The impact of the collaborative robot on competitive priorities: case study of an automotive supplier

Abstract: The literature on operations strategies has extensively addressed the notion that competitive priorities and structural decisions should be aligned to create, develop, and maintain competitive advantages. However, the speed and scale of new manufacturing technologies are modifying an organization’s strategies and manufacturing capabilities to address new market requirements, competition, and new entrants. Advances in robotics are poised to change the global business landscape and to support organizations in improving upon their operations strategies. Industrial robots usually help improve product quality and provide better work conditions to limit the use of resources, resulting in cost savings. One of the main trends in robotics is that of human-robot collaboration (HRC), which influences operations strategies and which can have a disruptive effect on business models and market structures. The aim of this paper is to explore and understand the relationship between the competitive priorities (quality, cost, flexibility, and delivery) of classical operations and the competitive advantage of adopting HRC for a Brazilian automotive parts supplier. The results indicate that the hybrid cell (U-shaped manufacturing cell) fully adheres to cost and dependability priorities and partially adheres to quality and flexibility priorities.

摘要：运营战略领域的学术文献已广泛探讨了竞争优先级与结构性决策应当保持一致，以打造、发展并维持竞争优势这一核心观点。然而，新型制造技术的发展速度与应用规模正在重塑企业的战略与制造能力，使其能够适配新的市场需求、竞争格局与新进入者带来的挑战。机器人技术的进步有望重构全球商业版图，并助力企业优化其运营战略。工业机器人通常可提升产品质量、改善工作环境，从而降低资源消耗，实现成本节约。机器人技术的核心发展趋势之一为人机协作（human-robot collaboration, HRC），其不仅会对运营战略产生影响，还可能对商业模式与市场结构造成颠覆性冲击。本文旨在探究并厘清传统运营的四大竞争优先级——质量、成本、灵活性与交付——与采用人机协作技术为巴西某汽车零部件供应商带来的竞争优势之间的关联。研究结果显示，该混合单元（U型制造单元）完全契合成本与可靠性优先级，同时部分契合质量与灵活性优先级。