Rapid Response Manufacturing 1
ABSTRACT
This paper introduces a new model for Rapid Response Advanced Manufacturing. It will discuss the old
Manufacturing Life Cycle, consisting of Research Development and Demonstration, Innovation and Idea
Generation, Production System Design, Production Implementation, Delivery of Product, Product Consumption,
and the Retirement of Products. The article describes and defines the Rapid Response Enablers of Information
Technology and Communication, Flexible and Agile Processes, Lean Sigma Systems, Product Life Cycle and
Integrated Logistics Support, and Emerging Technologies. The Drivers of the Model are Customer drive for
Customized Products, Services, Speed, and Environmental Responsibility. Integration of these elements of
advanced manufacturing with the manufacturing cycle constitutes the competitive model of Rapid Response
Advanced Manufacturing.
Rapid
Response
Advanced
Manufacturing
2 Rapid Response Manufacturing
Introduction: Rapid Response Manufacturing
A product to most individuals is something that they
obtain through purchase or other means in order to
satisfy needs. Manufacturing is the transformation
of materials into goods. That transformation may use
people, capital, processes, systems, and enterprises, to
deliver products of value to society” (1). As early as
2006, it was recognized that our manufacturing base
was the foundation upon which U.S. economic growth
and competitiveness in the global market place were
at risk (2). Clearly, a robust manufacturing sector is
the key to the economic competitiveness of the United
States (3).
of view of manufactured products, the driver of the
needs of consumers has evolved with the development
of technologies that have driven the consumers to
higher levels of expectation. From this perspective the
needs gap between the individual consumer needs and
wants has narrowed to the point that the customization
of products is beginning to be a need much more than
a simple want. This is precisely the key driver of
changes in the manufacturing product life cycle from
idea to delivery and subsequently to post consumption
(5).
Manufactured products form the foundation of
most economic systems. Government, industry
and individuals develop and produce products in
the form of goods and services to meet the needs
of those in society. From this perspective, the
consumer or individual can dictate the types and
forms of products that will be available to meet
the needs of the individual and/or the general
population. The key in this proposition is the focus
on the drive to meet consumer needs, and as such it
is the consumer that basically drives the productive
sector to provide for those needs.
The desire for low cost goods has been, is, and
continues to be fundamental to the consumer and
it has historically been met by taking advantage
of economies of scale through mass production of
products, however, this approach leads to a widening
of the gap between the producer’s ability to produce
variety and the consumer’s exact wants/needs (4). In
other words, the consumer is forced to compromise
his/her wants or needs with what is available, not
with what he/she desires or needs.. From the point
Rapid Response Manufacturing 3
In society today, consumers are driving for customized
products in “world record times.” The production
environment is further complicated by the need from
most to be environmentally responsible. As such
these two factors are changing the way products are
conceived and brought to market, thus giving rise to
a continuously changing manufacturing product life
cycle paradigm. The distinguishing characteristic in
this process is the increasing desire for speed, quality,
and affordability. This new paradigm dictates that the
manufacturing product life cycle must respond rapidly
to the needs of the customer, which in turn defines the
concept of Rapid Response Advanced Manufacturing
(RRAM) as a customer driven process that integrates
technology to achieve the desired speed in meeting the
increasingly complex needs of today’s consumers.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview
of the concept of Rapid Response Advanced
Manufacturing with an emphasis on the integration
of enablers of faster response within the product
manufacturing cycle. This overview will include
a detailed description of the drivers, components,
and enablers of a Rapid Response Advanced
Manufacturing framework starting with a concise
definition of the concept of RRAM.
DEFINITION OF RRAM
There are many different approaches to the concept of
Rapid Response Advanced Manufacturing. Examples
of other attempts to define RRAM include the work of
Wang and Lin (6) who suggest an agile system driven
by an RFID controlled manufacturing system and the
integration of an automated cell. Skovic and Kopac
(7) see reverse engineering as a necessary component
of rapid product development, and Zhang & Sharifi
(8) have built a strategy around three agility strategies;
responsive players, quick players, and proactive
players . Ramesh & Devadsan (9) tie in a flexible
manufacturing system with lean manufacturing. Fung,
Feng, Zhibin & Wong (10) discuss the need for virtual
cell formation to support agile manufacturing Power,
Sohal & Rahman (11) promote a combination of hard
and soft methodologies to meet the changing customer
requirement, and Vinodh, Sundararaj, Devadasan,
Kuttalingam, & Rajanayagam (12) discuss design of
4 Rapid Response Manufacturing
experiments and computer-aided design as enablers
to rapid manufacturing. Others have made similar
suggestions to the examples above, but a robust model
requires an integrated approach. Research and practice
have implemented pieces of the methodology, but
the full, integrated methodology is needed to fully
develop a workforce and an organization that can
support all elements of Rapid Response Advanced
Manufacturing.
Rapid Response Advanced Manufacturing is herein defined as the integration of technologies and
processes that reduce the lead time in a product’s
life cycle from ideation to delivery and subsequent
retirement of the product. The resulting product
cycle time to market must be considered rapid
given customer needs, the product, and the state
of technology. The results of being able to achieve
these reductions in time to market for products
are a competitive advantage achieved through an
enhanced ability to meet customer needs down to
the customization and personalization of products
at mass-produced product prices. The key in this
concept is the integration of drivers and enablers of
Rapid Response with the manufacturing life cycle, and
it is precisely this integration that differentiates Rapid
Response Advanced Manufacturing from simply
advanced manufacturing of products at a faster pace.
As can be seen in Figure 1, (pg. 5) the product or
manufacturing cycle is commonly known, and
its functions are well defined, understood and
practiced. The drivers for the integration of the
processes that define RRAM are customer or market
driven for customized products, services and speed
in development and delivery, and the increasingly
important responsibility that the environment presents
for the achievement of sustainability. As such,
achieving these customer/market and environment
driven needs requires that the manufacturing cycle be
enhanced in its ability to respond faster through the
utilization of technologies that increase quality, speed,
agility and flexibility.
The general notion of manufacturing has evolved
from the beginning of civilization where people
manufactured tools to facilitate their day to day
activities such as hunting. From these times, the
manufacturing process has included fundamental
process components of innovation and idea generation,
research, development and demonstration, production
LEAN SIGMA
SYSTEMS
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY/
COMMUNICATION
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
INTEGRATED LOGISTICS
SUPPORT
CU
CUS STOME
TO
RD
SER MIZED RIVE F
VIC
ES, PRODU OR
AND
C
SPE TS,
ED
TION
N
DUC
PRO M DESIG
E
SYST
N
TIO N
UC SIG
OD DE
PR TEM
S
SY
RAPID RESPONSE
NTAL
ONME
ENVIR NSIBILITY
O
P
S
E
R
RETIR
EME
MANUFACTURING
CYCLE
CO
N
SU
MP
NT
TIO
N
F
YO
ER T
LIV UC
DE ROD
P
With this in mind, the concept of Rapid Response
Advanced Manufacturing is emerging as a viable
strategy to reach both viability and sustainability.
As described in Figure 1, RRAM is
based on the basic concept of reducing the cycle
time of the components of the manufacturing
cycle, from idea to retirement, through the use of
enablers of speed. These enablers take the form
of improvements in information technology/
communication, flexible and agile manufacturing
processes, lean sigma systems, product life
cycle, integrated logistics support, and emerging
technologies. The implementation of these enablers
defines the basis for the concept of Rapid Response
Advanced Manufacturing. A holistic and systematic
implementation of these enablers for the entire
manufacturing cycle integrates to operate as the
FLEXIBLE AND AGILE
PROCESS
PRODUCTION
IMPLEMENTATION
The use of the manufacturing cycle has evolved to
the point that manufacturing of products tends to be
commoditized with the consequence that competition
is driven by lowest cost and not necessarily by the
highest quality or most efficient producer. This
presents a dilemma for manufacturers in that in their
quest to achieve the lowest cost they need to diminish
their ability to be competitive through providing
improved products and supporting their innovative
Enterprise. This threatens the long term viability of
many companies. This situation has threatened the
viability of manufacturing in North America. Most
people are familiar with the wave of manufacturers
that has sent manufacturing operations overseas in
order to remain competitive. Therefore, a change in
paradigm is required for manufacturing to continue to
be the driving force in the creation of economic wealth
and prosperity. For this to happen, manufacturers
must focus on creating new pathways for growing and
sustaining competitive advantages.
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
PR
SY OD
ST UC
EM TIO
DE N
SIG
N
system design, production implementation, delivery
of the product, consumption of the product, and
more recently retirement of the product from an
environmental point of view (13). The commonly
understood manufacturing cycle has evolved based
on incremental additions to the cycle, and the
literature is rich with approaches and studies related
to its effectiveness and evolution (14). The basic
manufacturing cycle has been, in some form, the
paradigm used by manufacturers worldwide to provide
society with innovation based economic growth.
FIGURE 1.A
FRAMEWORK FOR RAPID RESPONSE ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
concept of Rapid Response Advanced Manufacturing.
Such an integrated approach provides value
amplification to the contemporary manufacturing
product cycle supporting the customer drive for
customized products, services, speed of delivery and
environmental responsibility at market defined prices.
When the framework for rapid response in a
manufacturing enterprise is adopted, it provides
pathways for success in evolving and sustaining
competitive advantages. As such it is important to
understand how the enablers of Rapid Response
Advanced Manufacturing can support the achievement
of speed in the manufacturing cycle. This aspect is
described in detail next.
ENHANCEMENT OF
MANUFACTURING SPEED
THROUGH INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY/
COMMUNICATION
For any system, communication of information is a
critical domain for the ability of the system to function
effectively. Without information, one is unable to
determine if, how, or why the system is or is not
functioning. In the case of the manufacturing cycle,
Rapid Response Manufacturing 5
poor communication of information would impede
activities as one would not be able to determine how
to make things, when to make things, or what things to
make. Because of this, manufacturing organizations
are often designed and built around teams, shifts,
functions, or other common elements that require
discussion and interaction that encourages the free
exchange of information. As such, systems must be
in place so that at minimum, information is conveyed
so that activities can take place in the production
of goods at whatever rate is possible. If speed and
flexibility are of the essence, the issues associated
with communication and information technology are
compounded and have enhanced importance.
From the perspective of Rapid Response Advanced
Manufacturing, appropriate information technology/
communications is an enabler providing:
• Ability to operate in parallel
• Speed of delivery of information
• Systemic coordination and control from design
through retirement
• Knowledge management allowing for flexibility
• Holistic integrated complexity management
Information Technology has an omnipresent mystique
in the Rapid Response Advanced Manufacturing
Framework. It is fully integrated, yet has a presence in
non-traditional locations. Operators on the production
floor, material handlers and plant logistics personnel,
and even trucks, warehouses, customers and suppliers
are connected. The entire manufacturing process
chain, including internal and external providers and
users are connected in ways to make the best informed
information-based decisions at any given time. This
creates a flexible system that is totally connected up
and down, side to side. All parties have a critical role
in the total process.
When organizations create new knowledge and
generate innovative ideas for future products, it is
necessary to capture the collective tacit knowledge
of the organization and convert it into explicit
knowledge. Companies must create an environment
whereby it is a natural occurrence for discussion and
idea exchange to take place in order to convert tacit
knowledge into explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge
is held within individuals and is difficult to extract
if the right environment is not established. Once an
6 Rapid Response Manufacturing
organization collects and reduces this new knowledge
into documentation form, it then becomes the basis of
new knowledge creation. Communication must occur
up and down and throughout the organization. A
free-flowing highway of information not only creates
new knowledge, but it creates synergy and the energy
required to become an idea generating company (15).
In the new model, information is shared within
security levels at all components and at all levels.
Everyone must be knowledgeable within their
respective component to make true contributions and
fully participate in the process. Whatever integrated
system is employed, all users should be fully trained
and expected to use all applicable modules. Powerful
system tools can reinforce the communication process
described above.
FLEXIBLE AND AGILE
PROCESSES
Flexible and Agile processes are very important
enablers of Rapid Response Advanced Manufacturing.
Many organizations are utilizing rapid prototype,
rapid mold, or rapid production enhancers to compress
the development time for new or improved products
(16). However, from the point of view of Rapid
Response Advanced Manufacturing, flexibility and
agility are traits that must be prevalent throughout
the functions of the entire manufacturing cycle – all
actions from idea to retirement need to be flexible and
agile. That implies that the ability to quickly respond
to change in a seamless manner must be identified
and practiced. For example, a change in product
requirements by the customer should be designed
and implemented in such a way that production and
delivery to the customer barely skips a beat. The
lack of agility and inflexibility in the manufacturing
cycle would not allow this to take place without a
great deal of turmoil for the production enterprise and
the customer. As such, the prevalence of these traits
provides a significant competitive advantage for both
the manufacturer and the customer.
Because the achievement of agility and flexibility
are difficult, many companies choose to use outside
suppliers or contractors who have a great deal
of expertise in this area. To this effect there are
a number of enterprises that are now devoted to
employing practices of agility and flexibility and are
very successful in the achievement of some level of
customer satisfaction. The practice of agility and
flexibility can create a barrier to entry, but it also
makes it possible for even the smallest manufacturer
to participate in Rapid Response Advanced
Manufacturing practices.
The achievement of flexible and agile processes is
made possible through technology (i.e. Information
Technology), advancement in materials, and to a
large extent, reduction in set-up time for all actions
taken in the manufacturing cycle. Flexible and
agile processes include low capital investment
manufacturing technologies, and computer and
information technologies. Precursor technologies
such as desktop manufacturing provide tools to
produce a prototype or functional part very quickly
and inexpensively. Numerical Control machines, solid
freedom fabrication, and 3D printing are all examples
of these processes. Computer and information
technologies allow users to develop new designs via
CAD, CAE and CAM tools (17). The concept of
Rapid Response Advanced Manufacturing seeks to
use these technologies and to speed up not only the
product development phase of the manufacturing
cycle, but also the mainstream production processes in
the cycle.
LEAN SIGMA SYSTEMS
Companies need to embrace the tools designed
to reduce waste, improve the product, make the
process more repeatable, more robust, and be able
to defend itself with confidence without taking
valuable resources from other necessary activities.
Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Total Productive
Maintenance, 5-S, and Benchmarking are all
components being utilized by the organization which
is fully immersed in the Rapid Response Advanced
Manufacturing Cycle. Building upon robust quality
and business operating systems from the traditional
manufacturing model, companies practicing the rapid
response cycle need to incorporate additional tools for
innovation, improvement, and survival.
Lean Manufacturing is a strategy developed to provide
the shortest cycle time by eliminating waste. Six
Sigma is a management approach originally developed
by Motorola (18) that emphasizes setting extremely
high objectives, collecting data, and analyzing results
to reduce defects in products and services. Total
Productive Maintenance is similar to the traditional
preventive maintenance systems that have been in
place for years, but there is one major difference. As
the equipment changes or ages, the plan changes, and
companies are realizing a savings as a result of less
breakdown expenses. 5-S is a System implemented by
Toyota and implies that everything has a place and is
in its place. The five S’s are Sort, Set in Order, Shine,
Standardize, and Sustain. Benchmarking includes
finding the best practice in a field or in an industry and
emulating it (19).
Product Life Cycle Integrated Logistics Support
Under the concept of Rapid Response Advanced
Manufacturing, product life cycle requires knowledge
and control of all aspects of the product from cradle
to retirement. The traditional product life cycle
moves the product/process innovation through the
processes of introduction, growth, maturity and
product retirement. In the concept of Rapid Response
Advanced Manufacturing, there is an increased need
to maintain a higher level of control and understanding
of the evolution and process of product life cycle.
This will enable manufacturers to respond more
rapidly to any possible requirement for change and or
adjustment in a product or process associated with it
that could be used in further developments to reduce
lead times or the development of new products.
Without life cycle data and knowledge, additional
development and innovation is much more difficult
and costs much more.
The concept of integrated logistics support has been
used extensively in the military for complex systems
and there are even standards associated with it. The
evolution of consumer products is now at a point that
their complexity requires the use of ILS concepts on a
routine basis. As the principles of rapid response are
implemented, new stress is produced on the logistics
support for product development, production, and
retirement. When this process is in full and effective
function, new innovations in product design/function/
process emerge, and become the profit-making entity.
This rapid pace requires new strategies of logistics
support since the process is so fast. The comfort zone
is never reached.
Rapid Response Manufacturing 7
Incumbent on the workforce that devises new logistics
systems to enable each new innovation is the need
for them to exhibit the ability to be agile, secure, and
ahead of the manufacturing process. With today’s
emphasis on speed in response, and responsible
product death and subsequent reuse of the old to
build the new, a new dimension in security as well as
scope falls upon the logistics component of RRAM.
New parallel, information technologies will need to
support the logistics of product life cycle from idea
to retirement linking the design, production, and
disposal processes. This will provide both control
and information to enhance the ability for better
performance of the product manufacturing cycle
through information that leads to improvements in
products and manufacturing processes that enable
rapid response for manufacturing entities.
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
Emerging technologies are difficult to even
define. For example, nano technology is new to
the engineering and manufacturing industries. On
the other hand, nano science, the precursor to nano
technology has been practiced by the Physics and
Chemistry professions throughout the greater part of
their existence. One profession’s emerging technology
can be another profession’s long time focus. Because
new technologies can bring disruptive change to any
industry, it is imperative for the practitioner of Rapid
Response Advanced Manufacturing to be aware
of what might arrive next year in the way of new
products, materials, processes, and most importantly
to be ready to exploit them to economic, social, and
environmental benefit.
For example, consider the internet and its extremely
rapid growth (an emerging technology still). The
customer demand is for speed and broad coverage. It
is for accuracy of desired search results that map to the
customer wants. It is for security while searching. It
is for accessibility from anywhere in the world. The
internet technology is still in its infancy and or early
growth stages. New competitors focus on a “next
stage customer want”, but it will be the integration of
as many wants as possible that will win in the market.
An emerging technology starts a new industry or
global information and eliminates local information
sources such as news papers and eventually television
8 Rapid Response Manufacturing
news broadcasts.
Awareness of what is emerging can enable a company
to innovate new ways to utilize the capabilities of
the new technology, and can suggest new concepts
in satisfying their customers. Without sufficient
understanding of new and emerging technologies,
corporate life time/ sustainability will be very short in
the coming years.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
Implementation of Rapid Response Advanced
Manufacturing by a corporation is the required
strategy for manufacturing operations in the future if
the company is to remain competitive in the global
market. Adoption of one or two components of Rapid
Response Advanced Manufacturing will not win in
the highly competitive quest to produce products
that customers want and are willing to purchase,
and that at end of product life will satisfy the social/
environmental need to become a new natural resource
for future products. RRAM is financially rewarding,
socially needed, and environmentally necessary.
RRAM requires the full integration of information
and communication technologies, flexible and agile
processes, implementation of Lean Sigma strategies,
product life cycle integrated logistics support, and
knowledge of new and emerging technologies.
Adoption of the fully integrated RRAM process can
give a company a chance at long term sustainability.
Anything short of this is like working with an
incomplete set of tools.
Rapid Response Advanced Manufacturing is
how concepts such as mass customization, rapid
prototyping, and new supply chain logistics can
make a sustainable change in global competitiveness
for any company, regardless of size. Pay attention
to the customer wants and needs in the new product
manufacturing cycle. Success of maintaining
manufacturing leadership depends on full
implementation of the complete concept of Rapid
Response Advanced Manufacturing.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Labor WIRED Grant UTPA/WR –
15999-07-60A-48, Number 117Wired. We would also like to acknowledge the encouragement and input from
Dr. Douglas Timmer and Dr James Li, both from the Manufacturing Engineering Department at UTPA, Mr.
Keith Patridge, President and CEO McAllen Economic Development Corporation, Ms. Wanda Garza, Executive
Director NAAMREI, STC McAllen, and Mr. Eddie Sanjoto, Alps Automotive.
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© January 2010, by John R. Lloyd, Allan M. Beck and Miguel A. Gonzalez
10 Rapid Response Manufacturing
The University of Texas-Pan American
Rapid Response Manufacturing Center
1201 West University Drive
Edinburg, TX 78539
956-318-8956 • rrmc.utpa.edu