Manufacturing in Networks - Competitive Advantages for Virtual Enterprises

Global competition is characterised by different regional production factors and varying demands on the product function, quality and performance. Success is no longer a matter of consistent market orientation alone but increasingly dependent on regional contributions to production and emloyment. Crucial success factors are co-operation, the availability of components in a country, the use of the existing infrastructure etc. Thus, many companies are building up international production capacities or shifting them to foreign regional markets to sell their products not only at home but also in international markets. Following this strategy, they form global market-oriented networks to which independent partners contribute their individual core competencies. The article describes certain approaches to activate the performance potentials absolutely necessary in the global competition. Virtual enterprises enable a close-to-the customer production not only close to the market but also offering extremely flexible capacities and short shipping times. For SME this provides the unique opportunity to participate in global competition and exploit it to their maximum advantage. This article not only points out the advantages connected to the establishment of a virtual enterprise, it also shows how to achieve them, namely by supporting virtual enterprises through a service and management centre offering help throughout all life cycle stages.