Variety Management in Assemble-to-Order Supply Chains

Assemble-to-order refers to a supply chain strategy in which products are not assembled until customer order arrives. It is based on the so-called form postponement that is to hold components at a generic form and to delay the point of product differentiation. The performance of an assem-ble-to-order supply chain depends on two main dimensions, which are responsiveness and achievement level of scale economies. Responsiveness refers to the capability of fulfilling customer requirements in a fast-paced manner, whereas the achievement of scale economies reflects the degree of operations efficiency. Assemble-to-order supply chains induce high product variety, which has adverse effects on performance. We use demand volumes as a proxy for scale economies and lead times as a proxy for responsiveness. A matrix that consists of both dimensions can be defined, in which we distinguish between short/long lead times and low/high demand volumes. This matrix is called performance matrix. On the other hand, the consequence that results from product variety is a high demand variability of end products, which also affects the demand variability of components. An analysis of component demand variability enables one to identify the components with low/high demand variability. These components can further be classified into supplied and in-house made components. Thus, a second matrix (called component matrix) with two dimensions, namely variability (low/high) and supply source (in-house/supplier) can be defined. Due to the supply source dimension in the component matrix, the supply chain perspective is also taken into ac-count. The combination of both matrixes into a single one provides the performance/component matrix for assemble-to-order supply chains. To use the final matrix, it is necessary to compute lead times, demand volumes and demand variability of the supplied and in-house made components. By plotting the components in the matrix, one can determine the problems induced by variety. In order to improve the performance of the assemble-to-order supply chain, the implementation of variety management strategies is necessary. The identified strategies are: commonality, component families, modularity, and platforms. Based on the performance/component matrix, we discuss how these strategies or a combination of them can contribute to derive recommendations that aim to alleviate variety impacts on the as-semble-to-order supply chain.Assemble-to-order; Supply Chain Management; Variety Management

Lean thinking in healthcare services: learning from case studies

JEL: D22, I12Healthcare organisations, especially in public sector, have been adopting Lean management practices with increasing outcomes’ evidences in several parts of the world, since the beginning of this century. However, Lean deployment in Healthcare services has been addressed in the literature in a surgical way by an array of case reports addressing the “hard” side of Lean deployment, sometimes with no result’s consistency or even follow-up analysis. This thesis seek to add to the operational side of Lean deployment in Healthcare, a complementary understanding of Lean deployment approaches, addressing both “hard” and “soft” sides, identifying the real constraints of Lean in Healthcare sector and the sustainability factors. Supported by two main literature reviews and a multi-case approach, a deep research on the eligible Portuguese cases was conducted answering the questions: (i) What are the different outcomes from Lean deployment in Healthcare?; (ii) What are the barriers to Lean implementation in Healthcare?; (iii) What enables Lean implementation in Healthcare?; (iv) What are the risks of Lean in Healthcare?; (v) How to measure Lean achievements in Healthcare services?; and (vi) How to develop a sustainable Lean culture? This contribution to the academic debate on Lean deployment in Healthcare creates clarity on what can be called Lean practices in Healthcare settings under the light of the concept’s founders; what pattern of a Lean deployment journey was followed by Healthcare organisations; and how different cultural (organisational and national) contexts can influence the pace in pursuing that pattern.As organizações de saúde, nomeadamente públicas, têm vindo a adoptar práticas de gestão Lean com crescente evidência de resultados em várias partes do mundo, desde o início deste século. Contudo, a aplicação do Lean em serviços de saúde tem tido um tratamento cirúrgico na literatura, recaindo apenas nos aspectos “hard” e sem grande consistência ou seguimento de resultados . Esta tese pretende acrescentar aos aspectos “hard” do Lean, um entendimento complementar juntando os aspectos “hard” e “soft”, identificando as restrições e factores de sustentabilidade da aplicação do Lean no sector da saúde. Tendo por base duas revisões bibliográficas primordiais e uma abordagem empírica multi-caso a partir de casos portugueses elegíveis, esta tese fornece respostas às questões: (i) Quais os diferentes resultados da aplicação do Lean na Saúde?; (ii) Quais as barreiras à aplicação do Lean na Saúde?; (iii) Quais os facilitadores da implementação do Lean na Saúde?; (iv) Quais os riscos do Lean na Saúde?; (v) Como medir a implementação do Lean na Saúde; e (vi) como desenvolver uma cultura Lean sustentável? Este contributo para o debate académico sobre a aplicação do Lean na Saúde introduz clareza sobre o que pode ou não ser chamado de práticas Lean na Saúde tendo como referência os conceitos dos fundadores; que padrão de implementação é seguido pelas organizações; e de que forma diferentes contextos culturais (nacionais e organizacionais) influenciam o ritmo desse padrão de implementação

Lean manual assembly 4.0: A systematic review

In a demand context of mass customization, shifting towards the mass personalization of products, assembly operations face the trade-off between highly productive automated systems and flexible manual operators. Novel digital technologies—conceptualized as Industry 4.0—suggest the possibility of simultaneously achieving superior productivity and flexibility. This article aims to address how Industry 4.0 technologies could improve the productivity, flexibility and quality of assembly operations. A systematic literature review was carried out, including 234 peer-reviewed articles from 2010–2020. As a result, the analysis was structured addressing four sets of research questions regarding (1) assembly for mass customization; (2) Industry 4.0 and performance evaluation; (3) Lean production as a starting point for smart factories, and (4) the implications of Industry 4.0 for people in assembly operations. It was found that mass customization brings great complexity that needs to be addressed at different levels from a holistic point of view; that Industry 4.0 offers powerful tools to achieve superior productivity and flexibility in assembly; that Lean is a great starting point for implementing such changes; and that people need to be considered central to Assembly 4.0. Developing methodologies for implementing Industry 4.0 to achieve specific business goals remains an open research topic

Information Technology, Production Process Outsourcing, and Manufacturing Plant Performance

What is the role of information technology (IT) in enabling the outsourcing of manufacturing plant production processes? Do plant strategies influence production outsourcing? Does production process outsourcing influence plant performance? This research addresses these questions by investigating the role of IT and plant strategies as antecedents of production outsourcing, and evaluating the impact of production outsourcing and IT investments on plant cost and quality. We develop a theoretical framework for the antecedents and performance outcomes of production outsourcing at the plant level. We validate this theoretical framework using cross-sectional survey data from U.S. manufacturing plants. Our analysis suggests that plants with greater IT investments are more likely to outsource their production processes, and that IT investments and production outsourcing are associated with lower plant cost of goods sold and higher product quality improvement. Our research provides an integrated model for studying the effects of IT and production outsourcing on plant performance

Variety Management in Assemble-to-Order Supply Chains

Assemble-to-order refers to a supply chain strategy in which products are not assembled until customer order arrives. It is based on the so-called form postponement that is to hold components at a generic form and to delay the point of product differentiation. The performance of an assem-ble-to-order supply chain depends on two main dimensions, which are responsiveness and achievement level of scale economies. Responsiveness refers to the capability of fulfilling customer requirements in a fast-paced manner, whereas the achievement of scale economies reflects the degree of operations efficiency. Assemble-to-order supply chains induce high product variety, which has adverse effects on performance. We use demand volumes as a proxy for scale economies and lead times as a proxy for responsiveness. A matrix that consists of both dimensions can be defined, in which we distinguish between short/long lead times and low/high demand volumes. This matrix is called performance matrix. On the other hand, the consequence that results from product variety is a high demand variability of end products, which also affects the demand variability of components. An analysis of component demand variability enables one to identify the components with low/high demand variability. These components can further be classified into supplied and in-house made components. Thus, a second matrix (called component matrix) with two dimensions, namely variability (low/high) and supply source (in-house/supplier) can be defined. Due to the supply source dimension in the component matrix, the supply chain perspective is also taken into ac-count. The combination of both matrixes into a single one provides the performance/component matrix for assemble-to-order supply chains. To use the final matrix, it is necessary to compute lead times, demand volumes and demand variability of the supplied and in-house made components. By plotting the components in the matrix, one can determine the problems induced by variety. In order to improve the performance of the assemble-to-order supply chain, the implementation of variety management strategies is necessary. The identified strategies are: commonality, component families, modularity, and platforms. Based on the performance/component matrix, we discuss how these strategies or a combination of them can contribute to derive recommendations that aim to alleviate variety impacts on the as-semble-to-order supply chain

Variety Management in Assemble-to-Order Supply Chains

Assemble-to-order refers to a supply chain strategy in which products are not assembled until customer order arrives. It is based on the so-called form postponement that is to hold components at a generic form and to delay the point of product differentiation. The performance of an assem-ble-to-order supply chain depends on two main dimensions, which are responsiveness and achievement level of scale economies. Responsiveness refers to the capability of fulfilling customer requirements in a fast-paced manner, whereas the achievement of scale economies reflects the degree of operations efficiency. Assemble-to-order supply chains induce high product variety, which has adverse effects on performance. We use demand volumes as a proxy for scale economies and lead times as a proxy for responsiveness. A matrix that consists of both dimensions can be defined, in which we distinguish between short/long lead times and low/high demand volumes. This matrix is called performance matrix. On the other hand, the consequence that results from product variety is a high demand variability of end products, which also affects the demand variability of components. An analysis of component demand variability enables one to identify the components with low/high demand variability. These components can further be classified into supplied and in-house made components. Thus, a second matrix (called component matrix) with two dimensions, namely variability (low/high) and supply source (in-house/supplier) can be defined. Due to the supply source dimension in the component matrix, the supply chain perspective is also taken into ac-count. The combination of both matrixes into a single one provides the performance/component matrix for assemble-to-order supply chains. To use the final matrix, it is necessary to compute lead times, demand volumes and demand variability of the supplied and in-house made components. By plotting the components in the matrix, one can determine the problems induced by variety. In order to improve the performance of the assemble-to-order supply chain, the implementation of variety management strategies is necessary. The identified strategies are: commonality, component families, modularity, and platforms. Based on the performance/component matrix, we discuss how these strategies or a combination of them can contribute to derive recommendations that aim to alleviate variety impacts on the as-semble-to-order supply chain

AN INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK FOR APPLYING LEAN MANUFACTURING AND OTHER STRATEGIES IN MASS CUSTOMIZATION ENVIRONMENTS

Manufacturing organizations are facing fragmented markets and increased demand of variety from consumers. As a result, many of these firms have adopted mass customization manufacturing strategies in an effort to offer their customers the freedom of choice while maintaining operational efficiency. Lean manufacturing strategies have also seen heavy use in manufacturing environments. This study investigates the possibilities of integrating lean manufacturing principles and practices into mass customization environments in order to improve system performance. The feasibility of other manufacturing strategies such as agility, Quick Response Manufacturing and the Theory of Constraints assisting in the application of lean manufacturing for mass customization is also explored with the goal of developing a theoretical framework for the application of these manufacturing systems in different types of mass customization environments. The result of these investigations is tested and verified using a real world case study

Collaborative environment to support a professional community

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de ComputadoresRecent manufacturing roadmaps stress current production systems limitations, emphasizing social, economic and ecologic consequences for Europe of a non-evolution to sustainable Production Systems. Hence, both academic institutions and enterprises are committed to develop solutions that would endow enterprises to survive in nowadays’ extremely competitive business environment. A research effort is being carried on by the Evolvable Production Systems consortium towards attaining Production Systems that can cope with current technological, economical, ecological and social demands fulfilling recent roadmaps. Nevertheless research success depends on attaining consensus in the scientific community and therefore an accurate critical mass support is required in the whole process. The main goal of this thesis is the development of a Collaborative Environment Tool to assist Evolvable Production Systems consortium in such research efforts and to enhance Evolvable Assembly Systems paradigm dissemination. This work resulted in EASET (Evolvable Assembly Systems Environment Tool), a collaborative environment tool which promotes EAS dissemination and brings forth improvements through the raise of critical mass and collaboration between entities

Technology adoption and the organization of production. The case of digital production technologies

open1noopenguendalina anzolinAnzolin, GUENDALINA MARI

Simulation Modelling and Analysis of Impact of 3D Feedback Workflow on Prefabrication of Industrial Construction

The construction industry has not been experiencing the same level of productivity increase as the manufacturing industry, due to their divergent production methods. While traditional construction projects are unique, craft-based, and typically done on-site, manufacturing is able to mass produce standardized products on assembly lines in a controlled environment. Efforts to improve construction productivity take advantage of the more established and mature manufacturing processes and techniques, such as modularization and off-site assembly. As civil industry work requirements become more demanding, and modular component tolerance continues to decrease for more complex projects, there exists a need to incorporate and utilize quality control technologies similar to what have been used in the manufacturing and automotive industries for years. Rework of items that failed quality checks leads to significant waste of resources, resulting in reduced overall productivity represented by additional time and manpower spent on correcting the errors. The solution set to this problem ultimately needs to address lost productivity due to rework, and generate value from its operation in the industrial fabrication workflow. The use of 3D data acquisition and 3D feedback is proposed to be part of the quality control process of pipe spool fabrication, which takes place during fitting and before shipment to site. The existing prevailing workflow and the proposed workflow using the new technology are assessed using discrete-event simulation, and three implementation scenarios are investigated, which are: (1) nuclear projects, (2) small bore non-nuclear projects, and (3) large bore non-nuclear projects. They represent different quality control processes for their particular requirements, as well as their specific activity process times given the nature of their assemblies. The analysis of the simulation results show that the revised workflow improved performance for all three project types, specifically in rework reduction and overall fabrication time reduction. Risk assessment was also carried out, in order to quantify the risk mitigation and accrued benefits by implementing the revised fabrication workflow for pipe spool assembly. The difference in risk was considered as a project benefit under economic analysis, and it was found that the relatively short payback period for the fabricator justifies the initial technology investment required to set up the platform for 3D feedback in the revised workflows