From supply chain to welding network: A framework of the prospects of networks in welding

Abstract

Changes in the competitiveenvironment of global manufacturing markets mean that study of supply chainsand business networks has become an important aspect of efforts to enhanceefficiency in industrial manufacturing. The difference between a supply chain andnetwork approach is not unambiguous and the utility of such approaches inspecific manufacturing contexts is not always clear. This paper reviews networkingtheory as it pertains to industrial manufacturing and compares this theoreticalinformation with practices in welding manufacturing. The study analyzes weldingnetworks with the example of a three welding network structure with multiplelinkages. The analysis shows that the level of cooperation in welding manufacturingis insufficiently developed for optimal network prospects and that weldingnetworks have enormous potential to increase the profitability of productionthrough effective management of internal cooperation linkages and by focusingexternal cooperation on quality assurance and welding requirements.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.mech.21.2.8463