3,089 research outputs found

    Practitioner Perceptions of the A3 Method for Process Improvement in Health Care

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    The focus of this article is to present students’ perceptions of the recently developed A3 method, a structured problem-solving approach based on lean concepts and tools that have been adapted to the health care environment. The students were all employees of a large health care provider and were enrolled in a customized health care executive MBA Program. Each student was required to complete an individual A3 Project in order to improve a process at the department for which they worked. At the end of the semester the students presented their A3 projects to their peers who voted on the best projects. A survey measuring perceptions of the A3 method for problem solving in health care was administered and from it we present propositions for A3 implementation. These propositions are applicable both to health care practitioners and to academic researchers

    Towards an Integration of the Lean Enterprise System, Total Quality Management, Six Sigma and Related Enterprise Process Improvement Methods

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    The lean enterprise system, total quality management, six sigma, theory of constraints, agile manufacturing, and business process reengineering have been introduced as universally applicable best methods to improve the performance of enterprise operations through continuous process improvement and systemic planned enterprise change. Generally speaking, they represent practice-based, rather than theory-grounded, methods with common roots in manufacturing. Most of the literature on them is descriptive and prescriptive, aimed largely at a practitioner audience. Despite certain differences among them, they potentially complement each other in important ways. The lean enterprise system, total quality management and six sigma, in particular, are tightly interconnected as highly complementary approaches and can be brought together to define a first-approximation “core” integrated management system, with the lean enterprise system serving as the central organizing framework. Specific elements of the other approaches can be selectively incorporated into the “core” enterprise system to enrich its effectiveness. Concrete theoretical and computational developments in the future through an interdisciplinary research agenda centered on the design and development of networked enterprises as complex adaptive socio-technical systems, as well as the creation of a readily accessible observatory of evidence-based management practices, would represent important steps forward

    A comparison of the integration of Risk management Principles in Product Development Approaches

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    The management and reduction of risk is a central part of product development processes. This paper analyses the extent to which four common product development approaches address risks (waterfall model, stage gate model, design for six sigma, and lean product development). They are analyzed along the four principles of risk-driven design: 1. Identifying and quantifying risks; 2. Making risk-based decisions; 3. Reducing risks; and 4. Creating resilient PD systems. The analysis shows that the existing PD processes only partially address the four principles of risk-driven design and that they have their specific strengths and weaknesses. The paper concludes with a discussion of preliminary empirical findings through interviews and case studies on how to better integrate risk management principles into product development.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lean Advancement InitiativeCenter for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUP

    A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF AN ORIGINAL AND A POST-HOC APPLICATION OF LEAN SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY

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    Current society develops faster and faster every day with customers\u27 demands increasing rapidly. Decreasing time for product development and enhancing customer satisfaction are becoming more significant. In the business world, there is no industry that could exist without an efficient supply chain. In the fierce competitive environment of today, the supply chain must address potential problems and risks that may exist and assure continuous improvement. One common supply chain management practice in many industries is to apply lean methodology to the supply chain model in order to maximize the customers\u27 value and eliminate waste. By eliminating waste, the process can be expedited, a company\u27s costs reduced and profitability improved. Today, in many industries, applying other principles to the supply chain is very popular. Information Technology software flow synchronizes the physical flow with the data flow and in order to expedite the supply chain process. Application of information technology and Six Sigma philosophy has also become a part of supply chain management. Lean Six Sigma principles utilize analytical methods to optimize each link of the supply chain to promote a winning customer/supplier model. Poor supply chain management will harm the health of any business process and could lead to high losses while a well managed and structured supply chain will support a positive direction furthering a company\u27s success. This study analyzes Lean and Six Sigma support of the Supply Chain from multiple angles and addresses certain issues that potentially exist. It is based on an original case study to reduce package Engineering Change lead time and details the revisions the author has taken to improve on that work. The corresponding data analysis from the refined project results show how the package EC process could be improved, the value add based upon the post hoc analysis and the methodology used to benefit the high technology supply chain and overall business performance

    Delivery Performance Improvement Using Six Sigma Method: A Case Study At Fmc Agricultural Manufacturing

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    PT. FMC is a manufacturing company in producing pesticides and classified into 3 herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. The use of pesticides is very important to maintain the quality of the crop, the delivery of products may not be late because it will disrupt the consumer production chain but unfortunately PT. FMC delivery performance has a big issue, delivery is an important metric because influences to customer satisfaction. This research focuses on how companies are able to identify problems, analyze and solve these problems using the Six Sigma methodology. The method is used because the method has a cycle of how companies solve a problem that can disrupt business processes. And the results of research in finding problems in this business process are (1) problems triggered by delays in the arrival of material both raw material and packaging material. (2) the customer delays delivery several times (3) the Warehouse Leader is late in inputting data and Post Goods Issue

    Integrating Six Sigma into a Quality Management System in the Medical Device Industry

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    Six Sigma is a valuable management strategy to improve business processes, reduce development and production costs, increase profit margin and improve customer satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to describe how applicable Six Sigma concepts may complement and support formal quality management systems (QMS) in the medical device industry. A significant number of issues, which increase the development costs and times, is often found during different phases of a medical device life cycle. Some defects with high patient safety risk may result in dangerous and very costly product recalls. The basic idea of this paper is to explore the possibilities of integrating Six Sigma techniques with an existing QMS throughout the entire life cycle of a medical device. This paper addresses how Six Sigma techniques, when appropriately integrated into the QMS at medical device companies, can eliminate defects earlier in the medical device life cycle, identify major opportunities for cost savings, focus on customer needs and expectations, and improve the overall business processes

    Assessing the leanness of a supply chain using multi-grade fuzzy logic: a health-care case study

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    Purpose Numerous and diverse organizations have implemented lean principles and practices, which concentrate on improving the efficiency of business processes by reducing cost, waste, consumptions and effort. However, previous assessments have not focused on the leanness of the supply chain in a health-care setting. This paper aims to introduce a method for assessing the successful implementation of lean principles and tools in a supply chain. Furthermore, this paper validates the method in a health-care organization. Design/methodology/approach This paper starts with an extensive literature review on assessing leanness and using multi-grade fuzzy logic. Then, a conceptual model was developed to measure leanness. The conceptual model was validated by discussing the initial version with select academic experts, especially those who deal with leanness in health-care organizations. After responding to the experts’ valuable comments, the health-care organization that is the focus of this case study was chosen based on two criteria. The first criterion was the organization’s ability to participate in the study, and the second was the organization’s commitment to implementing lean principles. These criteria were important to ensure the organization had the necessary foundation for implementing change initiatives such as lean process improvements. Next, a multi-grade (multi-attributes) fuzzy logic was used for leanness measurement. A leanness index was calculated, and the results were validated using experts from the case study organization. Finally, the weaker areas of the organization’s processes were identified to point the way for further improvements. Findings The assessment indicated that the case study organization is not lean. The organization’s weaker attributes were identified, and improvements have been suggested. Research limitations/implications This study focused on a single health-care organization, which was selected from a limited pool of potential organizations, namely, organizations which are accredited by both the Saudi Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions and the Joint Commission International. The scope of future research should be extended to multi-case studies to enhance the findings presented in this paper. This paper’s findings can be used to help decision-makers at health-care providers to implement lean thinking in supply chain processes. Practical implications This research may be interest to practicing supply chain managers, as it proposes what enablers, factors and attributes should be emphasized in lean implementation. The proposed model can work as an assessment tool to identify the gap between the present level of leanness and the desired leanness state so the health-care organization can identify what can be improved. This model enables decision-makers in hospital supply chain to take suitable actions for improving lean implementation level. Originality/value This study makes an original contribution to the body of research concerning lean principles; the study developed a conceptual model for leanness assessment that can be applied to the supply chain of health-care organizations. Indeed, the conceptual model is likely to be useful for assessing leanness outside of the health-care field, which suggests avenues for future research

    Lean and action learning: Towards an integrated theory?

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    Customer and Supplier Integration Across the Supply Chain

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