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This study aims to examine the interrelationships among business process management (BPM), supply chain collaboration (SCC), collaborative advantage and organisational performance.

Data were collected from 204 manufacturing firms in Thailand, and the interrelationships proposed in the framework were tested via structural equation modelling.

This study highlights the role of intra- and inter-organisational practices and clearly demonstrates the joint role and impact of BPM and SCC, respectively. The results provide empirical evidence that BPM improves both organisational performance and collaborative activities. Also, SCC and collaborative advantage can have indirect positive impacts on organisational performance.

This work could be expanded by adopting a supplementary dyadic or extended supply chain (SC) approach and could also consider contextual factors, which were outside of the scope of this study.

The BPM approach has a positive impact on organisational performance, which is essential for collaborative activities between a firm and its SC partners. Further, effective BPM and SCC practices lead to enhanced performance and collaborative benefits. Practitioners should be better able to define and measure specific actions relating to their BPM and SCC practices.

This paper stresses the need to consider the interrelationships between BPM, SCC, collaborative advantage and organisational performance for both direct and indirect effects. Rather than focusing only on improvement at individual firm level, SCC is vital to compete in the market. Improving the effectiveness of SC allows higher organisational performance levels than those that could be achieved in isolation.

Intellectual capital reflects the sum of existing knowledge a manufacturer is able to leverage and plays a critical role in new product development. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the mechanisms through which intellectual capital enhances product innovation performance and how economic and institutional environments affect the mechanisms.

Using a knowledge-based view and institutional theory, this study proposes a model on the relationships among intellectual capital, supplier knowledge integration, supply chain adaptability, and product innovation performance. The hypotheses are empirically tested using multiple group structural equation modelling and data collected from 300 Chinese and 200 Indian manufacturers.

The authors find that intellectual capital improves product innovation performance both directly and indirectly through supplier knowledge integration. However, the effects are different in China and India. In particular, the direct effect of intellectual capital on product innovation performance is significantly higher in China than that in India, and intellectual capital improves product innovation performance indirectly through supplier knowledge integration only in India. The authors also find that supplier knowledge integration improves product innovation performance indirectly through supply chain adaptability in both China and India.

Using a moderated mediation model, this study provides insights into the joint effects of intellectual capital, supplier knowledge integration, and supply chain adaptability on product innovation performance. The findings enhance current understandings of how supply chain management helps a manufacturer develop new products using existing knowledge and the influences of economic and institutional environments on knowledge and supply chain management.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and classify the available types of 3D printing services, with the scope of determining the potential implications that such services could have on the supply chains of manufacturing firms and creating a research agenda for future studies.

The authors review the current literature on the potential supply chain impacts of 3D printing and evaluate the 3D printing services provided by 404 firms in selected European markets.

The results show that 3D printing services form a rapidly evolving industry, with new service providers entering the market on a regular basis. Evidence from the European markets investigated suggests that services can be classified into three distinct categories: generative, facilitative and selective services.

This paper represents an attempt to take stock of a fast-moving and potentially paradigm-shifting market. The implications are dynamic as new applications, business models and techniques are continually being developed. Further studies are required to substantiate the findings.

Three categories of 3D printing services that could significantly impact supply chain configurations of the future are proposed. Several issues specific to 3D printing services raised in the research agenda require further scrutiny and substantiation before services can reach their full potential.

This paper provides an overview of the growing 3D printing services industry, highlighting how the market might change as additive manufacturing technology matures.

The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges faced by industrial firms at different phases of adoption of 3D printing (3DP), and outline how 3DP service providers can help address these challenges.

Separate interview questionnaires for 3DP users and 3DP service providers were used to conduct semi-structured interviews.

The key 3DP adoption challenges are as follows: creating a business case; difficulty in using different materials; optimising the process for specific parts; lack of “plug and play” solutions offered by equipment manufacturers; limited availability of training and educational support; poor end product quality; machine breakdowns; and high cost of maintenance and spare components. Using the theoretical lens of the technology acceptance model, results show a lack of ease of use and technological turbulence impact companies’ decisions to adopt 3DP. 3DP service providers can indeed attempt to alleviate the above challenges faced by customers through providing multiple 3DP services across different stages of adoption.

Future research should examine the role of 3DP equipment manufacturers and design and modeling software solutions providers in improving adoption and how 3DP equipment manufacturers could develop into more integrated service providers as the technology advances.

Service providers can help customers transition to 3DP and should develop a portfolio of services that fits different phases of adoption.

The paper outlines how 3DP service providers can help address customer challenges in adoption of 3DP across different stages of adoption.

The research reported here derives from a recently completed questionnaire survey of the UK mechanical engineering industry and a series of follow‐up case studies. The case studies investigated the product design strategies adopted by firms for achieving competitive edge. It was found that companies were consolidating their product ranges and increasing the use of bought‐out components. There had thus been a shift from internal manufacturing (hierarchy) to bought‐out manufacturing (market). This was complemented by the changes, over the last few years, in the production system. That is, the adoption of manufacturing, or FMS, cells. Here, companies were feeding more components through these machining cells rather than using other, more expensive, manufacturing techniques, such as die casting. Thus, product design has had to match these changes in manufacturing strategy. Increased competition from Japan had also led companies to reduce lead times on product introduction. The research identifies the product design strategies the firms had adopted to achieve competitive edge. These were the better management of the product design process through project teams or project management. The use of design reviews for tailoring designs for efficient manufacture and early consideration of manufacturability. The full utilization of prototypes to eliminate production difficulties. These management factors and the ability to use CAD/CAM‐FMS technology enabled the companies to maintain competitive edge.

Reports on research based on the results of a survey of design management in the UK mechanical engineering industry. Considers the issue of which aspects of production were considered in the design of products and when. Demonstrates that at the prototype stage production aspects became the most important. This shows that the manufacturability of the product is not considered until after it has been designed. Concludes that the effective and efficient manufacture of the product is not given sufficient attention by mechanical engineering firms. Also investigates the involvement of production personnel in the design process. Finds that production engineering was more extensively involved in the design process the closer it moved towards manufacture. Points to further research which hopes to address this lack by providing practical tools for the application of concurrent engineering.

Concerned with the application of a product cost reduction technique known as Value Analysis (VA). Demonstrates that well established companies like Chubb are realizing the importance of VA to increasing their product focus and the benefits achievable through the use of this technique. Centres upon the application of VA: why the technique was seen as appropriate to the needs of Chubb and what comprises VA; the process of establishing the team within Chubb to undertake the VA exercise; the work carried out by the members of the team and their achievements. Gives an overview and lessons learned from the exercise.

Reports on the findings of research undertaken at the University of Nottingham into Computing Services firms in the UK. The study particularly focuses on firms who are currently exporting to Germany. The implications of the European Single Market and the changes which will affect the Computing Services (CS) sector are discussed along with a full examination of the current state of the German market. Information from the research of successful entrants and results of interviews with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) have also been included. The development of the European Community′s policy, together with the views of successful organizations operating in the CS market, provide an insight into some of the factors influencing planning for 1992 and act as a useful starting point for new entrants. Finally, proposes guidelines for computing services firms intending to enter the German market.