Circular supply chains (CSCs) depend on enhanced supply chain visibility (SCV) to track and manage resource flows and thereby enable efficient decision-making. Despite confronting silo mentalities, fragmented information, technological barriers, resistance to change, and a lack of standardization, data sharing remains crucial for SCV and circularity. In this study, following the Delphi method, 22 experts explored SCV for circularity, identified 11 circular economy (CE) strategies and 16 critical data elements for implementing CSCs, and assessed data accessibility and the willingness to share data among supply chain actors. Findings show that the experts especially prioritized CE strategies and data elements that support existing business models and forward supply chains. Although those data elements are critical for SCV, they are primarily used for planning internal operations and thus not readily shared with external partners. Such insights contribute to empirical evidence and managerial perspectives and can also help managers to plan SCV tailored to CE strategies.

Under extensive disruptions faced in recent years, small and medium enterprises (SME) were hit hard. Due to their limited access to financial and human resources, SMEs tended to move into reactive mode motivated by survival orientations. Some SMEs ceased to exist due to the financial consequences of the disruptions while others have survived the wave through a combination of applying ad hoc adaptation solutions, support from partners or government bodies. Now that the pandemic is over but different forms of supply chain disruption are occurring and eminent, SMEs aspire for a more proactive preparedness for inevitable disruptive events. Learning from survival through recent unanticipated disruptions gave many SMEs the motivation to think about how to strategically foster their disruption management capabilities for the unpredictable future. Through conceptual argumentation and compilation of evidence from empirical research in the field, this paper discusses, and outlines patterns of shifting SME demands and ambitions for a more proactive resilience capabilities for dynamic competitiveness in the future. Associated circumstances enabling and inhibiting this aspired shift are presented too.

This research reports on findings from case-based collaborative research for green production equipment design and acquisition. Prevailing challenges as to why current production design included limited sustainability aspects have been explored and as a way out a Green Design Methodology has been proposed. A holistic systems thinking model applied and integration of sustainability (green thinking) which is viewed as something that is realized through iterative and continued process encompassing multiple decision hierarchies makes this work unique compared to previous studies that considered green design approach on product design. The proposed methodology is argued to provide a possibility to facilitate integration of strategic and project level perspectives through a cascade of components, and enhanced integration with equipment suppliers and other stakeholders.

Operational excellence (OpEx) in organisations requires a systematic approach and the involvement of all employees in improvement processes. Multisite production companies typically manage this through global OpEx programmes. However, unclear priorities and limited adaptation often create obstacles to programme development. This study aims to propose an action-guiding capability framework based on practitioners' experiences by identifying their main challenges. An interactive research approach, incorporating joint workshops, was employed to build on the experiences of programme managers in five multisite production companies with varying maturity. When developing programmes, three main recurring and interconnected problems tend to occur: establishing priorities during programme initiation, achieving impact with limited resources, and adapting to evolving conditions. Key capabilities include programme managers earning executives' commitment, avoiding premature scaling of the programme, and controlling programme development. The framework proposed here can be used to map programme capabilities and guide actions to avoid problems and improve programme performance.

This study explores the application of resource orchestration (RO) theory to explain the management of production equipment design in large manufacturing firms. It sheds light on a customized application of dynamic RO in the context of production equipment design projects through an in-depth multiple case study. The findings suggest that effective RO across a portfolio of capital projects and leveraging equipment suppliers’ capabilities is essential for effective achievement of operational targets early on. The study showcases a broadening scope of RO beyond boundaries of an organization (unit) to a portfolio of projects spanning a network of manufacturers.

Purpose: This study explores how industrial production companies adjust implementation strategies to deliver value with their company-specific production system (XPS) in a multi-site setting. Implementing an XPS is part of operations management and is supposed to mobilise employees resource-efficiently to increase operational performance. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a multiple-case study, this study qualitatively explores the patterns of implementation decisions within and between five multi-site production companies. Conclusions were drawn on a mix of timely and retrospective data gathered through individual interviews with senior managers and joint workshops where they interacted and shared experiences. Findings: This study identifies the fact that companies respond differently to non-unique implementation challenges, constituting various decision patterns when implementing their XPS. This paper identifies four implementation strategies (Education, Tool, Pragmatic and Culture Strategy) that explain various implementation setups. More experienced companies frequently shifted between strategies to return to previously de-prioritised implementation aspects. Originality/value: This paper offers a dynamic model for XPS implementation in contrast to a simplified tool–system–culture sequence in literature today. Companies that deliberately shift implementation strategy by understanding the benefits and challenges of their decisions are more likely to keep momentum in the XPS implementation.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore and describe how companies manage the level of standardisation of improvement practices in a multisite context. It seeks to explain the managerial strategies applied to change the standardisation level in manufacturing companies with multiple production sites worldwide. Design/methodology/approach: This paper reports from a case based on data collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observations and company documents from a large multinational producing company and, specifically, from of the largest production sites in the company. The research design resembles a grounded theory approach by being reflexive and open to emerging themes. The standardisation strategy was analysed at a company that strived to increase the standardisation of problem-solving practices within about 20 production sites as part of their corporate lean programme. Findings: Several managerial tools were applied at the corporate level to increase the standardisation level of problem-solving practices, such as developing standards and a company-specific toolbox aligned with an in-house maturity model. In addition, deploying change leaders and global implementation targets enabled audits and progress. However, consequences at the production-site level became minor adaptations of standards, the design of training models as a “roll-out”, and a resource-demanding implementation process. Originality/value: This paper empirically demonstrates strategic tools that corporate management teams apply to influence the company’s standardisation level of practices. The study describes the purpose and consequences of the design of the toolbox, maturity model, training model, and implementation targets, which aims to simplify the complex task of managing standardisation in a corporate group. By applying a knowledge-based view, four processes (i.e. adaptation, integration, upskilling, and learning) were identified to improve the management strategies in multisite contexts.

This study explores how human-centered digitalization can contribute to the flexibility and adaptability of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) production processes, resulting in more resilient systems. This study explains the relationship between digital technologies and production system features through progressively more human-centric stages of a digitalized manufacturing system. The authors present a case study of an SME that implemented a human-centric strategy, placing people's needs and interests at the center of its processes, leading to more flexible and inclusive production processes and consistent with the goals of Industry 5.0. The results suggest that a digitalized working method that considers human capabilities and needs can enable a more diverse workforce and the rapid setup of new and additional production processes, thus helping SMEs respond to supply chain disruptions. The findings have implications for managers and practitioners interested in driving or supporting the transition of SMEs to human-centric, resilient, and sustainable businesses.

Startups have to deal with scarce resources to be acquired from elsewhere and tight requirements to advance their innovative ideas. This study explores production competence as a reflection of a missing link from conception to efficient industrialization and the scale-up in hardware startups. The study was conducted as a qualitative case study consisting of an investigation of fourteen startups. Hardware startups working on discrete product technologies lack the technical competence, strategy, facilities, and functions to adequately address production issues. This implies that their challenges in managing and executing industrialization and scale-up activities impact viability and competitiveness of the ventures. Skinners’ missing link analogy has been used to understand the phenomenon faced by hardware startups.