THE DYNAMICS OF BEST MANUFACTURING PRACTICES

In order to stay competitive manufacturing companies continuously need to search for and implement best practices to improve their performance. Although the literature might suggest so, best practices are not a static set of improvement actions. On the contrary, as a majority of companies have implemented former best practices, one can expect that these lose their status and are replaced by new best practices. Analyzing data from 677 companies, this paper aims to shed light on the development and dynamics of best practices in manufacturing. Our findings suggest that integration of NPD and manufacturing, and improving manufacturing process maintain their status as best practices, while servitization and supply chain management are new best practices. Globalization and responsibility are proposed as promising practices, and technology is suggested as a qualifying practice.