Increasing the flexibility of production systems as an opportunity to achieve a trade-up effect

One of the success factors for an enterprise in the market is the ability to meet diverse customer requirements. Often, however, it is not possible to satisfy all requirements simultaneously. Therefore, trade-off dependencies (“something for something”) between various customer requirements are taken into account, offering, for example, high quality at a high price or a low price with a low level of delivery service. However, market requirements increasingly encourage the search for opportunities to simultaneously lower prices and increase quality and service levels, which is very difficult to achieve. The opportunity to meet these expectations is the trade-up idea. By trade-up, I mean the effect of simultaneously improving at least two, usually opposing elements, e.g.

This idea therefore consists of looking for solutions that, while improving the efficiency of one element of the system, do not require a deterioration in the efficiency of another element (as in a trade-off), but allow for the improvement of all. The trade-up effect allows for even greater efficiency than a trade-off. There is no need to make a “something for something” decision here, but rather an improvement in various areas is achieved simultaneously. Of course, such an effect cannot always be achieved. Usually, there is a “something at the expense of something” dependency, i.e., a trade-off. The possibilities for achieving a trade-up effect result, among other things, from the elimination of waste in the broad sense,

from efficient information management, integration in the supply chain, smooth flow of the material stream, and increased flexibility in production. And it is precisely flexibility and the possibility of achieving a trade-up effect through it that will be the subject of this

article.

Internal and external flexibility in a manufacturing enterprise

Flexibility is the ability to easily and quickly adapt to changing environmental conditions. The issue of flexibility will

be considered here from the point of view of a manufacturing enterprise. Generally speaking, the flexibility of a manufacturing enterprise is the ability to adapt to changing requirements, in particular to variable and often difficult-to-predict

customer requirements. Flexibility seen from the customer’s side may not result from the actual internal flexibility of the manufacturing enterprise. Therefore, a distinction should be made between external and internal flexibility.