Quantifying High Value Manufacturing characteristics: Two case studies in the UK manufacturing sector

Porter and Ketels (2003) highlighted the urgency “to move up the value chain and to reap the benefits of high-skilled, knowledge-intensive manufacturing operations”. This debate around UK competitiveness has focused on how manufacturing can be enhanced and sustained over time. This paper investigates “to what extent can High Value Manufacturing (HVM) characteristics be quantified?” To do so, the interface between Operations and Marketing was explored regarding the meaning of ‘value to customer’. In this vein, Addis and Holbrook (2001) assert that there are three main types of products from the customer’s perspective: utilitarian, balanced and hedonic products. They arrived at these types by combining the objective features of the product and the subjective responses of the customers. Therefore, customers perceive ‘value’ as emerging from the experience they have in relation to the product (Pine and Gilmore, 1998).