Purpose – The past three decades have seen the transformation of manufacturing involving its global dispersion and fragmentation. However, a number of recent developments appear to suggest that manufacturing may be entering a new era of flux that will impact the configuration of production around the globe. The purpose of this paper is to address the major emerging themes that may shape this configuration and concludes that most of them are still in their initial stages and are not likely to create a radical shift in the next few years in how manufacturing is configured around the world. These themes were presented in a special session on “Manufacturing in the World – Where Next?” at the 2013 EurOMA Conference in Dublin, Ireland. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a series of perspectives on some key considerations pertaining to the future of manufacturing. An evaluation of their likely impact is offered and insights for the future of manufacturing are presented. Findings – The importance of a focus on the extended manufacturing network is established. The need for customer engagement and a forward looking approach that extends to the immediate customer and beyond emerges as a consistent feature across the different perspectives presented in the paper. There is both the potential and need for the adoption of innovative business models on the part of manufacturers. Originality/value – The paper presents in-depth perspectives from scholars in the field of manufacturing on the changing landscape of manufacturing. These perspectives culminate in a series of insights on the future of global manufacturing that inform future research agendas and help practitioners in formulating their manufacturing strategies.

PurposeThis paper discusses the concept, definition and usage of Key Activity Indicators (KAIs) and their integration within a Performance Measurement and Management system (PMM).Design/methodology/approachThe actual definition and application areas of the KAIs are determined through a systematic literature review. Successively, a thorough definition of Key Activity Indicators is provided, along with a set of criteria for their deployment. Lastly, a case involving a Large Scale Retail Trade (LSRT) company is reported to report an example for guiding KAIs adoption.FindingsThis research shows that the scientific background concerning KAIs is still not mature. Moreover, the paper defines the role of KAIs for measuring operational activities and their possible connection with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).Research limitations/implicationsAlthough KAIs have been introduced and discussed in the scientific literature; there is no evidence of criteria to deploy these indicators, leaving organizations without any guidance for their operational implementation.Practical implicationsFrom an academic standpoint, the study provides an overview of the usage of KAIs within the present scientific contributions, showing the advancements of this research field. From an industrial standpoint, the research proposes a set of criteria for the organizational deployment of KAIs.Originality/valueThe study investigates the concept of KAIs that, besides being originally conceived within World Class Manufacturing (WCM), has not received much attention in the scientific literature.

PurposeThis research fills a gap in process science by defining and explaining entropy and the increase of entropy in processes.Design/methodology/approachThis is a theoretical treatment that begins with a conceptual understanding of entropy in thermodynamics and information theory and extends it to the study of degradation and improvement in a transformation process.FindingsA transformation process with three inputs: demand volume, throughput and product design, utilizes a system composed of processors, stores, configuration, human actors, stored data and controllers to provide a product. Elements of the system are aligned with the inputs and each other with a purpose to raise standard of living. Lack of alignment is entropy. Primary causes of increased entropy are changes in inputs and disordering of the system components. Secondary causes result from changes made to cope with the primary causes. Improvement and innovation reduce entropy by providing better alignments and new ways of aligning resources.Originality/valueThis is the first detailed theoretical treatment of entropy in a process science context.