شناسایی الزامات سازمانی برای پیاده سازی فن آوری های پیشرفته تولید (AMT)

AMT selection and adoption processes have been extensively studied. Topics that include financial and human factors, productivity, and coordination of the AMT implementation establish a substantial content of the present research agenda. The purpose of this paper is to study the organizational factors that influence the AMT implementation, considering a manufacturing strategy context and an analysis based on an organizational design framework. The research strategy is based on ‘empirical iterations’ using survey secondary data, experts’ interviews information and multiple case studies. The results show that there is a set of recommendations, which strongly influence the AMT implementation. Companies require a structured and integrative approach for the AMT implementation in order to take advantage of all their individual and systemic benefits. The set of proposed AMT recommendations for integrating these technologies to the organizational design are framed by structural, process and contextual aspects.

The process of introducing a new technology into a company's operations systems makes changes in organizational structures, processes and spaces; firms face obstacles during its implementation phase. All these elements refer to a new organizational architecture in such a way that these changes may be addressed through organizational design reviews. This paper explores the introduction of ‘Advanced Manufacturing Technologies’ (AMT), which are the subject of those changes, that is, their adoption and/or implementation involve changes in the organizational structure, processes and spaces. These technologies can be regarded as resources used by companies to develop higher levels of performance and competitiveness. In the present paper, AMT are approached through a bought-in perspective or according to the resource-based view (RBV). Even though, other perspectives are recognized in terms of a product-service definition. A Product-Service System (PSS) is a special case of servitization, which can be thought as a market proposition that extends the traditional functionality of a product by incorporating additional services [1]. Currently, AMT are still chosen predominately according to operational criteria aiming, for instance, to solve problems related to quality, productivity, safety and reliability performance. AMT can indeed provide competitive advantages for companies, and in doing so, these technologies should to be selected according to strategic criteria [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] and [7]. When organizations integrate their production systems (e.g. through automation), they encounter problems regarding the identification of a model for the organizational design. This model should be compatible with the adopted technological resources and external market requirements. The availability of new technologies such as the AMT and the associated possibility of their use as competitive weapons forces companies to reorganize their operations systems motivated by the technological update. As in the studies based on technological innovation that specifically evaluate the introduction of new technologies, the importance of the compatibility of the organizational design with the technology being introduced is highlighted [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15] and [16]. Woodward [17], [18], [19] and [20] sought to evaluate whether management principles had an impact on business performance or not. One of the researcher's outstanding studies and statements on the influence of technology still influences the organizational design of companies: - The organizational design is affected by the adopted technologies; - There is a strong relationship between organizational structure and the ‘consistency’ of production techniques; - Organizations with stable operations require different structures from those organizations with shifting technologies; - There is a predominance of functions in organizational models. The research of Woodward [17] revealed dependence relationships regarding the technology adopted by the organization and its environment. External circumstances and the technology being used determine requirements for the organizational design. Based on the AMT selection model developed by Gouvea da Costa [21] and presented in Fig. 1, this study intends to identify which organizational characteristics should be considered in the AMT adoption. These elements can guide the process of organizational changes, that is, they can represent the foundation for the organizational design review.Considering that the research presented in the paper is in the Operations Management and Industrial Engineering domain, the research question favors a qualitative approach due to its constitutive inquiry characteristics. Hence, it seemed appropriate to investigate the relationship between the company and the technology to be introduced through empirical data. The research strategy adopted in the study is based on the development of a theoretical framework, analysis of standard industrial survey secondary data, experts’ interviews and case studies. The process uses an iterative approach that allows the identification of a set of organizational characteristics, which mediate the AMT adoption. The refined synthesis framework, that is, the product generated by the study is based on the authors’ prior research and published literature. The paper is organized as follows: (1) research methodology, which defines the research strategy and the sequence of iterations including the literature review; and (2) the generation of recommendations based on successive iterations.

In order to provide companies with competitive advantage, the technology to be introduced should be selected according to strategic criteria and its implementation planned according to a set of organizational design recommendations. As a result of the iterations present in the study, a set of recommendations for the organizational design review was obtained. These recommendations can affect the AMT adoption process. These recommendations are, in fact, a set of decisions to be made using various perspectives, aiming to define or conduct the impact of the technology adoption in the company's production technology process. What is often observed is that companies give more importance to financial matters in the process of AMT planning and implementation. Impacts in the adjustment of the organizational structure, personnel training, among others aspects that are relevant in this process should also be observed. A preceding analysis of the impact of the AMT adoption and implementation on the organizational characteristics assists in the improvement of the AMT selection process. The research highlights the importance of defining a coordination group to manage the whole process of AMT selection, adoption and implementation. The integrative characteristic of the AMT provides complexity to the management task due multiple connections and interfaces that influence different organizational functions. A multidisciplinary group that consensually foresees the consequences of the decisions being made could quite likely manage the complete process. The risk of not having a coordinating group is related to reducing analytic potential and overlooking undesirable consequences of not using the full benefits of the AMT introduction. Another important recommendation is to define a causality map that delimits the technological implications prior to their installation. When companies understand the ‘big picture’ of the AMT use, they can be prepared for the change process and more realistic expectations can be formed. The communication of the intended improvements through the technological change could positively mobilize the personnel involved in the process. If companies do not properly communicate and disseminate the AMT benefits, the change process can be interrupted by not mobilizing required resources and capabilities. The research of Joan Woodward is still important when studying the impact of the technology on the strategy and structure of the organizations. There is a technological imperative: the technology adopted by companies determines their structure and organizational performance.