Lean Implementation Frameworks:The Challenges for SMEs

Implementation of lean manufacturing in any type of organizations can bring many benefits, such as reducing waste and improving operating efficiency. However, lean implementation is not a straightforward process. Although a number of frameworks have been presented, still many companies find it difficult to implement lean. Furthermore, most of these roadmaps are for large manufacturing companies, and not for small and medium enterprises. Unfortunately, there is not a recipe that if used can guarantee a successful implementation. Furthermore, unsuccessful implementation can have a great impact on organization's resources, but even more importantly, affect employees and their confidence in lean philosophy. In the present paper, the most prominent lean implementation frameworks will be discussed, under the prism of the needs of SMEs. The challenges for the SMEs in their lean journey are discussed

New Hampshire University Research and Industry Plan: A Roadmap for Collaboration and Innovation

This University Research and Industry plan for New Hampshire is focused on accelerating innovation-led development in the state by partnering academia’s strengths with the state’s substantial base of existing and emerging advanced industries. These advanced industries are defined by their deep investment and connections to research and development and the high-quality jobs they generate across production, new product development and administrative positions involving skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)

A Maturity Model for Assessing Industry 4.0 Readiness and Maturity of Manufacturing Enterprises

AbstractManufacturing enterprises are currently facing substantial challenges with regard to disruptive concepts such as the Internet of Things, Cyber Physical Systems or Cloud-based Manufacturing – also referred to as Industry 4.0. Subsequently, increasing complexity on all firm levels creates uncertainty about respective organizational and technological capabilities and adequate strategies to develop them. In this paper we propose an empirically grounded novel model and its implementation to assess the Industry 4.0 maturity of industrial enterprises in the domain of discrete manufacturing. Our main goal was to extend the dominating technology focus of recently developed models by including organizational aspects. Overall we defined 9 dimensions and assigned 62 items to them for assessing Industry 4.0 maturity. The dimensions “Products”, “Customers”, “Operations” and “Technology” have been created to assess the basic enablers. Additionally, the dimensions “Strategy”, “Leadership”, Governance, “Culture” and “People” allow for including organizational aspects into the assessment. Afterwards, the model has been transformed into a practical tool and tested in several companies whereby one case is presented in the paper. First validations of the model's structure and content show that the model is transparent and easy to use and proved its applicability in real production environments

Lean Maintenance Roadmap

AbstractMaintenance shares significant operating costs in an organisation. It is considered as a main pillar of the organisational performance. Lean thinking can be incorporated into maintenance activities through applying its principles and practices. Lean maintenance is a prerequisite for lean manufacturing systems. The exhaustive literature review has been conducted to collect the up-to-date maintenance strategies and activities, lean principles and practices in the lean maintenance process. The scope of this paper includes eight types of waste (non-value added maintenance activities), maintenance value stream mapping and a scheme of lean maintenance practices. The output of this paper is a proposed roadmap to apply lean thinking in a maintenance process

A survey study on Industry 4.0 readiness level of Italian small and medium enterprises

Abstract The Industry 4.0 (I4.0) paradigm is considered one of the most trending topics in the academic and industrial context, that involves emerging technologies that can make the processes increasingly integrated and provide digital solutions for supporting companies towards the greater flexibility required by the market. To date, the scientific literature strongly addressed the development of enabling technologies and the assessment of their impacts in different industrial contexts. However, there is a lack of studies providing empirical evidence about how manufacturing companies are facing the digital transformation, in particular for smaller industrial realities. For this reason, this paper aims to study the knowledge, readiness, and dissemination level of the I4.0 paradigm and enabling technologies for Italian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). A web-based survey was conducted, and 77 companies were interviewed. The survey results underline that MSMEs still have limited knowledge about I4.0 and are not well prepared for its implementation

2011 Strategic roadmap for Australian research infrastructure

The 2011 Roadmap articulates the priority research infrastructure areas of a national scale (capability areas) to further develop Australia’s research capacity and improve innovation and research outcomes over the next five to ten years. The capability areas have been identified through considered analysis of input provided by stakeholders, in conjunction with specialist advice from Expert Working Groups   It is intended the Strategic Framework will provide a high-level policy framework, which will include principles to guide the development of policy advice and the design of programs related to the funding of research infrastructure by the Australian Government. Roadmapping has been identified in the Strategic Framework Discussion Paper as the most appropriate prioritisation mechanism for national, collaborative research infrastructure. The strategic identification of Capability areas through a consultative roadmapping process was also validated in the report of the 2010 NCRIS Evaluation. The 2011 Roadmap is primarily concerned with medium to large-scale research infrastructure. However, any landmark infrastructure (typically involving an investment in excess of $100 million over five years from the Australian Government) requirements identified in this process will be noted. NRIC has also developed a ‘Process to identify and prioritise Australian Government landmark research infrastructure investments’ which is currently under consideration by the government as part of broader deliberations relating to research infrastructure. NRIC will have strategic oversight of the development of the 2011 Roadmap as part of its overall policy view of research infrastructure

Industrial Transformation Roadmap for Digitalisation and Smart Factories:The Danish SMEs Model

Today only some sections of the supply chain are digitalized, but some companies are also already far with Industry 4.0, where the virtual factory and the physical factory work closely together (digital twin). Industry 4.0, which started in Germany among the large OEMs, seems to have not resonated much with SMEs. There is an imminent challenge of coming up with a feasible transformation roadmap which will resonate effectively and efficiently with SEMs as they are the core backbone of every performing economy. This research investigates Smart Factories/Industry 4.0 in the Danish SMEs model perspective. This research's main objectives are to develop a feasible roadmap in the form of a conceptual framework for easy industrial transformation to the digitalizing and smart way of (doing things) developing products and/or services. This research employs quantitative research methods such as surveys and interviews where applicable as well as a literature review in the SMEs perspective. Previous research has shown that the digital evolution coined as Industry 4.0 was started among large companies. However, this initial precedence has not resonated very much with all-inclusive industrial evolution, especially within the SMEs perspective. The main industrial implication will be the definition of a clear feasible roadmap for what this research terms as an industrial transformation process - "digital change management process - Industry 4.0/Smart factory" in the industrial SMEs perspective - the Danish Model. This research seeks to propose a conceptual smart factory roadmap in an Industry 4.0 perspective, which could be adopted among manufacturing SMEs to effectively, and efficiently transform their production operations. The Danish model perspective or angle of Industry 4.0.</p

A vision of re-distributed manufacturing for the UK’s consumer goods industry

The linear production of consumer goods is characterised by mass manufacture, multinational enterprises and globally dispersed supply chains. Redistributed manufacture (RDM) is an emerging topic, which seeks to enable a transition of the current linear model of production and consumption, by taking advantage of new technologies. This paper aims to explore the challenges, opportunities and further research questions to set a vision of Redistributed manufacturing for the UK’s consumer goods industry. To set this vision, a literature survey was conducted followed by a qualitative enquiry where PESTLE1 aspects of RDM were analysed. This analysis was interpreted through a roadmap. As a result of this roadmap, four RDM characteristics (i.e. customisation, use of digital technologies, local production and the development of new business models) were identified. These characteristics helped to set the future vision of RDM in the UK’s consumer goods sector

Development of a regionalized implementation strategy for smart automation within assembly systems in China

Companies struggle to overcome the difficulties stemming from the dynamic environment of global production due to the specific conditions in different regions. Particularly, insufficient know-how about a regionalized implementation strategy of smart automation (SmAu) technologies is one significant difficulty for enterprises. Thus, developing a key performance indicator (KPI) oriented, regionalized implementation strategy for smart automation technologies is increasingly important. In this context, a new approach is exposed to systematically investigate and identify the interdependencies among location factors, smart automation technologies, and KPIs. Firstly, the environment consisting of location-related factors, KPIs and smart automation technologies is defined in detail. Further, a Catalog quantifies the influence of different regions in China. Secondly, important aspects to model the qualitative and quantitative interdependencies in a multimethod simulation are introduced. Subsequently, an approach to analyze suitable implementation strategies is presented. A case study based on a production line for digitalized production technology is used to validate the proposed approach

Roadmap to a net-zero carbon cement sector: Strategies, innovations and policy imperatives

The cement industry plays a significant role in global carbon emissions, underscoring the urgent need for measures to transition it toward a net-zero carbon footprint. This paper presents a detailed plan to this end, examining the current state of the cement sector, its carbon output, and the imperative for emission reduction. It delves into various low-CO2 technologies and emerging innovations such as alkali-activated cements, calcium looping, electrification, and bio-inspired materials. Economic and policy factors, including cost assessments and governmental regulations, are considered alongside challenges and potential solutions. Concluding with future prospects, the paper offers recommendations for policymakers, industry players, and researchers, highlighting the roadmap's critical role in achieving a carbon-neutral cement sector