Wider applications for Lean: an examination of the fundamental principles within public sector organisations

Purpose – The lean enterprise model has been adopted in a wide range of industries beyond its origins in the motor industry. To achieve this there has been a considerable extension of the lean concept outside high-volume repetitive manufacture. The purpose of this paper is to present an in-depth study of the application of lean within the British Royal Air Force. It offers a number of new insights which have implications for the future development and adoption of lean in service contexts, and the public sector in particular. Design/methodology/approach – To illustrate the issues of application of lean outside automotive, this paper considers the adoption of the lean concept by the Tornado joint integrated project team within the UK Ministry of Defence. A review of methods of application of lean used within Tornado are studied. The paper considers how the fundamental principles of lean apply in this environment and how, considering these principles, methods of implementation should be modified. Findings – This paper finds that the five lean fundamental principles apply in Tornado but they need to considered specifically within the public service context particularly the pull principle. Hence the authors offer three propositions relating to the use of the lean principles of value, waste, flow and pull in the public sector, and one for perfection only relating to military organisations. Originality/value – This paper makes an important contribution by demonstrating that lean can be successfully applied, in a public service context, with only modest modifications to its core principles, principally about how customer demand (pull) is managed. The implication of this finding demonstrates that to be adopted successfully, lean must be adapted to its context and the lean principles need to be reviewed too

Deficit of circulating stem – progenitor cells in opiate addiction: a pilot study-0

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Deficit of circulating stem – progenitor cells in opiate addiction: a pilot study"</p><p>http://www.substanceabusepolicy.com/content/2/1/19</p><p>Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2007;2():19-19.</p><p>Published online 5 Jul 2007</p><p>PMCID:PMC1949819.</p><p></p>tem Cells; D: Haemopoetic Stem Cells with ellipses at 95% confidence intervals ; E: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC's); F: EPC's with two outliers excluded and C.I. Ellipses

Additional file 2: Table S2. of Race and nativity are major determinants of tuberculosis in the U.S.: evidence of health disparities in tuberculosis incidence in Michigan, 2004–2012

Incidence Rate Ratio of TB According to Selected Socio-Demographic Characteristics in Michigan, 2004–2012. Models with and without nativity are shown. (DOCX 16 kb

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Race and nativity are major determinants of tuberculosis in the U.S.: evidence of health disparities in tuberculosis incidence in Michigan, 2004–2012

Comparison of the Distribution of Selected Demographic and Clinical Characteristics Among all Reported Cases in Michigan and the Study Sample. (DOCX 15 kb

Additional file 1: of Hsp90 and hepatobiliary transformation during sea lamprey metamorphosis

List of genes and gene ontology categories for Fig. 1 and Fig. S1. Hsp90 siRNA synchronized gall bladder degeneration during sea lamprey metamorphosis. (DOCX 4040 kb