Mediation Effect of Lean: A Bidirectional Synergetic Relationship with SCM for Higher Operational Performance

Competitive plants focus their efforts on reducing manufacturing costs and waste along their production chains. Hence, manufacturing programs with important practices and methodologies such as lean, JIT, TPM, and Kaizen have been embraced. However, an empirical investigation of simultaneous use of several manufacturing programs representing multiple facets of lean is lacking in the literature. Various studies have found that some supply chain management practices are bi-directionally related to lean, but its holistic measurement in relation to supply chain management is still lacking. Thus, this paper provides an evidence of mediation effect of lean from high performance manufacturing (HPM) project perspective in relation to supply chain management

Lean management in the current context of evolution of an organization

concerning the importance of Lean Management method in the current context of evolution of an organization. With roots in the just in time method, Lean Management model focuses on the process of changes evolving and adapting to them and regards issues such as: the dimensioning of life cycle, the dimensioning of processes, the dimensioning of ranges of products. I have also presented the relationship between Lean Management method and the human factor as a determinant in forming an organizational culture which leads to the formation and development of Lean thinking. Relevant factors which determine the change and interact with the Lean Management method are: training, motivation, teamwork spirit, communication methods, training and motivation. An important aspect of this paper is to integrate Lean Management with Six Sigma, and with other managerial techniques leading to getting quality products at low costsLean Management, strategy, performance, change, Six Sigma, Kaizen

Delivering and sustaining change through implementation of a lean management system : a journey towards health improvement : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Studies in Management at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

In this ever-changing world organisations seek to be adaptive and innovative and in response they are adopting new ways of working. Approaches to managing change have been well documented and have progressed as a deeper understanding of change and the associated study of human behaviours has developed. One such methodology that emerged from the well-studied area of Lean Thinking is the Lean Management System, which aims to align direction and distribute decision-making in an organisation in order to have greater sustainability of change. This study was conducted in the pharmacy department of a large New Zealand public hospital that sought to engage their team in change from a supply-driven pharmacy model, to a model focused on medicines optimisation. To enable the change, the pharmacy department developed work practices based on a Lean Management System that had been adopted in other areas of the hospital. There is very little literature on studies that discuss the impact of Lean Management Systems in healthcare organisations, in particular a pharmacy department. The primary aim for this study is to explore the impact that a Lean Management System has on the sustainability of change in a hospital pharmacy department. Participatory Action Research was selected as the methodology to explore the two main themes of ‘Relevance’ and ‘Reactivity’ before, during and after the introduction of a Lean Management System. The data for the study was collected through a combination of focus groups, interviews and researcher reflections. Given that the researcher worked with the participants of the study to facilitate the introduction of the Lean Management System, processes were established to ensure the study was conducted in an ethical manner. The findings from the study indicate that the introduction of a Lean Management System has a positive impact on sustainability of change, as observed through an increase in the Relevance individuals had with the wider pharmacy department and a reduction in the day-to-day Reactivity team members experienced. This improvement was not consistent across all teams in the pharmacy department, in particular a difference observed in the level of Relevance between the Pharmacy Leadership Team and the ‘front line’ teams. The findings also highlight the strong connection between leadership behaviours and effectiveness of the Lean Management System. The findings can be explained by a range of literature relating to behavioural characteristics, identity theory, alignment to purpose and leadership. Implications for policy and practice are provided with the aim of guiding organisations introducing Lean Management Systems to be successful. The research identifies a number of gaps in literature and recommends that, in order to achieve greater sustainability of change, the introduction of a Lean Management System be conducted in conjunction with the development of leadership behaviours. Finally, future research is recommended focusing on the development of Lean Management Systems aligned to social networks and the impact of Organisational Identity on Lean Management Systems

Enablers and Constraints in Implementing Lean Manufacturing: evidence from Brazilian SMEs

Lean Manufacturing has revolutionized the global manufacturing environment at an unprecedented rate. In scholarly and managerial literature, many works have reported that Lean Manufacturing is a very efficient approach and a straightforward way towards process improvements, in terms of productivity and value adding activities ratio. However, many studies on Lean Manufacturing have highlighted many problems in its implementation. The analysis carried out within the research project is aimed to the factors enabling or constraining the Lean Transformation of a firm’s production system, along with the most relevant tools or practices to be applied. The research methodology used is the so-called “Normative Delphi” with a panel formed by 32 experts coming from 16 Brazilian SMEs. Our results are partially consistent with what has already been discussed in the literature and we found that the most relevant tools/practices are: value stream mapping, 5S methodology, and Kaizen (Gemba walks); the top three enabling factors are: knowledge and sponsorship of senior management, focus on continuous improvement, and employee development fostered by the company; finally, the main critical constraints are: little support from the top management, resistance to change by middle management, and poor or non-qualified Lean training activities

Enabling initiation of a lean management system in SMEs: a case study of a high performance plastics manufacturer

This paper investigates the challenges in developing a Lean Management System in a typical Small to Medium Size Enterprise (SME’s) in the UK. Through a series of pilot projects measured and implemented by action research this case study reflects on the changes in mind-set and behaviours that are required on the part of the researcher in order to implement a Lean Manufacturing System. The implementation and suggestions by the researcher to adopt the observational methods such as visual data management and Hoshin Kanri were part of the action research. The data gathered influenced management strategy and planning to incorporate lean practices in the organisation. The actions and results were achieved by the workforce commitment to ensure embedding and sustainability for the future. Benefits realised included a 21% increase in on time delivery performance and cross functional problem solving actions resulted in a lead time reduction of 8 to 4 weeks

Measuring the level of lean readiness of the Hong Kong's manufacturing industry

Increasingly competitive business environments have forced manufacturing organisations to continuously seek improvements in their production processes as an alternative to achieve operational excellence. Lean manufacturing principles and techniques based on the elimination waste have been widely used by manufacturing organisations around the world to drive such improvements. The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical study that evaluates the readiness level of the Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry to provide a foundation for the successful implementation and/or sustainment of lean practices. To conduct this study, the paper adapts an assessment framework developed by Al-Najem et al. [16]. Thus, the lean readiness assessment is based on six quality practices (i.e. planning & control; processes; human resources; customer relations; supplier relations; and top management & leadership) related to lean manufacturing. One research question and three hypotheses were formulated and tested using a combination of inferential statics (i.e. Levene’s test and t-test) and descriptive statistics. Data were collected through a survey questionnaire responded by 9 manufacturing organisations with operations in Hong Kong. The findings suggest that the Hong Kong’s manufacturing organisations surveyed do not currently have a well-developed foundation to implement or sustain lean manufacturing. In particular, these organisations present important opportunities to further develop some quality practices such as processes, planning & control, customer relations, supplier relations, human resources, and top management & leadership. The improvement of these quality practices will ensure, according to Al-Najem et al.’s [16] framework, a more effective implementation and sustainment of lean manufacturing in their operations

A new lean change methodology for small & medium sized enterprises

SMEs find it difficult to implement productivity improvement tools, particularly those associated with Lean Manufacturing. Larger companies have more success due to greater access to resources. To provide the SMEs with a way to implement Lean sustainably, the European project ERIP develops a new lean change methodology for SMEs. In this paper the methodology is explained and three test cases show the strength of the methodology. The method is a sequence of achieving management and company support, starting with data analysis and identifying problems and consequently solving these problems. Within the workshops, training of employees is conducted. The three test cases show that even through limited efforts, a good productivity improvement can be achieved in a sustainable manner

Lean towards learning: connecting Lean Thinking and human resource management in UK higher education

From its origins in the automotive industry, Lean Thinking is increasingly being seen as a solution to problems of efficiency and quality in other industries and sectors. In recent years attempts have been made to transfer Lean principles and practice to the higher education sector with indications of mixed consequences and debate over its suitability. This paper contributes to the debate by drawing evidence from thirty-four interviews conducted across two UK universities that have implemented Lean in some of their activities and we pay particular attention to the role of the HR function in facilitating its introduction. The findings suggest there are problems in understanding, communicating and transferring Lean Thinking in the higher education context; that, despite HR systems being vital facets of Lean, HR professionals are excluded from participation; and that as a consequence the depth and breadth of Lean application in the two institutions is very limited

Investigation of Visual Management Cases in Construction by an Analytical Framework from Manufacturing

Along with the progress of globalization, speed and efficiency have become more critical for any industry than ever before. In this sense, the concept and methods of lean management, promoting these performances, have been deployed from manufacturing, its origin industry, to other industries. This paper deals with this management style in the construction industry, called lean construction. In particular, visual management (VM) as one effective tool in this scheme is focused on. A number of VM cases, 306 in total, was collected from both construction and manufacturing sites and investigated by the so-called 5W1H analytical framework developed in the manufacturing industry. Obtained results suggest that the VM cases in construction have common attributes such as purpose and location, target to attain, users’ attributes, timing to use and elemental technologies for case development. A comparison analysis of the VM cases from construction and those from manufacturing was also carried out, for a mutual transfer of this technology between these industries