A Preliminary Study of Applying Lean Six Sigma Methods to Machine Tool Measurement

Many manufacturers aim to increase their levels of high-quality production in order to improve their market competitiveness. Continuous improvement of maintenance strategies is a key factor to be capable of delivering high quality products and services on-time with minimal operating costs. However, the cost of maintaining quality is often perceived as a non-added-value task. Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the measurement procedures necessary to guarantee accuracy of production is a more complex task than many other maintenance functions and so deserves particular analysis. This paper investigates the feasibility of producing a concise yet effective framework that will provide a preliminary approach for integrating Lean and Six Sigma philosophies to the specific goal of reducing unnecessary downtime on manufacturing machines while maintaining its ability to machine to the required tolerance. The purpose of this study is to show how a Six Sigma infrastructure is used to investigate the root causes of complication occurring during the machine tool measurement. This work recognises issues of the uncertainty of data, and the measurement procedures in parallel with the main tools of Six Sigma’s Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve-Control (DMAIC). The significance of this work is that machine tool accuracy is critical for high value manufacturing. Over-measuring the machine to ensure accuracy potentially reduces production volume. However, not measuring them or ignoring accuracy aspects possibly lead to production waste. This piece of work aims to present a lean guidance to lessen measurement uncertainties and optimise the machine tool benchmarking procedures, while adopting the DMAIC strategy to reduce unnecessary downtime

The Use of Hosted Enterprise Applications by SMEs: A User Perspective

This paper seeks to deepen our understanding of the engagement of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in hosted enterprise applications (high complexity e-business applications) in the UK by investigating the relevance of organisational and technical factors through conducting interviews with SME users of hosted applications. The emergence and development of the application service provider (ASP) sector has attracted much interest and highly optimistic forecasts for revenues. Of particular interest in this paper is the emergence of service offerings targeted specifically at SMEs. The paper starts by considering information technology (IT) adoption by SMEs in general before reviewing the provision of hosted enterprise applications in the US and UK. The empirical data collected from SME users of hosted enterprise applications is then analysed in order to produce the key findings and conclusions. From an SME user perspective the key findings to emerge from the study include: i) confirmation that ICT infrastructure was no longer a barrier to adoption, ii) the pragmatic approach taken to security issues, iii) the use of both multiple information systems (hosted and resident) and service providers, iv) the attractiveness of the rental cost model and v) the intention to continue or extend their use of hosted applications within the enterprise. The early promise of the ASP sector appears not to have been generally realised for SMEs in the UK. This study explores the experience of early adopters of this new IT related innovation and identifies some significant business gains experienced by SME users. It also highlights the opportunity for gaining competitive advantage by using hosted enterprise applications to reduce costs. There are very few empirical studies of hosted applications which take a deliberately SME user perspective and this paper make an important contribution in this emerging field

Supply Chain Management Practices in Thai SMEs: Antecedents and Outcomes

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute significantly to both local and global economic development. They are a crucial business sector for all nations’ economies. In developed countries, SMEs typically account for 60 per cent of employment, and the figure is even higher in developing countries. In 2011, Thai SMEs employed 83.9 per cent of the Thai workforce. Thai SMEs, like all other firms, face the challenge of satisfying customers by offering quality products at low prices. Furthermore, it is generally argued that, in this increasingly aggressive business world, competition arises between integrated supply chains rather than at the firm level. Therefore, effective supply chain management (SCM) is a key driver of sustainable competitive advantage. However, Thai SMEs have issues in adopting supply chains in their organisations. They have doubts about whether SCM will improve firm performance. Therefore, this study aims to reveal whether SCM practices could help Thai SMEs to improve their performance, and if so which ones and how. To fill the gap in theoretical understanding, an initiation mixed method research design was specified using 20 semi-structured interviews and quantitative questionnaires distributed to 311 subjects. An SCM practices model with antecedents and consequences was identified using previous research. The measurements were evaluated, modified and analysed using several techniques, such as thematic analysis, regression and structural equation modelling. The study makes several notable findings. Firstly, the SMEs were found to implement SCM to reduce costs and improve productivity rather than to satisfy the customer. Secondly, the IT system and top management support were two key factors in helping SMEs to successfully apply SCM. Thirdly, the major barriers to SCM were employees’ lack of understanding and improper organisational design. Fourthly, firm size had no significant relationship to the level of firm performance. Finally, the firm’s performance and SCM practices were positively correlated. This work contributes to academia by expanding research into SCM practices in SMEs, of which there is a dearth in the literature (Quayle, 2003, Meehan and Muir, 2008), especially in the context of developing countries (Katunzi and Zheng, 2010). For practitioners, regarding SMEs in Thailand and other developing countries, this study confirms that SCM practice assists SMEs to gain higher performance. Furthermore, for policy makers, enhancing SCM practices in SMEs by developing SCM enablers such as IT systems and standard performance measurement and metrics, could help SMEs to achieve higher performance

Applying Logistics to the Service Sector

서비스 부문은 매우 광범위하고 지속적으로 성장하고 있다. 전통적으로 우리는 제조업 내에서 물류를 보아왔다. 그러나 서비스 부문의 규모와 중요성은 서비스 부문에 물류를 도입할 수 있는 가능성을 제시하고 있다. 이 논문의 목적은 서비스 내에서 가능한 물류 해결책을 조사하여 서비스 부문에 물류 원리를 적용하고 평가함으로써 얻을 수 있는 혜택과 이익을 도출하는 것이다. 이 논문이 다루는 내용은 다음과 같다: &#8226일반적인 개선 제안과 의료기관 및 교육기관에 대한 개선 제안 이 논문의 연구결과는 서비스 분야에 물류를 도입함으로써 얻는 유익하고 경제적인 이점들이 주목할 만하다는 것을 보여준다.이익 분석, 비용 분석과 가능한 비용 절감 &#8226서비스 산업에서 적용 가능한 물류 솔루션의 분석 &#8226프로세스 향상 기술의 분석 &#8226서비스의 특성 &#8226Table of Contents i List of Figures iii List of Abbreviations v 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Definition of Logistics 1 1.2. Definition of Services 2 1.2.1. Nature and classification of Services 2 1.2.2. Characteristics of Services 3 1.3. History of Logistics 5 1.4. The study task & Methodology 6 2. The Service Sector 8 2.1. The growth of Service Sector 8 2.2. Competition, customer satisfaction & Service quality 9 2.3. The eight components of Integrated Service Management 11 3. Available Process Improvement methods within Service Sector 13 3.1. What is Process Improvement? 13 3.2. Service as a system 13 3.3. The Advantage & Challenge of the Service Sector 15 3.4. Process Improvement Techniques applicable in Service Industries 16 3.4.1. Total Quality Management 17 3.4.2. Total Quality Service 22 3.4.3. Benchmarking 24 3.4.4. The critical incident technique 26 3.4.5. JIT & Lean Manufacturing 26 3.4.6. Six Sigma 29 3.4.7. Constraint Management 31 3.4.8. Reengineering 32 3.4.9. Time Based Competition & Quick Response Manufacturing 33 3.4.10. ISO 9000 37 3.5. Importance of Performance Measurement 38 4. Alternative Logistics solutions introduced in Service Sector 39 4.1. Supply chain activities 40 4.1.1. Facility & Location 40 4.1.1.1. Location Analysis 40 4.1.1.2. Continuous flow 42 4.1.1.3. Manufacturing cells 42 4.1.2. Inventory 43 4.1.3. Transportation 44 4.1.4. Purchasing 45 4.1.5. Customer Service 46 4.2. Service Response Logistics 47 4.2.1. Capacity, scheduling strategies 47 4.2.2. Distribution channels and operating hours 52 4.2.3. Managing Productivity 53 4.2.4. Improved information & communication 54 4.2.5. Product Design for SO/ Process Simplification or streamlining 54 4.3. The Role of IT 56 5. Benefits and Cost Analysis 60 5.1. Benefits and Possibilities of Cost Savings 60 5.2. Definition of Quality Costs or Costs of Poor Quality 62 5.3. The Process-Cost Approach 67 5.4. Activity Based Costing 68 6. Analysis and Recommendations 71 6.1. General 71 6.2. Healtcare 72 6.2.1. Useful Process Improvement Techniques 72 6.2.2. Supply Chain Logistics 74 6.2.3. Service Response Logistics 74 6.2.4. Cost Analysis & Saving Possibilities 76 6.3. Education 77 6.3.1. Supply Chain Logistics 77 6.3.2. Service Response Logistics 78 6.3.3. Cost Analysis & Saving Possibilities 79 7. Conclusions 81 7.1. The method 81 7.2. My work 81 8. References 83 List of Appendices 8

Simulation Based Study of Safety Stocks under Short-Term Demand Volatility in Integrated Device Manufacturing.

© IEOM Society InternationalA problem faced by integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) relates to fluctuating demand and can be reflected in long-term demand, middle-term demand, and short-term demand fluctuations. This paper explores safety stock under short term demand fluctuations in integrated device manufacturing. The manufacturing flow of integrated circuits is conceptualized into front end and back end operations with a die bank in between. Using a model of the back-end operations of integrated circuit manufacturing, simulation experiments were conducted based on three scenarios namely a production environment of low demand volatility and high capacity reliability (Scenario A), an environment with lower capacity reliability than scenario A (Scenario B), and an environment of high demand volatility and low capacity reliability (Scenario C). Results show trade-off relation between inventory levels and delivery performance with varied degree of severity between the different scenarios studied. Generally, higher safety stock levels are required to achieve competitive delivery performance as uncertainty in demand increases and manufacturing capability reliability decreases. Back-end cycle time are also found to have detrimental impact on delivery performance as the cycle time increases. It is suggested that success of finished goods safety stock policy relies significantly on having appropriate capacity amongst others to support fluctuations

Business integration between manufacturing and transport-logistics firms

Purpose - This paper analyses how manufacturers and transport-logistics service providers (TLSPs) work together and integrate their business processes. The information technologies used to support the integration, the processes currently integrated, and the expected future integration, are searched. Design/methodology/approach - Six in-depth case studies were conducted among leading companies in the electrical, electronics, mechanical, food processing, and transport-logistics industries. The data was collected using comprehensive semi-structured interviews. Findings - Most of the firms are coupled electronically through EDI. The current business integration practices are primarily restricted to some sub-processes in three key SC processes: Customer service management, order fulfillment and backwards logistics. In the future the manufacturers want a better integration with the TLSPs, but at the same time, manufacturers would like to have the freedom of breaking the relationship, if the party does not fulfill the requisites and expectations. The future developments associated to the "commoditization" of TLSPs’ services would reinforce this trend. Originality/value - This research has shed light on a relatively unexplored area related to the integration between manufacturers and transport-logistics firms. Our research has highlighted the complexity of the integration between the two echelons, and has helped to the identification of current areas of integration. This research has also contributed to understand how the integration occurs in real contexts, by uncovering with a high degree of detail, what manufactures do to integrate their business with the TLSPsSupply chain management; Business process integration; Information technologies (IT); Standardization; Manufacturers; Transport and Logistics Service Providers (TLSPs)

Technology and Service Quality in the Banking Industry: An Empirical Study of Various Factors in Electronic Banking Services

Technology-based self service has greatly changed the way that service Firms and consumers interact and are raising a host of research and practice issues relating to the delivery of e-service which has become increasingly important not only in determining the success or failure of electronic commerce but also in providing consumers with a superior experience with respect to the interactive flow of information. The purpose of this research study was to establish the relationship between technology and service quality in the banking industry in Nigeria. The research was carried out through a cross sectional smvey design which questioned respondents one e-banking services. The population of study mainly constituted of customers of Oceanic bank within Lagos metropolis and its environs. The respondents of the study were customers of banks using e-banking services (internet banking, mobile banking and AIM). The sample in this study consisted of 120 respondents who are users of thee-banking services. The data collected was analyzed by use of frequency, percentage, means and correlation analysis. The findings revealed that secure services as the most important dimension, followed by convenient location of AIM, efficiency (not need to wait, ability to set up accounts so that the customer can perform transactions immediately, accurately of records, user friendly, ease of user, complaint satisfaction, accurate transactions and operation in 24 h)

Organic supply chain collaboration: a case study in eight EU Countries

This study aims at contributing to a better understanding of the linkage between supply chain performance and possible performance improvement with respect to food quality and safety. Therefore, the paper addresses the question whether the level of collaborative planning and close supply chain relationships could help improve quality and safety of organic supply chains. The study was conducted as a part of the multi-disciplinary EU-wide survey of organic supply chains, carried out in 8 European countries. In this paper we report the results of the study regarding the structures and performance of six different organic supply chains in these eight European countries: milk (CH, UK), apples (DE, CH), pork (UK, NL), eggs (DE, UK), wheat (HU, IT, FR) and tomatoes (IT, NL). In depth interviews with key-informants were carried out in 2006 to investigate the structures, performance and relationships within the supply chains. Results show a low level of collaboration among various actors especially on cost and benefits sharing. Highly integrated supply chains show higher collaboration especially in the domain of Decision Synchronization. Trust and collaboration appear to be related with increased performance, while, the higher the perceived risk for quality and safety is, the higher the probability of supply chain collaboration.Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,