A self-organising view of manufacturing enterprises

Enterprises serve a purpose that is largely the reason as well as the result of its existence in a form that is most amenable for its sustenance. Despite this fact, seldom is the case that enterprises are designed or operated in a way that will bring out the best of its capabilities. The structure, normally designed by an external agency and to satisfy some instant of a future in mind is quite inadequate when such a future never comes to pass or when new futures are posed. At least to provide an enterprise a chance of continued survival what may be required is a structure that is more organic and self-organising in nature. This paper, in proposing a self-organising view of manufacturing enterprises, attempts to shed some light on the underlying processes and general mechanisms for the design and operation of self-organising enterprises. The discussion principally centres on the fundamental concepts of self-organisation that underpins the emerging concepts of holonic, bionic and fractal manufacturing to name a few. The concepts are suitably interpreted to provide insights into structural and operational issues that will confront an enterprise for it to become self-organising, and an example is provided to illustrate application. # 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.