The History of Fast and Flexible Manufacturing at MIT: The International Motor Vehicle Program at MIT gained notoriety for articulating the lean production principle in its successful book, The Machine That Changed the World, which focused on the automotive industry but proposed the argument for lean production for other industries as well. MIT and its Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development (CTPID) have since built a significant research infrastructure for studying the automotive industry. The MIT Lean Aircraft Initiative, for example, extends the "lean" principle by seeking to improve productivity and affordability in the defense aircraft industry.
Using the same in-depth research approach characteristic of the IMVP, the CTPID is examining the technologies and practices of Fast and Flexible Manufacturing -- a concept some observers see as the next major framework for world-class manufacturing. The concept of Fast and Flexible Manufacturing, also referred to as Agile Manufacturing, was introduced in 1991 by a government-sponsored research effort at Lehigh University. The CTPID's new project, in partnership with Lehigh, aims to "put meat on the bones" of the Fast and Flexible concept articulated at that university.
The Co-Directors of MIT's two Fast and Flexible projects are Dr. Daniel Whitney and Professor Charles Fine. The Fast and Flexible projects at MIT are funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) and administered by the Wright Laboratory Manufacturing Technology Directorate. Fast and Flexible projects aim to help manufacturers produce higher quality products more quickly and efficiently in a world of rapidly changing technology by improving communications between manufacturers and their web of suppliers. Such projects are similar to the MADE concept.
Fast and Flexible Links:
