Advances in Production Engineering & Management
Volume 20 | Number 4 | December 2025 | pp 445–457
https://doi.org/10.14743/apem2025.4.551
Measuring the coordinated development of the advanced manufacturing cluster based on patent data: A composite system approach
Zhang, H.K.; Yang, J.N.; Buchmeister, B.; Ojstersek, R.
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A B S T R A C T
The advanced manufacturing industry serves as a key driver of high-quality economic development, with patent data widely used to assess regional technological innovation and synergy. Evaluating coordination within advanced industrial clusters offers practical insights into industrial upgrading. Focusing on the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei advanced manufacturing cluster in China, the composite system is divided into four subsystems: quantity, quality, efficiency, and value. Using patent data from 2013 to 2023, a composite system synergy model was built to measure the degree of synergy. A coupling coordination degree model and an obstacle degree model were applied together to examine coordination states and limiting factors. The findings show a generally rising synergy degree in the cluster, indicating increased organizational coherence over time. Coupling coordination displayed short-term fluctuations but exhibited a positive long-term trend, achieving high-quality coupling by 2023. Collaborative development is dynamically influenced by multidimensional obstacles, calling for timely and tailored measures to improve synergy efficiency. This study offers an empirical basis for optimizing collaboration in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei cluster and provides a theoretical reference for understanding synergy mechanisms in similar industrial clusters.
A R T I C L E I N F O
Keywords • Advanced manufacturing cluster; Patent data; Composite system synergy; Coupling coordination degree; Obstacle degree; Regional industrial coordination; Innovation synergy
Corresponding author • Ojstersek, R.
Article history • Received 23 October 2025, Revised 29 November 2025, Accepted 3 December 2025
Published on-line • 31 December 2025
E X P O R T C I T A T I O N
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