ABSTRACT
This chapter takes an internal (company) perspective, and consider external partners as strategic interfaces to be managed rather than as the key players of the strategy itself. From this perspective, manufacturing strategy complements, and needs alignment with, the supply chain strategy of a company, rather than being part of it. It aims to take a journey through the consolidated theories on manufacturing strategies which can be linked back to the seminal work of Skinner five decades ago. The chapter considers the new challenges that manufacturing companies face in world and the new theories that are developing to provide guidance in this new context. It provides a comprehensive picture of the key concepts and the challenges that companies and researchers need to address when dealing with manufacturing strategy choices. The chapter focuses on manufacturing strategy. It examines decision related to the location and management of production facilities, with direct (full or partial) ownership.
