Special Session: Re-Distributed Manufacturing – Pathway to Impact UK and Global Perspectives, May 3rd - 5th, 2017, Taichung, Taiwan ROC

This special session invited scholars and practitioners to bring original studies that report the latest advancements in Redistributed Manufacturing (RDM) and its applications in different industry sectors, through feasibility studies, engagement studies, MSc projects, industry case studies, RDM studio, and so on.

Mohamed Zaki presented his feasibility study 'The Role of Big Data to Facilitate Redistributed Manufacturing Using a Co-creation Lens: Patterns from Consumer Goods'. The paper proposes a conceptual framework to stimulate and organise thinking about emerging interrelationships between big data, co-creation and redistributed manufacturing, built upon an extensive literature review and qualitative analysis of 15 cases from the consumer goods industry using primary and secondary data. Through these cases, we analysed existing co-creation practices in consumer goods industries, and how they are evolving their manufacturing configurations, their underlying drivers, the role of big data applications, and their impacts on the redistribution of manufacturing. Our analysis finds that big data applications are supporting and prompting redistributed manufacturing approaches in these consumer goods industries.

1. experimenting with novel innovation processes by collaborating continuously with consumers. Intrinsic rewards as a motivation for co-creating are sufficient for consumers to engage in the process;
2. bringing stakeholders who are otherwise traditionally separate in the innovation process to drive innovation – these stakeholders can be within the company or external, e.g., retailers and manufacturers;
3. de-risking new product launch, blending co-marketing and crowdsourcing. The large-scale crowd engagement in social media platform often incentivises consumers;
4. being more responsive to the demand through continuous dialogue in multiple channels;
5. enhancing user experience and creating lasting customer relationship with the brand.
6. Analysing product use data can to improve the design at a test stage in which designers are collaborating with consumers.

When fully embraced, redistributed manufacturing can be a core strategy for a new business unit or a small business. This research area can be further explored in depth with either multiple or single case studies, to verify assumptions in the redistributed manufacturing concept.

http://www.cirp-cms2017.org/index.php/program