Lean job design and musculoskeletal disorder risk: A two plant comparison

This study examined the relationship between lean job design and work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) risk factors. Repetition, force, and posture were assessed for a sample of 56 production jobs across departments at a lean automobile-manufacturing plant and compared to 56 similar jobs at a traditional automobile-manufacturing plant. The results showed greater productivity in the lean plant: less waiting ( p = .006) and walking ( p < .001); and greater repetition exposure ( p = .001). The mean rating for repetition was 5.5 in the lean plant, compared to 5.0 in the traditional plant based on the Latko (1997) hand activity level scale. However, the lean plant had significantly lower peak hand force ratings ( p = .01). When examining force and repetition combined, the lean plant had a lower percentage of jobs above the American Conference for Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH)-recommended Threshold Limit Value (TLV ® ). The findings suggest that lean manufacturing does not necessarily increase workers' risk for WMSD injuries. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63064/1/20159_ftp.pd

How do ecological and social environments reflect parental roles in birds?:A comparative analysis

Parental roles are highly diverse in animal taxa. Since caring is an important determinant of fitness, understanding the origin and maintenance of various parental care strategies is a key question in evolutionary biology. Here we investigate parental care patterns in birds, which exhibit a remarkable diversity of parental sex roles. By means of phylogenetically informed comparative analyses we investigate whether and how care provisioning is predicted by ecology and social environment. Making use of the most comprehensive dataset including 1101 species that represent 126 avian families, we show that sex differences in parental care are neither related to food type nor to nest type, two key ecological factors. However, we found an effect of the social environment, as males tend to care relatively more in in colonial species than in non-colonial species. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of social effects for evolution of diverse parental sex roles

How do ecological and social environments reflect parental roles in birds?:A comparative analysis

Parental roles are highly diverse in animal taxa. Since caring is an important determinant of fitness, understanding the origin and maintenance of various parental care strategies is a key question in evolutionary biology. Here we investigate parental care patterns in birds, which exhibit a remarkable diversity of parental sex roles. By means of phylogenetically informed comparative analyses we investigate whether and how care provisioning is predicted by ecology and social environment. Making use of the most comprehensive dataset including 1101 species that represent 126 avian families, we show that sex differences in parental care are neither related to food type nor to nest type, two key ecological factors. However, we found an effect of the social environment, as males tend to care relatively more in in colonial species than in non-colonial species. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of social effects for evolution of diverse parental sex roles

The interaction of lean and building information modeling in construction

Lean construction and Building Information Modeling are quite different initiatives, but both are having profound impacts on the construction industry. A rigorous analysis of the myriad specific interactions between them indicates that a synergy exists which, if properly understood in theoretical terms, can be exploited to improve construction processes beyond the degree to which it might be improved by application of either of these paradigms independently. Using a matrix that juxtaposes BIM functionalities with prescriptive lean construction principles, fifty-six interactions have been identified, all but four of which represent constructive interaction. Although evidence for the majority of these has been found, the matrix is not considered complete, but rather a framework for research to explore the degree of validity of the interactions. Construction executives, managers, designers and developers of IT systems for construction can also benefit from the framework as an aid to recognizing the potential synergies when planning their lean and BIM adoption strategies

Panel data and models of change: A comparison of first difference and conventional two-wave models

The method of first differences as an approach to modeling change is described and it is compared to more conventional two-wave panel models. Substantial advantages are found to the first-difference approach, especially if there are unmeasured, unchanging predictor variables in the model. It is also argued that there are substantial problems in the interpretation of results from the conventional two-wave models. Some of the analytic results are illustrated with a number of applications to the area of stressful life events.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25740/1/0000300.pd

Towards eco-efficient lean production systems

Lean Production has proved itself a worthwhile production strategy in many distinct industries across all regions of the planet by achieving higher levels of production efficiency. Several authors identified that Lean inadvertently has had significant environmental gains. Such achievements are considered of special relevance in a global and highly competitive economy which is progressively both tied-up and driven by an environmental agenda. The main goal of the present study is to enlighten the contribution of Lean for achieving a better environmental performance of production systems and identify this as an emergent business model for supporting eco-efficiency

Degree of anisogamy is unrelated to the intensity of sexual selection

Males and females often display different behaviours and, in the context of reproduction, these behaviours are labelled sex roles. The Darwin–Bateman paradigm argues that the root of these differences is anisogamy (i.e., differences in size and/or function of gametes between the sexes) that leads to biased sexual selection, and sex differences in parental care and body size. This evolutionary cascade, however, is contentious since some of the underpinning assumptions have been questioned. Here we investigate the relationships between anisogamy, sexual size dimorphism, sex difference in parental care and intensity of sexual selection using phylogenetic comparative analyses of 64 species from a wide range of animal taxa. The results question the first step of the Darwin–Bateman paradigm, as the extent of anisogamy does not appear to predict the intensity of sexual selection. The only significant predictor of sexual selection is the relative inputs of males and females into the care of offspring. We propose that ecological factors, life-history and demography have more substantial impacts on contemporary sex roles than the differences of gametic investments between the sexes

Knowledge-Based Collaborative Lean Manufacturing Management (KBCLMM) system

The objective of this research paper is to demonstrate the application of hybrid Knowledge-Based System, Gauging Absences of Pre-Requisites (GAP), and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approaches for selecting the improvement programs for Collaborative Lean Manufacturing Management (CLMM) System.In this research, a generic Knowledge-Based System is developed to measure the level of CLMM adoption in automotive manufacturers compared to the ideal system. Using the embedded GAP and AHP technique, the key lean manufacturing improvement programs can be prioritised by using both qualitative and quantitative criteria.The analysis covers the planning stage of the KBCLMM. The utilisation of the approach is demonstrated with an illustrative example

A Lean Six Sigma framework for the reduction of ship loading commercial time in the iron ore pelletising industry

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Abstract: Evidence suggests that specifically designed frameworks to implement Lean Six Sigma (LSS) projects to tackle particular problems are more effective than ‘generic’ versions. This paper proposes an implementation framework to effectively deploy LSS to improve a key operation and performance indicator, i.e. ship loading commercial time, of one of the largest world producer of iron ore. This article therefore contributes with a refined framework to effectively implement LSS, and documents its successful application and effectiveness within the context of the case organisation. The LSS framework and project contributed in helping the studied organisation to improve both the capability of its ship loading process and commercial time by more than 30%, resulting in operational savings in the range of $300,000 USD per year. The systematic nature of the framework proposed also helped the organisation to establish a standardised routine to improve its operations. Managerial implications exposing the challenges faced during the implementation of LSS are also discussed to serve as lessons learnt to be considered in other LSS projects. Managers and engineers incharge of improving operations and processes can benefit from this paper as it can be used as a guide to direct the conduction of LSS projects and the empirical application of its principles and tools