A study released by Deloitte Research, the thought leadership arm of Deloitte & Touche LLP and Deloitte Consulting, at National Manufacturing Week 2002 shows that while the future may be unknown, top performers in the global manufacturing sector are capitalizing on the fluctuations of the economy by employing strategic flexibility principles. 

According to the study, Performance Amid Uncertainty in Global Manufacturing, industry leaders like Dell, Oracle,and Nokia are taking action by focusing on improving immediate competitive advantage while simultaneously positioning themselves well for future success.

“Over the last 18 months, we have seen the manufacturing sector uniquely affected by this period of uncertainty. This is evidenced by the fact that it is one of the earliest industries to begin an upswing,” said Doug Engel, national managing director of Deloitte & Touche LLP's manufacturing industry practice. ”We've seen that organizations employing strategic flexibility, planning for various contingencies and making educated choices about the path they follow typically have the resources in place for multiple eventualities.”

The strategic flexibility framework
The report explores the winning practices of the global top performers and describes the guiding principles that they have employed to help them become more successful, whether in a downturn or upturn on the economic roller coaster. Those principles include:

• Customer relationship management: the customer is still king
• Product strategy: innovation drives success
• Supply chain management: a major contributor to competitive advantage
• Human resources management: creative thinking can help to reduce layoffs
• Business infrastructure: leverage existing technology investments, rather than additional, large, potentially unnecessary investments

“By focusing on key areas such as customer relationship management, product innovation, supply chain optimization, human resource management and business infrastructure, flexible companies are well positioned for this current upswing,” said Craig Giffi, a Deloitte Consulting principal who leads the firm's global manufacturing group. “Deloitte Research's Global Manufacturing 100 Index, which is part of this report, provides examples of companies currently doing just that.”

The Global Top 100 Performers Index
Some of the companies employing these principles include Dell, Oracle, Nokia, Anglo American Platinum and Coca-Cola Co.

Other findings include:
• North America dominates the list with two thirds of the top performers.
• Peak performers do not fit one mold: the top 25 alone span 13 different sectors (from precious metals mining to food processing to computer software).
• Most top performers have far surpassed the average current performance in their industries.
• In Asia-Pacific, Taiwanese companies dominate the list with five high tech companies.
• In Europe – the UK dominates the list with five companies across a spectrum of industries.

The methodology
Deloitte Research's innovative study uses a unique framework – which equally weights current and near term performance as well as how companies are expected to take advantage of future investment opportunities – to identify organizations that use strategic flexibility to their advantage. The data compiled is then used to determine a company's level of performance. 

The index ranks top-performing manufacturers not only on a global basis, but across industry and geographic region as well. Deloitte Research's index employs methodology developed by Holt Value Associates, a consulting firm based in Chicago.

For copies of the study, please visit www.deloitte.com/us/manufacturing or www.dc.com.

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