Cellular manufacturing at Scania-Vabis; continuity and discontinuity in management thought
ISSN: 1352-7592
Article publication date: 13 April 2022
Issue publication date: 4 May 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to document the development of cellular manufacturing at Scania-Vabis, thereby contributing to the history of an organizational idea.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on published sources and interviews to reconstruct the development of cellular manufacturing at Scania-Vabis and its traces.
Findings
Cellular manufacturing was applied and further developed at Scania-Vabis in the 1940s and 1950s. Nevertheless, it seems to have fallen into oblivion. The key idea resurfaced in the 1970s.
Practical implications
The authors argue that such “proven technology” should be considered a classical insight in organization design rather than old and thus outdated.
Originality/value
The authors demonstrate that this form of flow-based organizing is much older than commonly assumed and point to barriers in accumulating knowledge on organizing.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
An earlier and abbreviated version of this paper was presented at the Academy of Management Meeting in Toronto, 2000, and included in the Best Paper Proceedings. The authors owe thanks to all interviewees and those commenting on the earlier drafts, including two anonymous and very constructive reviewers, Stefan Heusinkveld and Professor Emeritus Urban Wemmerlöv.
Citation
Benders, J. and Stjernberg, T. (2022), "Cellular manufacturing at Scania-Vabis; continuity and discontinuity in management thought", Team Performance Management, Vol. 28 No. 3/4, pp. 175-189. https://doi.org/10.1108/TPM-11-2021-0086
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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