Testing Scenarios of Strategic Production Configuration Using Fuzzy Logic

Strategic production configuration in developing economies requires verified knowledge of the production system and its environment. In order to model these reproducibly, we use a fuzzy logic based model in this paper. This allows for simulation of dependencies within strategic production configuration. The results are transparent and reproducible and support strategic decisions-making. Thus, this method clarifies the correlations between business strategy, product, assembly and production system in developing economies. To evaluate the impact of local conditions on location configuration, we test scenarios such as changing competitive priorities, locations in different countries and product adaptation. The scenarios are tested within the aCar mobility project, a project in which an electric vehicle was designed for local value creation in Africa. The results allow for identifying similarities and differences in strategic recommendations, and therefore to develop a suitable production configuration. Thus, the key findings of this paper are the highlighting of effects of scenarios on the production strategy in developing economies. It becomes evident that for a sustainable strategy the possible scenarios of the development must also be taken into account in the early decision making process.