PhD Students

Ireland's industrial development has been heavily dependent on the attraction of foreign branch plants which operate as part of internationally integrated production chains. As a result, the successful operation of much of Ireland's manufacturing sector depends to a significant extent on the efficient management of flows into and out of Ireland as part of these production chains. This has resulted in the growing importance of logistics. Ireland's island status adds an extra dimension to the logistical considerations faced by both indigenous and foreign-owned manufacturing firms operating in this country.

The research will examine the spatial dimensions of supply structures in Irish manufacturing through a postal/online survey and follow-up in-depth interviews. Among key elements to be explored are:
(i) The geographical configurations (global, national and regional) of the supply structures of major indigenous and foreign end-product manufacturers in different sectors and how these configurations have changed over time;
(ii) The role of specialist logistics firms in organising supply systems for manufacturing firms;
(iii) The extent to which indigenous Irish firms have been able to exploit the market possibilities created by the trend to outsourcing in manufacturing industry (especially among foreign firms);
(iv) The extent to which specialist suppliers have been attracted to Ireland to produce inputs for clients based in Ireland.

The outputs of the research will include a detailed picture of the current supply system of Irish-based manufacturing industry, an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and policy proposals for building on the strengths and remedying the weaknesses in order to produce a more vibrant and sustainable industrial structure based on stronger local linkage structures and more effective external linkages.

This research is funded by Enterprise Ireland, and NIRSA.