Flexible specialization
Flexible specialization is in the economy , a manufacturing type and a strategy of companies , as fast as possible to constantly changing market developments adapt.
General
The adjustment is usually possible only in small and medium enterprises , but not in large companies with standardized mass production . Flexible specialization is production by skilled workers tailored to the respective customer requirements .
The primary goal of flexible specialization is to organize a company in such a way that it can quickly adapt to the conditions in permanently and rapidly changing markets. Instead of mass production in large companies, production is organized in innovative and flexible small and medium-sized companies that are networked (locally or regionally). The flexibility results from the use of modern machines that can be adapted to changing requirements and are operated by qualified personnel. In this system, even small quantities can then be profitably produced.
A typical example of this strategy is the northern Italian economic structure , as it has developed since the mid- 1980s , for example with the Benetton system.
Manufacturing types
Flexible specialization has the following characteristics compared to the other types of production:
| Production type |
Qualification of personnel |
Product / service quality | means of production | Costs / market prices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-off production | high | individualized | flexible machines | Average costs constant, no price reduction potential |
| Mass production | low | standardized | specialized machines | falling average costs, high potential for price reductions |
| Series production | low | standardized | specialized machines | Cost advantages for small series , medium price reduction potential |
| flexible specialization | high | One-off production | highly flexible machines | Cost advantages with small series , lower price reduction potential |
economic aspects
The model of flexible specialization goes back to the studies of Charles F. Sabel and Michael J. Piore, who analyzed the development of work and production forms in 1984 and came to the conclusion that the limits of mass production had been reached. The theory of flexible specialization primarily involves turning away from the Taylorist and Fordist organization of work . It says that a more handcrafted production of mostly small and medium-sized companies can realize the increasingly demanded order-oriented production, which leads to a reawakening of regional economies.
The flexible specialization is characterized by flexible production technology , which enables the alternating production of small quantities with universal machines, requires high technology and complex work processes and is aimed more at synergy effects than economies of scale . According to Alfred Marshall , an industrial district can only function through flexible specialization and cooperation between several companies.
See also
literature
- Piore, Michael J. / Sabel, Charles (1985): The end of mass production. Berlin, 1985, ISBN 9783803135261 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fernand Kreff / Eva-Maria Knoll / Andre Gingrich (eds.), Lexikon der Globalisierung , 2011, p. 77
- ↑ Heiner Minssen, Arbeits- und Industrialoziologie , 2006, p. 90
- ↑ after Klaus Schubert, hand dictionary of the economic system of the Federal Republic of Germany , 2005, p. 14
- ↑ Michael J. Piore / Charles F. Sabel, The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity ( German Das Ende der Massenproduktion ), 1984, p. 301 f.
- ↑ Antje Wittig, Management of Corporate Networks , 2005, p. 64 f.
- ^ Charles F. Sabel, The Reemergence of Regional Economies , in: Paul Q. Hirst / Jonathan Zeitlin (eds.), Reversing Industrial Decline , 1989, pp. 17-70
- ↑ Gary Herriegel, Flexible Specialization , in: Hartmut Hirsch-Kreinsen / Heiner Minssen (Eds.), Lexikon der Arbeits- und Industrialoziologie , 2017, pp. 141 ff.
- ↑ Verlag Dr. Th. Gabler (Ed.), Gabler Wirtschafts-Lexikon , EJ, 2004, p. 1452