Business firms generally choose to compete within one or two areas of strength. These areas of strength are often referred to as distinctive competencies, core competencies, or competitive priorities. Among the options for competition are price (cost), quality, delivery, service, and flexibility. An ever-increasing number of firms are choosing to compete in the area of flexibility. Generally, this has meant that the firm's major strength is flexibility of product (able to easily make changes in the product) or flexibility of volume (able to easily absorb large shifts in demand). Firms that are able to do this are said to have flexible capacity, the ability to operate manufacturing equipment at different production rates by varying staffing levels and operating hours, or starting and stopping at will. Specifically, manufacturing flexibility consists of three components: (1) the flexibility to produce a variety of products using the same machines and to...