文档介绍：SL3003Ch01Frame Page 1 Tuesday, November 6, 2001 6:12 PM
1 The Agile Enterprise
Adi Choudri
INTRODUCTION
An agile enterprise is adept at anizing its people, management, physical facil-
ities, and operating philosophy very quickly to produce highly customized products
and services to satisfy a new customer or a new market. Agility is the deliberate,
strategic response for survival in today’s market conditions.
pany that knows how to be agile:
• Strategizes to fragment mass markets into niche markets
• Competes on the basis of customer-perceived value
• Produces multiple products and services in market-determined quantities
• Designs solutions interactively with customers
• Organizes for proficiency at change and rapid response
• Manages through leadership, motivation, support, and trust
• Exploits information munication technologies to the fullest
• Leverages all its capabilities, resources, and assets regardless of location
• Works through entrepreneurial and empowered teams
• Partners with panies as a strategy of choice, not of last resort
• Thrives and is widely imitated
As we transition into the 21st century, radical changes are taking place that are
reshaping every aspect of a business, including the way we produce goods and
services. With the advent of and high-munication, the marketplace
has truly e global and fragmented. Customers are requiring smaller quantities
and more customized products quickly. Traditional manufacturing, with its large
batch approach, extensive inventories, and anizational style, simply cannot
compete in this marketplace. The notion of “economies of scale” es almost
obsolete in such a changing and fragmented market. In the 1980s and ’90s we learned
lean manufacturing techniques, reduced cycle time and cost, and strived to e
world-class. We introduced just-in-time (JIT) techniques such as one-piece part flow
and quick changeover, and practiced team-based continuous improvemen