It is easier to swallow an elephant in pieces. A way of measuring flexibility and quality. A study of DAS.

Sammanfattning: Upon marketing the system in Europe and the USA cost savings generated from reduced work force have been prevailing. Since the cost of labour is much lower in the Asia Pacific region other factors have to be stressed. The parameters of flexibility and quality assurance may however cover any initial investment in a production system. Our purpose is to value flexibility and quality in a manufacturing context, applied to DAS, in order to use it in investment calculations. In order to make an adequate estimation of different companies, due to problems associated with acquiring correct figures, the Key Success Factors needs to be examined so that the gathering of numbers can be conducted with more focus. The model developed by the authors has some drawbacks and needs to be assessed further but provides an initial sufficient way of measuring flexibility and quality.