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The purpose of this paper is to develop and justify a theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between manufacturing strategy, business strategy, time-based manufacturing competence, capability and competitiveness and their impact on firm performance for firms operating in the manufacturing sector. Many executives and scholars have argued that time is an important component for developing a brilliant strategy to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage for the firm.

This paper provides a theoretical framework primarily concerned with the relationship between time-based manufacturing competence, competitive priorities and firm performance. The framework suggests that firms focusing on time as a strategic factor at both strategic levels – business strategy and manufacturing strategy – can achieve a multi-competitive advantage, and, in turn, high performance.

To realize the level of performance associated with time-based manufacturing competence, it is essential for firms to identify the areas in which time can be reduced. These include reduction in design lead time, product concept to production; time-based competition for product-to-market firms; time-based manufacturing competence; product development activities; fast-to-product; and customer service.

This article provides a theoretical framework for linking manufacturing strategy to business strategy and performance to help expand the body of knowledge for other researchers to follow.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relationship between time-based manufacturing competence (TBMC), time-based competitiveness, time-based manufacturing capability, and the performance of SMEs engaged in the steel minimill industry in the USA.

This study was based on an empirical investigation of manufacturing firms in the steel minimill industry in the USA. The sample of firms was provided by the US Association of Iron and Steel Engineers. In order to obtain valid and reliable measures of the variables, previously validated scales were used to measure all variables. The primary data for the study were collected from a self-administered mail survey of 137 SMEs with the sample consisting of 71 SMEs indicating a response rate of 52 percent.

Statistically significant positive relationships were found between all independent variables and performance. The results also indicate that the high performers have a higher TBMC than the low performers. The findings further confirm the assertion in the manufacturing strategy literature which states that time, as a strategic factor, is a source of competitive advantage.

From a methodological perspective, a potential concern may be that the measures are all self-reported. Consequently, the relationships tested may be susceptible to the influence of common method variance.

TBMC enables SMEs to offer high-quality products at low cost and in a timely manner. This reflects the value of the positive relationship between TBMC and business performance.

This study’s finding identifies the need for time-based competition. The literature suggests that the strategic focus on time enables firms to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. Nevertheless, this suggestion has been based on conceptual rather than empirical research. The results of this study provide empirical support for that suggestion with respect to SMEs.

No previously published research has developed a comprehensive set of requirements or critical factors that spans the literature. Offers a set of nine critical factors and 58 supporting performance measurements of world‐class operations (WCO) that have been synthesized from various authors. Proposes that it can be very useful to an organization attempting to identify those characteristics often mentioned in WCO literature that may provide an opportunity to implement core manufacturing strategies and a total global strategy. Managers can devise a plan to assess the current stages, determine the performance measurements, assign responsibilities and resources within the organization and monitor the progress for achieving company‐wide improvements towards WCO status and global competitiveness.

The importance of responding to time‐based competitive pressures has prompted US manufacturers to emphasize time‐based performance and deploy strategic action programs aimed at cycle time reduction. This study examines time‐based competition among first tier suppliers to the Big Three in North America. A comprehensive set of time‐based performance measures is defined and time‐related action programs associated with world class manufacturing strategies are identified. Relationships between time‐related action programs, time‐based performance, and overall firm performance are examined. The study shows that time‐based performance significantly affects overall firm performance and that manufacturing lead time is especially critical in the automotive industry. The study also identifies strategic action programs that result in improved performance on various dimensions of time‐based performance.

Considers the recent development of time‐based management as a way of enhancing the competitive position of a manufacturing organization. Based on a review of literature related to time‐based management, several possible relationships between the use of time‐based competition and its benefits in attaining stated business goals are defined. Results of empirical investigation using the manufacturing firms in the State of Indiana are discussed and some preliminary conclusions about the use of time‐based competition strategies among manufacturing organizations are drawn. The results of this study suggest that a full‐scale study of international scope will be beneficial to judge the use of time as a competitive weapon among manufacturing firms.

This study examines the mediation effects of time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness and customer performance between logistics outsourcing and financial performance.

The study relied on a questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument and further employed partial least squares structural equation modelling technique to test all formulated hypotheses.

The results demonstrate that logistics outsourcing has a significant positive impact on time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness, customer performance and financial performance. Time-based competitiveness and cost-based competitiveness were both found to have a significant positive impact on financial performance; however, customer performance had no significant impact on financial performance. The mediation analysis further indicates that while both time-based competitiveness and cost-based competitiveness play mediation effects between logistics outsourcing and financial performance, customer performance plays no mediation effect between logistics outsourcing and financial performance.

The sampled firms for this study came from a single emerging country; hence, the results cannot be generalized or imported to reflect the results that may be obtained from other emerging geographical settings.

The results provide sufficient evidence for managers to turn their attention to logistics outsourcing, as a transformative business initiative, to gain time-based and cost-based competitiveness so as to improve financial performance.

The study provides significant insight and makes an additional contribution to literature in the area of logistics outsourcing, especially by collecting data from an emerging country. Modelling time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness and customer performance as mediating variables between logistics outsourcing and financial performance make this work relatively different from other studies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of integrating ISO 9000 and total quality management (TQM) on operational performance of manufacturing organizations and their journey toward achieving world-class manufacturing (WCM) status.

The authors used a conceptual model and its empirical validation based on a sample of 2,961 responses from one developing and three developed economies. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to test five main hypotheses.

Plants that integrate ISO 9000 and TQM progressed faster toward achieving WCM status and have better operational performance in terms of quality management, inventory management, time-based performance, and competitiveness.

The sample from the developing economy includes only 254 responses, while the one from the three developed economies includes 2,907 responses.

Findings of this study have many implications for both academic and practitioners. These findings encourage practitioners to consider ISO 9000 and TQM as complementary, not substitutes.

Developing economies should follow the footsteps of developed economies in considering quality as a competitive advantage in global markets.

The paper addresses in a unique and unprecedented way the synergistic impact of ISO 9000 and TQM on operational performance. The study is the first in its kind to include responses from both developing and developed economies. The development of the synergy index was never addressed before.

The evaluation of time-based performance is a valued approach in the lean management thinking which is based on delivering value from customer's perspective. This approach contributes for long-term competitiveness and success in today's business environment. The focus of this study is to analyse the cycle time and manufacturing lead time with value stream mapping (VSM) in the preparatory stage of the textile fabric manufacturing process and to identify and improve the non-value adding activities in the value chain (VC). The study presents an insight on the translation of performance improvement across functions and how upstream supply chain (SC) segments can be linked in the performance improvement program. It also covers how the application of VSM improves visibility and planning flexibility in textile fabric manufacturing process.

The time-based performance was evaluated using VSM and recording of the activity times in the existing process. The impact of the quality of supplier's raw material was also measured contributing to identify the strategy for procurement and the means to establish a feedback system to the upstream segments of the SC. The methodology of VSM, observation of the practice and the expertise of the individuals involved with the process were utilised to develop the value stream maps and to identify value adding activities, non-value adding activities, existing gaps and plans for improvement.

The means for improving the time-based performance were identified and their impact was measured. The factors responsible for improvement are related to the production system and with the procurement strategy. The improvement was achieved in terms of available capacity utilisation, balancing the work flow in the preparatory stages, visibility of the process by measuring its capability and flexibility for the planning function. The study revealed that the effectiveness and enhancement of VSM and related tools should be adopted to address the issue of limiting success rates of long term and repeating application of such tools. Continuous improvement, innovations and the systematic embedding of VSM in the process life cycle provide the ways for achieving long-term success.

The paper presents a real and in-depth study on the application of VSM in the textile manufacturing process. The scope of the study is broad; it covers activities across functions with actual estimates of activity times in the manufacturing process for the focused value streams. It offers researchers the opportunity to analyse the translation of productivity improvement across functions and how upstream SC segments can be linked in a performance improvement program.

The study offers useful insight for the managers in textile manufacturing and other sectors for improving the time-based performance and achieving higher utilisation of capacity. It identified the production factors and their impact on warping and sizing cycle time in selected value streams and those which share common activities. It also identified the directions for future research when repeating the application of VSM in the continuous improvement cycle. Furthermore, since the industries need to progress towards advanced systems including Industry 4.0 standards, adoption of advanced VSM tool with relevant technology can align their production systems to develop the required capability. This will also bring a sustainable competitive advantage in the system.

The focused sector is stagnant in terms of productivity and innovation. The adoption of the advanced tools can facilitate the implementation of continuous improvement and innovation strategies.

The main focus of this study is to analyse and improve the cycle time in the preparatory stage of the fabric manufacturing process. This has impact on other important and tangible measures including capacity utilisation and work flow and intangible measures including production planning flexibility and process visibility. The improvement impact is across departments.

The objective of the paper is to report research carried out over two years aiming at developing a framework to support the management of manufacturing organizations for whom reducing throughput time is strategically important, either because they compete based on short lead times or because they choose to pursue other objectives such as cost reduction by means of reducing their manufacturing cycle times. A step‐by‐step method is proposed based on the analyses of a number of Brazilian “best practice” cases (all manufacturing companies and all part of large multi‐national corporations) and on the relevant literature.

Competition, technological advancement and the sophistication of consumers’ needs have led to the evolution of competitive paradigms, in which, time‐based competition apparently has emerged as the competitive paradigm of the 1990s. While much has been written about the paradigm since it was first highlighted in the late 1980s, no comprehensive literature review is currently available. Seeks to provide such a review of the literature. Categorizes the existing literature into four broad classes: descriptive literature, managerial implications, case studies and applications, and mathematical modelling. Presents the key ideas and the associated literature to the reader as a guide to the total topic of time‐based competition. Reviews also the theoretic time‐based modelling literature, and so highlights the current status and limitations of this literature. Provides the motivation for further research to be carried out within the realm of time‐based modelling.