The preponderance of small, and some mid-size manufacturers soldier on without an operations strategy. They live by “get order, fill order,” and discussions, usually begun at the last minute, of capacity adjustments. They complain about long supplier lead-times.
That operating model precludes agility and incurs unnecessarily high costs. It also gives constituencies reason to look for alternatives.
Most mid-size and large companies have an operations strategy that guides both longer term and tactical decisions in support of business goals.
