 2018–2021 bibliometric data, four themes emerged for future research: scheduling problems in FMS, manufacturing cell formation problem, interplay of FMS with other latest technologies and I4.0 and FMS.
Originality/value
The originality lies in answering the following research questions: What are the most highlighting themes in FMS, and how have they evolved over the past 20 years (2001–2021)? What topics have been at the forefront of research in FMS in the past five years (2016–2021)? What are the promising avenues of research in FMS?
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