INESC TEC participates in study on manufacturing strategies in national companies
High quality performance, flexibility, delivery and cost. These are some of the main attributes that characterise the 34 Portuguese companies that participated in the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS), conducted by the Faculty of Economics and Management of the Católica Porto, in partnership with INESC TEC and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP).
The conclusions of the study – which shows the best business practices used in the industry sector in Portugal and abroad – demonstrate that national companies present high levels of implementation of good practices in areas such as quality, flexibility and productivity, and over the last three years they have improved their performance above the average of the global sample (composed of 843 companies throughout the world).
Portugal’s strategic position also stands out in the global sample especially because Portuguese companies believe price and flexibility are more important, especially when it comes to customised production and small batches. In terms of human resources management, national companies have shown high levels of flexibility in the workforce, which is used as a key strategy to deal with demand fluctuations. However, low cost is also an important competitive advantage in Portugal which helps attract industrial investments, particularly when compared to other European countries.
Ana Cristina Barros, a researcher at INESC TEC’s Centre for Enterprise Systems Engineering (CESE)* participated in this study which indicates that national factories are less autonomous when it comes to developing products and processes, and their role as knowledge centres is not as relevant.
The conclusions also show that in 2013 Portugal presented low levels of investment in R&D, workforce competences and strategic initiatives, which may compromise long-term competitiveness.
The IMSS is an international research project, conducted every four years, and it is the result of a joint coordination of about 45 of the most reputed business schools and Universities all over the world. Portugal – which is part of this international network since the project was launched in 1992 – is represented by the Faculty of Economics and Management of the Católica Porto. A total of 843 companies from 19 counties in Europe, America and Asia participated in the most recent edition of the survey.
*former Manufacturing Systems Engineering Unit (UESP)
The INESC TEC researchers mentioned in this article are associated with the following partner institutions: INESC Porto.
