THE FACTORY OF THE FUTURE:CONCLUSION

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CONCLUSION

Based on Peter Drucker’s now generally recognized thesis that only the uncertain is certain in the future markets of manufacturing enterprises (Drucker 1992), it appears safe to forecast that manu- facturing structures will change fundamentally. In this context, the transformability of future manu- facturing structures will become an important feature, enabling quick and proactive response to changing market demands.

In the scenario of transformable manufacturing structures, the focus will no longer be on the ‘‘computer-directed factory without man’’ of the 1980s but on the accomplishment of factory struc- tures that employ of the latest technology. Human beings, with their unique power for associative and creative thinking, will then take a crucial part in guaranteeing the continuous adaptation of factory structures.

Implementing transformability requires the application of new manufacturing structures in fac- tories and enterprises. These structures are distinguished by their capacity for external networking and increased internal responsibility. Combining these new structures with new design and operation methods will lead to factories exceeding the productivity of current factory structures by quantum leaps. However, this vision will only become reality if both strategies—new structures and methods— are allowed to back up each other, not regarded as isolated elements.

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