Editorial

Citation

Bennett, D. (2007), "Editorial", Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 18 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmtm.2007.06818eaa.001

Editorial

A few months ago in JMTM Volume 18, Issue 2, I used the Editorial to discuss the problems of Airbus and the delays with the A380 “superjumbo”. Since, that time, Airbus announced that it would be restructuring and cutting jobs in all four countries where it produces the major parts of its aircraft: France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. However, despite declaring 1,500 redundancies in the UK, it was reported in the media that no jobs would be lost in manufacturing.

To me, this poses the question: “What is manufacturing?”. Certainly at one time there was a clear distinction between manufacturing and the other two main industrial sectors; the extractive industries (mining and agriculture) and services. Today, however, the distinction is blurred, especially between manufacturing and services. At one time, if someone was employed in a manufacturing company, they would be regarded as having a manufacturing job. Even a job in purchasing, planning, accounts and sales would be an integral part of the manufacturing operation. Now, on the other hand, with the prevalence of outsourcing, many of these activities have been moved to external organisations, such as consultants, logistics and IT providers who supply them back as a “services” to manufacturers.

This changing landscape of manufacturing also raises the question of how manufacturing is defined within the editorial scope of this journal. Increasingly, it is a question I need to consider when giving my preliminary assessment of an article's suitability before sending out to reviewers. A submission that deals with the control of production processes is acceptable, but one that deals with the control of stock in a supermarket is not. However, supermarkets sell goods that need to be manufactured and there is a chain of supply between the two, which is the part of the grey area that now exists along with many other functions that have been externalised. Perhaps a good test is to employ a well-established classification of manufacturing-related service functions that identifies how the services are used in manufacturing. This classifies such services as firstly “enabling” (such as design, development, purchasing, materials logistics and production engineering), secondly “assisting” (such as maintenance, performance management, method study and human factors), and thirdly “controlling” (such as production control, inventory control, quality control and production cost accounting). Any activity that comes within these three categories is, in my opinion, part of manufacturing, so any articles that address an associated issue or problem are relevant to the editorial scope of JMTM. I would also argue that any job in one of these categories that is lost at Airbus, or any other manufacturing organisation, whether inside or outside the company, is indeed a manufacturing job!

David Bennett