As global economies become increasingly interconnected, companies need to develop the most appropriate configuration of international manufacturing plants to maximise access to markets and strategic resources. A structured approach to 'manufacturing footprint' strategy, developed by the IfM, Senior Industrial Fellows Paul Christodoulou and Don Fleet describe its importance and benefits.

Other resources you might be interested in are available at this URL http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/free/ and inlcude:
Briefings
Manufacturing footprint strategy (2 page summary pdf)
Tailored Approaches to Manufacturing footprint strategy (pdf)
Industrial service network design: configuring multi-organisational networks
How do supply networks shape industrial emergence

Reports
•Making the Right Things in the Right Places
This report describes a structured approach to understanding and exploiting a company's international 'manufacturing footprint' - the location of its plants around the globe, what their roles should be and how they interact with each other.
•Understanding China's manufacturing value chain