Agile manufacturing: Relation to JIT, operational performance and firm performance

Abstract A structural model incorporating agile manufacturing as the focal construct is theorized and tested. The model includes the primary components of JIT (JIT‐purchasing and JIT‐production) as antecedents and operational performance and firm performance as consequences to agile manufacturing. Using data collected from production and operations managers working for large U.S. manufacturers, the model is assessed following a structural equation modeling methodology. The results indicate that JIT‐purchasing has a direct positive relationship with agile manufacturing while the positive relationship between JIT‐production and agile manufacturing is mediated by JIT‐purchasing. The results also indicate that agile manufacturing has a direct positive relationship with the operational performance of the firm, that the operational performance of the firm has a direct positive relationship with the marketing performance of the firm, and that the positive relationship between the operational performance of the firm and the financial performance of the firm is mediated by the marketing performance of the firm.