Distributed Manufacturing: proposal for a conceptual scale based on empirical evidences in the rubber and plastic sectors

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a preliminary conceptual scale for the measurement of distributed manufacturing (DM) capacity of manufacturing companies operating in rubber and plastic sectors. Design / Methodology / Approach: A two-step research methodology is employed. In first step, the dimensions of distributed manufacturing and different levels of each dimension have been defined. In second step, an empirical analysis (cluster analysis) of database firms is performed by collecting the data of 38 firms operating in Italian mould manufacturing sector. Application case studies are then analysed to show the use of the proposed distributed manufacturing conceptual scale. Findings: A hyperspace, composed of five dimensions of distributed manufacturing i.e. (i) manufacturing localization, (ii) manufacturing technologies, (iii) customization and personalization, (iv) digitalization and (v) democratization of design, is developed and a hierarchy is defined by listing the levels of each dimension in an ascending order. Based on this hyperspace, a conceptual scale is proposed to measure the positioning of a generic company in the distributed manufacturing continuum. Originality / Value: This is first preliminary scale of its kind to evaluate the positioning of companies with respect to their distributed manufacturing capacity. This scale is helpful for companies to compare their capacity with standard profiles and for decision making to convert the existing manufacturing operations into distributed operations.