¿Son más "verdes" las empresas lean? Are lean companies greener?

Este trabajo evalúa, a partir de una revisión de la literatura, si la producción ajustada o lean manufacturing (LM) puede contribuir a lograr una empresa más “verde”. Se analiza la investigación existente sobre la hipótesis de las sinergia entre ambos conceptos. Se concluye que existen discrepancias en los resultados alcanzados en las investigaciones empíricas debido a la falta de uniformidad en los planteamientos y variables consideradas. Las prácticas y herramientas de LM pueden ayudar a conseguir una empresa más “verde”, pero las relaciones entre LM y medioambiente, ni están garantizadas, ni son inmediatas, ni unívocas, ni fáciles de medir. El factor humano (y por lo tanto su gestión) es de capital importancia.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Students' research on lean and green

This paper reports on the contribution of students to a research project. Its distinct characteristics are the relation between teaching and research, the early involvement of undergraduate students in research and the aim of raising students' environmental awareness. A group of students taking a compulsory course on Operations Management were asked to survey companies on the existence of synergic relations between lean manufacturing and environmental performance, which is the research topic of a Ph.D. candidate. The research began with the design of a structured questionnaire. The students interviewed operations managers in manufacturing companies. Since this subject is part of a blended learning program in engineering, many students already work in companies and interviewing their managers allowed them to gain a different view of the firm's activities. The results of the experience show the total involvement of the students. They learnt about lean manufacturing practices and about environmental issues. The study showed the relation betweenPeer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

A conceptual model to manage supply sequences in automotive industry for Nissan Barcelona

This paper presents an action research experience in Douki-Seisan in cooperation with the Nissan Factory in Barcelona. Three suppliers are involved in the experience to improve the way they perform synchro deliveries of parts to Nissan. Supplier issues are analysed and a decision making tool is developed for a supplier.Postprint (published version

Cellular manufacturing against relocation: the most efficient way to transform plants

This paper presents a methodology to help decide whether a process-oriented plant would become more competitive by relocating its facilities in a low-cost country or by transforming it into an efficient plant by means of the implementation of a cellular layout with production driven by demand, managed in accordance with the principles of lean manufacturing. In this paper, our methodology is applied to an existing processoriented production system A set of key magnitudes and cost data attributed to the production plant and the way it is managed are calculated. These key magnitudes, related to production cycles and inventories, are easily calculated by means of an Operation-Time diagram. Fourteen types of manufacturing and distribution costs are considered including those costs due to the relocation strategy, which are mostly related to logistics. The paper includes the necessary calculations to transform the original plant by implementing three U-shaped flexible cells and to quantify the number of employees that are necessary, taking into account global takt time and cycle time of individual processes. Key production magnitudes and production and distribution costs are then calculated for the cellular implementation. Final conclusions show that an efficient implementation of cellular production processes pursuant to the lean management principles (low resource consumption, elimination of activities that do not contribute to value creation, maintenance, on-time deliveries, high quality…) is able to offset, at least in the studied case, the improvement in costs attributed to relocation strategies in process-oriented plants managed in a conventional style.Postprint (published version

Balancing Workload and Workforce Capacity in Lean Management: Application to Multi-Model Assembly Lines

While multi-model assembly lines are used by advanced lean companies because of their flexibility (different models of a product are produced in small lots and reach the customers in a short lead time), most of the extant literature on how to staff assembly lines focuses either on single-model lines or on mixed-model lines. The literature on multi-model lines is scarce and results given by current methods may be of limited applicability. In consequence, we develop a procedure to staff multi-model assembly lines while taking into account the principles of lean manufacturing. As a first approach, we replace the concepts of operation time and desired cycle time by their reciprocal magnitudes workload and capacity, and we define the dimensionless term of unit workload (load/capacity ratio) in order to avoid magnitudes related to time such as cycle time because, in practice, they might not be known. Next, we develop the necessary equations to apply this framework to a multi-model line. Finally, a piece of software in Python is developed, taking advantage of Google’s OR-Tools solver, to achieve an optimal multi-model line with a constant workforce and with each workstation performing the same tasks across all models. Several instances are tested to ensure the performance of this method

An accounting system to support process improvements: transition to lean accounting

From the last two decades of the 20th Century on, many companies have adopted production strategies that could be termed “lean manufacturing”. Lean team leaders state that traditional costing systems fail to properly assess their operational improvements and therefore ask for new cost accounting methods. The search for a new accounting paradigm has led to important applied research and several accounting methods. In this paper we are going to show the state of the art in costing techniques used in companies that adopt lean manufacturing practices and we will be presenting an additional costing method, based on Activity-Based Costing, intended to cast light on the operational improvements achieved in companies that are just starting a maturity path towards lean manufacturing. This article examines how the approach is applied in the context of a manufacturing company.Peer Reviewe

Lean manufacturing, de la fàbrica grisa a la fàbrica verda

Aquest treball explora les sinèrgies entre lean manufacturing i la sostenibilitat, per tal de valorar en quina mesura el fet de treballar amb el model lean contribueix directament a la sostenibilitat i fins a quin punt hi pot contribuir indirectament, facilitant la implantació de programes específics

Tercerca llengua a l'àrea d'empresa dels graus d'enginyeria

En els graus d’enginyeria, dues assignatures obligatòries, Empresa i Organització de la Producció, formen la matèria d’Empresa a l’Escola Politècnica Superior d’Enginyeria de Manresa, ambdues assignatures estan aplicant l’AICLE (Aprenentatge Integrat de Continguts i Llengua Estrangera) compaginant l’anglès amb el català i castellà. Escoltar, parlar, llegir i escriure són els mitjans per aprendre nova informació i per a comunicar-la. L’alumnat té una autèntica necessitat de fer servir l’anglès i hi té força interès. No obstant, tenen força dificultats a l’hora de parlar i, en general, a l’hora de construir les frases. L’avaluació es fa per mitjà de diferents activitats. Una important dificultat per a aplicar l’AICLE és la manca de recursos. En aquest treball presentem les diferents tècniques i recursos que fem servir a cada assignatura.Peer Reviewe

Metodología de implantación de la gestión lean en plantas industriales

Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version