Special issue: Industrial Engineering: Overcoming the crisis. CIO2012

This special issue of the Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management contains a selection of the papers that were accepted at the CIO2012 International Conference, developed in Vigo (Spain) under the motto “Industrial Engineering: Overcoming the Crisis”. CIO 2012 gives continuity to the series of annual Conferences initiated in September 1986 in La Rábida (Huelva, Spain). This conference is a very significant scientific event in Business & Operations Management and related areas. Researchers, academics, scientists and managers of diverse parts of the world have the opportunity to exchange experiences, new ideas and topics, in those fields related to Industrial Engineering. The 6th International Conference addresses the great multidisciplinary field formed by Industrial Engineering, from an international point of view. The papers here presented cover a number of consolidated and emerging topics of the conference scope and they may help readers to gain a deeper understanding of how Industrial Engineering could contribute to overcome the economic crisis. We would like to express our gratitude to all the authors, reviewers and the Organizing Committee for their enthusiastic work and magnificent support during CIO 2012

Promoting Structured Participation for Competitiveness in Services Companies

Purpose: To identify the main drivers that facilitate the successful deployment of a participation program aimed at improving competitiveness, as a prior step to analyze and discuss the implementation of these drivers in three services companies. Design/methodology/approach: The selection of the drivers was based on a “content analysis” of recent literature (2007-2017). To test the level of deployment of these drivers, the “case study” technique was chosen. The authors have selected two public transport companies and one bank, which have more than twenty years’ experience in the development of participation programs. Findings: From the case studies analysis, we conclude that participation can successfully improve a company’s competitiveness, provided that the drivers are developed with this specific aim. Thus, the analysis of these drivers allows to identify some gaps in aspects such as, the extension of participation throughout the company, the methodology adopted in the deployment of participation programs, the organizational structure for monitoring the program tasks, the reward/recognition systems and, especially, the implementation of KPIs for connecting participation and competitiveness. Research limitations/implications: This paper is based on a review of current literature, the analysis of three case studies, and our own personal experience. Our observations and comments may be qualified by future investigation with an increased sample of companies. Practical implications: This paper could be of interest to companies due to outlines the drivers that are critical to implementing participation programs focused on competitiveness. This could help companies that are thinking of implementing such programs, or those that are unhappy with their current programs, to re-design their plans in line with their business strategy. Originality/value: The main contribution of this paper lies in its theoretical and applied approach, analyzing in a comparative and longitudinal way the deployment of the drivers in services companies. This analysis allows the identification of strengths and weaknesses in the implementation of these participation programs focused on competitiveness. This combined and comparative approach is considered especially novel in the academic and professional world. Likewise, the analysis of companies with a longstanding history in their participation programs is also relevant, particularly, in the services sector.Peer Reviewe

Packaging design for competitiveness. Contextualizing the search and adoption of changes from a sustainable supply chain perspective

[EN] The Sustainable Packaging Logistics (SPL) approach seeks sustainable integration of the combined packaging-product-supply chain system orientated to increase competitiveness. However, characterizing which changes make it possible to guide such design in each company and supply chain is an aspect that has not been covered in the literature from different supply chain perspectives. The main goal of this paper is to identify and justify the main actions for improvement in SPL, combined with a proposal of methodology for contextualizing, selecting and implementing each of these potential actions, applying the Action Research approach. Likewise, this paper illustrates the interest of this methodology with its adoption in four different companies and supply chains. This paper opens up new avenues of applied research in packaging design, generating knowledge that contributes to sustainable and competitive improvement.García-Arca, J.; González-Portela Garrido, AT.; Prado-Prado, JC.; González-Boubeta, I. (2022). Packaging design for competitiveness. Contextualizing the search and adoption of changes from a sustainable supply chain perspective. International Journal of Production Management and Engineering. 10(2):115-130. https://doi.org/10.4995/ijpme.2022.16659OJS11513010

La participación estructurada del personal orientada a la mejora de productividad. Un caso práctico

[ESP] Actualmente, las empresas deben enfrentarse a los desafíos de la innovación, la disminución de los ciclos de vida en los productos, la proliferación de productos, la demanda de precios bajos y estándares de calidad elevados. Por ello, muchas organizaciones buscan ventajas competitivas en una mejor gestión de sus procesos basadas, tanto en el ámbito de la inversión (tecnologías, equipos,…) como en pequeñas mejoras que incrementen, paulatinamente, la eficiencia de los mismos. Esta última opción de mejora, casi sin inversión, se denomina "mejora continua" o "Kaizen" y constituye la base de diferentes enfoques, tales como Just in Time (JIT), Lean Production o Total Quality Management (TQM). Boer et al. (2000) definen la mejora continua como "un proceso organizado y planificado de cambio en toda la organización, orientado hacia la mejora de los resultados empresariales"

Las claves de éxito y las mejores prácticas de los sistemas de participación del personal

El objetivo de este trabajo es conocer la importancia que las empresas españolas que cuentan con sistemas de participación del personal como soporte a la implantación de la mejora continua otorgan a los diferentes factores clave para el éxito de estos sistemas. Dichos factores clave son el resultado de una labor de recopilación y armonización de las propuestas de diferentes autores en las últimas dos décadas. A continuación, en una muestra de 40 empresas españolas con gran grado de madurez en sus sistemas de participación, se evalúa el nivel de desarrollo de una serie de aspectos relacionados con los factores clave identificados, con la intención de comparar si la implantación o despliegue de los diferentes factores es acorde con el orden de importancia concedido. Finalmente, se ofrece un conjunto de mejores prácticas de las empresas de la muestra, fruto de su experiencia y buen hacer en materia de sistemas de participación a lo largo de los años, con el objetivo de que dichas prácticas puedan servir de referencia para aquellas otras compañías que deseen iniciar o profundizar en la implantación de la mejora continua, contando con el necesario apoyo de los sistemas de participación del personal. --- The aim of this work is to know the importance of key factors for the success of employee participation systems supporting continuous improvement, as evaluated by Spanish companies with such systems implanted. Said key factors are the result of a compilation of the proposals from different authors in the last two decades. The work was carried out in a sample of 40 Spanish companies, all with high maturity in their employee participation systems. The level of development and deployment of a series of implantation aspects is studied, in order to find out relations with the importance of those key factors. Finally, the paper offers some company best practices, as a kind of reference for those companies that wish to initiate or improve their employee participation systems as a vehicle for continuous improvement

Sostenibilidad y mejora logística. Un caso práctico

[ESP] Las empresas, en el contexto competitivo actual, deben enfrentarse a los desafíos de la innovación constante de nuevos productos, disminución de los ciclos de vida de los productos, la proliferación de productos, la demanda de precios cada vez más bajos y estándares de calidad y servicio cada vez más elevados. Esto ha ocurrido en mercados que pueden caracterizarse como cada vez más globales, turbulentos y volátiles y ha obligado a muchas organizaciones a buscar como fuente de ventajas competitivas, una mejor gestión de la cadena de suministro (“supply chain management”, en adelante SCM), incluyendo la posible deslocalización de procesos y actividades a países emergentes o de bajo coste. En esta misma línea, está bastante extendida la visión de que la competencia en los mercados actuales ya no sigue un modelo de compañía contra compañía, sino que la competencia es entre cadenas de suministro. Ahora bien, la búsqueda sistemática de alternativas más eficientes para diseñar y gestionar la cadena suministros pueden basarse, tanto en el ámbito de la reducción de costes (enfoque “lean”) como en el ámbito de la mejora de la flexibilidad (enfoque “ágil”). Tradicionalmente, ambos enfoques se han contrapuesto, si bien, más que conceptos excluyentes, ambos deben complementarse en un entorno cada vez más competitivo, en el que no es suficiente ofrecer productos que, o bien sólo sean baratos, que sólo tengan calidad o que sólo ofrezcan un buen plazo de entrega

Impact of a home telehealth program after a hospitalized COPD exacerbation: a propensity score analysis

[Abstract] Introduction: Currently there is lack of data regarding the impact of a home telehealth program on readmissions and mortality rate after a COPD exacerbation-related hospitalization. Objective: To demonstrate if a tele-monitoring system after a COPD exacerbation admission could have a favorable effect in 1-year readmissions and mortality in a real-world setting. Methods: This is an observational study where we compared an intervention group of COPD patients treated after hospitalization that conveyed a telehealth program with a followance period of 1 year with a control group of patients evaluated during one year before the intervention began. A propensity-score analyses was developed to control for confounders. The main clinical outcome was 1-year all-cause mortality or COPD-related readmission. Results: The analysis comprised 351 telemonitoring patients and 495 patients in the control group. The intervention resulted in less mortality or readmission after 12 months (35.2% vs. 45.2%; hazard ratio [HR] 0.71 [95% CI=0.56-0.91] 0.71 [95% CI=0.56-0.91; p=0.007). This benefit was maintained after the propensity score analysis (HR=0.66 [95% CI=0.51-0.84]). This benefit, which was seen from the first month of the study and during its whole duration, is maintained when mortality (HR=0.54; 95% CI=[0.36-0.82]) or readmission (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR] 0.66; 95% CI=[0.50-0.86]) are analyzed separately. Conclusion: Telemonitoring after a severe COPD exacerbation is associated with less mortality or readmissions at 12 months in a real world clinical setting