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The purpose of this paper is to study the status of Swedish manufacturing industry and compare with the status of 30 years ago.

The author conducted a series of semi‐structured interviews with follow‐up questions, transcribed and sent back to the companies for approval.

It was found that all eight factories are still running, although one is to be switched to another owner and other types of production. Another company faces severe financial problems and it is questionable if it will survive. All but two of the companies.

The study was made at factory and production systems level, thus no studies were made at the group level. Sometimes it was hard to determine the financial key performance indicators (KPIs) for the factory, since they were kept secret.

Most companies have worked hard on lean production and it can be seen that this has had a considerable impact on their routines. Even when companies change owners and go global, it is possible to keep the tradition of the companies and to keep the core products and processes at factory level.

The companies are consistent at keeping their skilled employees, but the traditional “Swedish model” in work organisation, which emphasises cross‐functional teams and self‐managing groups, has been abandoned.

The research described in the paper is valuable since it was possible to re‐do a study made 30 years ago at the same factories. The focus of the follow‐up study was the same, but extended with additional issues such as globalisation and sustainability.

The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation of local sustainable production in Australia and Sweden aimed at exploring the factors contributing to survival and competitiveness of manufacturing companies.

In Australia, six companies were studied in 2010, with comparisons being made with three of them from earlier projects. In Sweden, eight manufacturing companies were studied on two occasions 30 years apart, in 1980 and 2010. To provide a valid comparative perspective a common format for data collection and analysis was used.

There has been a shift in the nature of competition in both Sweden and Australia due to an increasing complexity of the global business environment as well as changes in technology and customer expectations. Despite the differences in country context, the findings suggest that all the manufacturing companies have a good awareness of the elements of the market environment and the relationships with their competitive strategy. However, in general, the Swedish companies have more experience of managing the risks and benefits from operating in the international environment.

The results of the research are based on a relatively small sample of case companies in a limited number of industrial sectors. There are methodology implications for future research in the area.

The research results have practical implications for the manufacturing industry, especially for companies operating in a competitive international environment.

The paper is based on original case research and comparative analysis of data from different geographical contexts. It contributes to both theory and management practice about the strategic resources, decision choices, competitive environments and firm values needed to address external market demands as well as in building internal capabilities.