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Uncertainties in manufacturing and changing customer demands force manufacturing industries to adopt new strategies, such as the reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS). To improve the implementation and performance of RMS, it is necessary to review the available literature and identify future trends in this field. This paper aims to analyze existing literature and to see trends in RMS-related research.

The systematic literature review and analysis of RMS-related research papers from 1999 to 2020 is carried out in this literature. The selected studies are analyzed based on the year of publication, journals, publishers, active authors, research design, countries, enablers, barriers, performance evaluation parameters and universities.

After the analysis of selected RMS-related research papers, the top countries, universities, journals, publishers and authors are identified in this domain. Research themes and trends in research are identified in this study. Besides, it has been noted that there is a need for further research in this domain and for the creation of a generalized framework that can guide researchers and practitioners to increase RMS adoption.

Research insights, guidance and observations from this paper are provided to RMS-related researchers and practitioners. Important research gaps are identified in this study, which can provide direction for future research and trends in RMS research.

The study presented focuses mainly on the method of collecting, organizing, capturing, interpreting and analyzing data to provide more insight into RMS to identify future trends in research.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic bibliometric analysis of reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) articles using VOSviewer to identify their research themes and future research trends and investigate their interconnectivity. This paper also aims to identify prominent authors, publishers, organizations, countries and their collaborations in the RMS domain.

In this study, the Scopus database is used to retrieve 454 RMS articles published between 1988 and 2020. These articles are then investigated using VOSviewer to determine their interconnectedness, clusters and citations, as well as to generate a map based on text data. The network visualization diagrams and clusters obtained for documents, authors, sources, organizations and countries are explored to determine the current state and future trends in RMS research.

A bibliometric analysis of selected articles is performed, and current research hotspots in this domain are identified. This work also investigates the current status and future research trends in this domain. The work presented also identifies top researchers, journals, countries and documents in RMS.

This paper can provide academics, researchers and practitioners with additional research insights. At the same time, the research trends identified here can help to direct research and benefit researchers.

The study is the first attempt to review selected documents in the RMS domain using bibliometric analysis tools, and it presents a method for collecting articles, organizing them and analyzing the data.

This paper aims to discuss the effect of changes of a comprehensive list of process parameters on part scalability and tensile strength of fused filament fabrication (FFF) printed parts. A number of parameters hitherto not studied such as cross-sectional area and its interaction with number of shells and infill density are presented and studied.

From a preliminary investigation, results have shown that varying the process parameters affects the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of a FFF printed component, with component scale and number of shells as the two most significant parameters affecting the UTS. A further investigation based on the interactions of four process parameters, specimen width, b, specimen thickness, h, number of shells, n, and infill density, i, and their effects on the UTS was performed. Taguchi’s design of experiment was used to develop an experimental plan in this investigation. Specimens were printed and tested for their tensile strength until fracture and the results analyzed.

Results obtained support an inverse relationship between part scalability, change in cross-sectional area and the UTS of a FFF printed part. The UTS results were calculated in line with conventional method based on the gross cross-sectional area of A = (b × h).

The paper investigates the effect of part scalability on the UTS of FFF printed parts and evaluates the conventional method of calculating material tensile strength of FFF printed parts using the gross cross-sectional area of A = (b × h). The results of this findings show that the conventional method cannot be used as FFF printed parts consists of partially filled parts and not a solid component.

During design of reconfigurable manufacturing systems, manufacturing companies need to select and implement the right enablers of reconfigurability in accordance with the specific requirements being present in the manufacturing setting. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate enablers of reconfigurability in terms of their importance in industry, current level of implementation in industry, and significant differences in their implementation and criticality across different manufacturing settings.

A questionnaire survey is conducted, in order to provide generalizable empirical evidence across various industries and manufacturing types.

The findings indicate that the level of implementation of the reconfigurability enablers is rudimentary, while their criticality is perceived higher than the current level of implementation. Moreover, significant differences regarding implementation and criticality of mobility, scalability, and convertibility were found for companies with varying degrees of manual work, make-to-stock production, and varying production volume, industry type and organization size.

Main limitations of the research cover the relatively small sample size and non-random sampling method applied, primarily limited to one country, which could be increased to further extent the findings reported in this paper.

The findings indicate that the importance and implementation of reconfigurability enablers is contingent on the manufacturing setting. Thus, the research presented in this paper provides valuable knowledge in regard to aiding a paradigm shift in industry and help companies design manufacturing systems with the right reconfigurability enablers.

This paper expands research on manufacturing system design for changeability and reconfigurability, by explicitly considering these as capabilities that can be enabled in various ways for various purposes in different manufacturing contexts.

Distributed, real‐time multiplayer computer games (MCGs) are in the vanguard of utilizing the networking possibilities. Although related research has been done in military simulations, virtual reality systems, and computer supported cooperative working, the suggested solutions diverge from the problems posed by MCGs. With this in mind, this paper provides a concise overview of four aspects affecting networking in MCGs. First, networking resources (bandwidth, latency, and computational power) set the technical boundaries within which the MCG must operate. Second, distribution concepts encompass communication architectures (peer‐to‐peer, client/server, server‐network), and both data and control architectures (centralized, distributed, replicated). Third, scalability allows the MCG to adapt to the resource changes by parametrization. Finally, security aims at fighting back against cheating and vandalism, which are common in online gaming.

This paper explores the transformation of international business models in the context of international ICT businesses where cloud computing has triggered a major paradigm change in the way software and hardware related services are offered to international customers.

Through comparative analysis of two cases, this paper examines the business model transformation processes in the cloud computing context.

The key challenges of the case companies were related to business model transformation as cloud computing was triggering a change in most of the business model elements.

There is a need to define the concept of business model in a way that suits the cloud and internationalization.

This paper aims to explore the challenges and opportunities of blockchain technology adoption from the lens of the technological–organisational–environmental (TOE) framework for operational excellence in the UK automotive industry context.

The research methodology of this study follows a systematic review approach, which analyses existing academic published research papers in the top 35 academic journals. There was no specific timeframe established for this study and shortlisting the articles through a set of used keywords. A sample of 71 articles was shortlisted and analysed to provide a discussion on technological and management challenges and opportunities of blockchain adoption from the lens of the TOE framework for operational excellence.

The findings of this study present significant theoretical and managerial implications and deep understanding for firms seeking to understand the challenges and opportunities of blockchain adoption for their operational excellence.

The systematic literature approach was considered for the present study to explore existing academic papers on technological and management challenges and opportunities from the lens of TOE framework for operational excellence, whereas a more specified method meta-analysis can be considered for future research. The study has been explored in the UK automotive industry context, which has been considered as the limitation of generalisation across countries and industries.

This paper represents the most comprehensive literature study related to the technological and management challenges and opportunities of blockchain from the TOE framework angle for operational excellence.

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is the most economical additive manufacturing technique. The purpose of this paper is to describe a detailed review of this technique. Total 211 research papers published during the past 26 years, that is, from the year 1994 to 2019 are critically reviewed. Based on the literature review, research gaps are identified and the scope for future work is discussed.

Literature review in the domain of FDM is categorized into five sections – (i) process parameter optimization, (ii) environmental factors affecting the quality of printed parts, (iii) post-production finishing techniques to improve quality of parts, (iv) numerical simulation of process and (iv) recent advances in FDM. Summary of major research work in FDM is presented in tabular form.

Based on literature review, research gaps are identified and scope of future work in FDM along with roadmap is discussed.

In the present paper, literature related to chemical, electric and magnetic properties of FDM parts made up of various filament feedstock materials is not reviewed.

This is a comprehensive literature review in the domain of FDM focused on identifying the direction for future work to enhance the acceptability of FDM printed parts in industries.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the contingent adoption of Additive Manufacturing (AM) and propose a typology to evaluate its adoption viability within a firm's supply chain.

By conducting semi-structured interviews of practitioners with deep knowledge of AM and supply chains from diverse industries, this research explores the contingent factors influencing AM adoption and their interaction.

While the AM literature is growing, there is a lack of research investigating how contingent factors influence AM adoption. By reviewing the extant literature on the benefits and barriers of AM, we explain the underlying contingencies that enact them. Further, we use an exploratory approach to validate and uncover underexplored contingent factors that influence AM adoption and group them into technological, organizational and strategic factors. By anchoring to a selected set of contingent factors, a typological framework is developed to explain when and how AM is a viable option.

This study focuses on specific industries such as automotive, machine manufacturing, aerospace and defense. Scholars are encouraged to explore the contextual factors affecting AM adoption in particular industries to expand our findings. The authors also acknowledge that the robustness of their framework can be enhanced by integrating the remaining contingent factors.

The developed typological framework provides a pathway for practitioners to see how and when AM can be useful in their supply chains.

This is the first paper in the supply chain management literature to synthesize contingent factors and identify some overlooked factors for AM adoption. The research is also unique in explaining the interaction among selected factors to provide a typological framework for AM adoption. This research provides novel insights for managers to understand when and where to adopt AM and the key contingent factors involved in AM adoption.

Students learn to evaluate a firm’s growth strategies with the aim of establishing long-term business sustainability. Students will examine the impact of external macro-environmental factors that influence firm growth in an emerging market context. Using this case, students will learn how to apply a resource-based view to a firm’s offering by comparing and identifying the competitive advantage of the internal resources of the firm. Using this case, students can apply the principle of strategic fit by strategically analyzing the opportunities and threats in the external environment, while taking into account the firm’s internal strengths and weaknesses.

This case outlines the strategic, macro-environmental and marketing challenges that the Cape Town-based private higher education institution, Red & Yellow Creative School of Business, faced as it entered its 25th year of existence. In 2019, Red & Yellow had its roots in industry and had done well historically to cement that bond through the creation of successful alumni and the constant innovation of its higher education offering. Two weeks before having to present a detailed five-year growth strategy plan to the board of directors, Rob Stokes, the Director and Chairman of Red & Yellow, was faced with a multitude of decisions pertaining to the sustainable growth of the school. Recent growth patterns showed that programs with lower profit margins, such as classroom-based full-time programs, had experienced double-digit growth while student numbers for higher gross profit offerings, such as online and executive education programs had started to decline. Another challenge that the school faced was the need for its students to future-proof their careers in a world where artificial intelligence and machine learning threatened their careers and jobs. As such, Red & Yellow was confronted with one central strategic problem: How to grow strategically in the short term while developing a sustainable and scalable growth strategy for the school in the long term.

This case could work well as part of an executive education course, as well as a strategic management course for master’s degree or Master of Business Administration students.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.