This is an exploratory study on the critical success factors of the production automation and the evolution of production system focusing on the S company. The objective of this study is to investigate the key factors of the production automation, and to research the factors of the evolution of production system in view of flexibility and knowledge.
For this purpose, this study investigates five cases of production automation of S company. In spite of the methodological limitation, this study desirably provides the following results:
First, the positive side of production automation is quality improvement, betterment in productivity, and accumulation of technology.
Second, the negative side of production automation is overinvestment in production system, system exclusiveness, and overcapcity.
Third, the critical success factors of production automation are top management's drive, good relationships between customers and suppliers, and harmony in functional organization.
Finally, in order to solve the negative side of automation, the firm should consider the short-term strategy in view of product-process matrix, and focus on the development of production capability related to flexibility and knowledge in the long-term, not on the cost-driven strategy.
Conclusively, it is requisite for S company to research potential multimedia market proactively, and to pioneer new era.
