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Abstract
This study was intended to support the future technology implementation efforts of small to medium-sized manufacturing companies by performing a field study of at least 100 firms in the Greater Philadelphia region (Delaware Valley and Lehigh Valley), and by focusing on a given technology, computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM). In this study we not only confirmed some of the findings of early work, but we also empirically assessed the role of firm-level factors in the successful implementation of technology in small to medium-sized firms, and examine some plausible alternatives to our theory of complementarity among these factors.
Through this study we were able to determine the workforce development practices, the organizational characteristics and the organizational practices that are statistically significant between the highly successful firms and the less successful ones. Additionally, we found that the factors associated with the use of in-house training methods, the level of usage of flexible manufacturing systems, the establishment and frequency of committee meetings, the decision about the pace of work, the training budget, the development of CAD/CAM skills, and the offering of profit sharing incentives to managers are factors related to the perceived degree of accomplishment of typical manufacturing goals associated with CAD/CAM. Moreover, we found that these factors are part of a complementary system.
These findings have implications for the owners, or top managers, of small manufacturing firms, for policymakers, for the manufacturing associations, and for the economic and workforce development organizations.
We believe that this study has offered a great starting point for additional research considering technology implementation in small manufacturing firms.
