Eco-innovation practices’ adoption in the automotive industry

Eco-innovation is a construct that is gaining increasing interest from academics and researchers since it is commonly considered in the literature as one of the strategies that allow manufacturing companies not only to significantly reduce the negative impacts on the environment but also the generation of pollutants. However, little is known about the adoption of eco-innovation practices in manufacturing companies, particularly in the automotive industry. Therefore, this research has as main objective to fill this gap in the literature and explore the interdependence between eco-innovation of products, processes and management. The study is conducted through a research framework consisting of 3 measurement scales, 14 items and 3 hypotheses and an extensive review of the literature. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 460 companies in the automotive and auto parts industry in Mexico. Data were analyzed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Descriptive Statistics and Structural Equation Modelling. The results obtained show that product eco-innovation, process eco-innovation and management eco-innovation are good indicators for the adoption of eco-innovation practices for companies in the automotive and auto parts industry. The paper addresses a research gap in the academic literature in the eco-innovation field by providing evidence on the interdependence between eco-innovation of products, processes and management and the implementation of their practices in the automotive industry.N/

Managing reverse exchanges in service supply chains

PurposeThis study aims to address the management of reverse flows in the context of service supply chains. The study builds on the characteristics of services production reported in literature to: identify diverse types of reverse flows in services supply chains; discuss key issues associated to the management of reverse service flows; and suggest directions for research for developing the knowledge for management of reverse flows in service contexts. Design/Methodology/ApproachThis study first provides an overview of the theoretical background which supports the identification and the characterization of the flows, and the reverse flows, involved in service production. A short summary of each paper accepted in this special issue is also provided to give readers an overview of the various issues around reverse exchanges in service supply chains that authors have attempted to address. FindingsIn this study we identify distinct types of reverse flows in services production building on the analysis of the characteristics of service production and delivery reported in the literature. Our discussion highlights the fact that service supply chains can be quite diverse in the type of exchanges of inputs and outputs that take place between customers and providers, showing that often there can be substantial flows of items to return. In particular, and differently from manufacturing contexts, we highlight that in service supply chains providers might need to handle bi-directional reverse flows. Research limitations/implicationsThe lack of research on reverse service supply chains is to a great extent a consequence of dominant paradigms which often identify the absence of physical product flows as a key distinguishing feature of service supply chains, and therefore lead to the misbelief that in services there is nothing to return. This special issue therefore aims to clarify this misunderstanding through the limited selection of eight papers that address various issues around reverse exchanges in service supply chains.Originality/valueWhile theoretical and empirical research in supply chain is abundant, management of reverse exchanges in service supply chain is sparse. In this special issue we aim to provide a first contribution to understand how the characteristics of service production raise new issues for the management of reverse flows in service supply chains, and to foster the development of adequate management strategies

Measuring the level of lean readiness of the Hong Kong's manufacturing industry

Increasingly competitive business environments have forced manufacturing organisations to continuously seek improvements in their production processes as an alternative to achieve operational excellence. Lean manufacturing principles and techniques based on the elimination waste have been widely used by manufacturing organisations around the world to drive such improvements. The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical study that evaluates the readiness level of the Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry to provide a foundation for the successful implementation and/or sustainment of lean practices. To conduct this study, the paper adapts an assessment framework developed by Al-Najem et al. [16]. Thus, the lean readiness assessment is based on six quality practices (i.e. planning & control; processes; human resources; customer relations; supplier relations; and top management & leadership) related to lean manufacturing. One research question and three hypotheses were formulated and tested using a combination of inferential statics (i.e. Levene’s test and t-test) and descriptive statistics. Data were collected through a survey questionnaire responded by 9 manufacturing organisations with operations in Hong Kong. The findings suggest that the Hong Kong’s manufacturing organisations surveyed do not currently have a well-developed foundation to implement or sustain lean manufacturing. In particular, these organisations present important opportunities to further develop some quality practices such as processes, planning & control, customer relations, supplier relations, human resources, and top management & leadership. The improvement of these quality practices will ensure, according to Al-Najem et al.’s [16] framework, a more effective implementation and sustainment of lean manufacturing in their operations

The role of supply chain integration in achieving competitive advantage: A study of UK automobile manufacturers

The competitive nature of the global automobile industry has resulted in a battle for efficiency and consistency in supply chain management (SCM). For manufacturers, the diversified network of suppliers represents more than just a production system; it is a strategic asset that must be managed, evaluated, and revised in order to attain competitive advantage. One capability that has become an increasingly essential means of alignment and assessment is supply chain integration (SCI). Through such practices, manufacturers create informational capital that is inimitable, yet transferrable, allowing suppliers to participate in a mutually-beneficial system of performance-centred outcomes. From cost reduction to time improvements to quality control, the benefits of SCI extend throughout the supply chain lifecycle, providing firms with improved predictability, flexibility, and responsiveness. Yet in spite of such benefits, key limitations including exposure to risks, supplier failures, or changing competitive conditions may expose manufacturers to a vulnerable position that can severely impact value and performance. The current study summarizes the perspectives and predictions of managers within the automobile industry in the UK, highlighting a dynamic model of interdependency and interpolation that embraces SCI as a strategic resource. Full commitment to integration is critical to achieving improved outcomes and performance; therefore, firms seeking to integrate throughout their extended supply chain must be willing to embrace a less centralized locus of control

How supplier selection criteria affects business performance? A study of UK automotive sector

According to KPMG international (2015), global sales of automobiles are forecasted to reach 73.9 million vehicles and expected to hit 100 million units in the next two years. This shows that automotive sector has a tremendous growth potential and UK automotive sector is no different. However, in recent years the growing environmental awareness has become a major concern for automotive sector as they are faced with pressure of reducing carbon emissions as well as the costs. Suppliers play a significant role in achieving environmental goals set by organisations. Under these circumstances it is worth exploring the criteria that are used in assessing suppliers including the green aspects and how that affects the business performance. Design/methodology/approach: This research adopts a mixed method research approach. In order to collect the quantitative data a survey questionnaire was constructed and sent to automotive businesses listed in the FAME database. In order to triangulate the findings of this study, survey was complemented with in-depth interviews. Around 100 automotive manufacturers were invited for the survey however only 38 usable responses were received. In total seven semi-structured interviews were also conducted with people from different backgrounds and work experiences in the automotive sector. Findings: Literature identified delivery, cost, quality and technology as the supplier assessment criteria commonly used in assessing suppliers in automotive industries. Yet the issue of culture and green supply chain practices (GSP) were also widely concerned in several studies. The data analysis showed that delivery, quality, cost, technology, culture are correlated with exception of green supply chain practices. GSP was only found to be correlated with technology and cultural criteria. Semi-structured interviews suggest delivery and quality as the most important criteria when assessing supplier because of their greater impact toward business performance and reputation. Findings from all respondents also showed that most automotive manufacturers have already adopted environmental competency in their criteria. However, interviewees mentioned that this criterion does not take a major role in assessment compared with other criteria. The results also indicate that all factors studied do affect the business performance of automotive organisations. Value: This study contributes to the limited literature focused on assessing supplier selection criteria and business performance linkage in the UK automotive organisations. In addition, most studies on supplier selection and business performance ignore the green practices as important criteria which this study aims to address. Research limitations/implications: The study is based on the findings from a limited survey responses and semi-structured interviews. Having larger sample population would certainly improve the validity of the findings. The perspective of SMEs and large businesses with regard to each supplier selection criterion may be different hence the future research in this domain would also provide some valuable contributions. Practical implications: The survey responses indicate green supply practices as one of the important criteria in supplier selection. This suggests that automotive manufacturers should realize the importance of green practices while selecting their suppliers. This will help them to meet their own green goals while simultaneously meeting the government environmental.Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan ▪ Economic Development Bureau, Kaohsiung, Taiwan ▪ National Kaohsiung First University of Science & Tech, Taiwan ▪ National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan ▪ Taiwan International Ports Corp. Ltd. ▪ Jade Yachts Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. ▪ International Academy for Marine Economy and Technology, The University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus, China ▪ The Institute for Advanced Manufacturing, The University of Nottingham, U

Using the Delphi method to verify a framework to implement sustainability initiatives.

The paper provides a Delphi study to verify the framework to implement sustainability initiatives in the business processes. The Delphi technique seeks to obtain consensus on the opinions of experts, termed panel members, through a series of questionnaires. As part of the process, the responses from each round are fed back in summarized form to the participants who are then given an opportunity to respond again to the emerging data. The study successfully obtained a consensus in the phases and steps of the conceptual framework and provided feedback from the specialists. According to them, leadership, people and cost were identified as the main challenges related to the sustainability adoption by the organisations and key performance indicators (KPIs), Lifecycle assessment (LCA) and triple bottom line (TBL) were identified as the main methods to assess al the sustainability dimensions in terms of business processes.N/

A systematic approach to diagnose the current status of quality management systems and business processes

Purpose - This paper presents a systematic approach to conduct a diagnosis of the current status of a company’s quality management systems (QMS) and business processes. Methodology - The approach proposed is based upon the (1) assessment of the maturity level of a company’s QMS, for which a ‘maturity diagnostic instrument’ is also proposed, (2) a self-assessment exercise using a business excellence model, and (3) a first party quality audit. Findings - The integration of a QMS’ maturity assessment, a self-assessment exercise and a quality audit may provide a more thorough evaluation of various company’s systems and operations. This paper provides organisations, and their managers, with a systematic approach to help them understand better the current performance of their QMSs and business processes. Originality/value - This paper’s main contribution consists in the proposal of a novel approach for organisation to measure and understand the status of their QMS and business processes. Subsequently, better management decisions to improve a company’s operations can be taken.N/

Towards a conceptual framework for value stream mapping (VSM) implementation: an investigation of managerial factors

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Despite the relatively extensive literature on VSM, limited reflection has been reported regarding how managerial proceedings actually put VSM into practice. This research therefore investigates these issues as part of the overall lean philosophy and in correlation with some of its main tools. Five hypotheses and three complementary research questions were formulated and tested using a combination of descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation, 2-Sample proportion, one-way ANOVA, 1-Sample t-tests and Tukey-Pairwise comparison tests. Data were collected through a survey questionnaire responded by 168 manufacturing organisations worldwide. The results establish, among other ‘soft’ aspects; (1) whether organisations that have adopted lean have also employed VSM as an essential tool to identify waste, (2) the position that VSM normally takes in the time frame hierarchy of lean implementation, (3) the complexity of VSM implementation in terms of easiness and time taken for training when compared to other lean tools such as TPM, JIT and Jidoka, and the (4) critical success factors and barriers for the VSM implementation. A conceptual framework to support the implementation and management of VSM is developed through the unification of the results obtained. This study supports the very limited empirical research on the implementation and management of VSM

Developing a business improvement strategy based on the EFQM model

The use of the EFQM model and other business excellence models (BEM’s) has been recognised as a way of improving business processes among organisations. The information gathered through self-assessments using these models show the performance of organisations against several model criteria. There is evidence that organisations find it difficult to integrate the information from self-assessments to current business improvement programs or projects. Additionally, it has been claimed that the final reports derived from the deployment of self-assessments are rarely followed up. Thus, despite good efforts and some knowledge gained through the use of BEM’s there is a lack of methods, models, and techniques that effectively integrate the self-assessments with current business improvement strategies. In this context, the effective deployments of BEM’s and follow up activities and plans can contribute to support and develop business improvement strategies. Under this perspective, this paper explores the appropriate methods and techniques than can help to integrate self-assessments outcomes based on the EFQM model into a business improvement strategy. Based on emerging issues derived from an empirical study with twelve European Organisations that have used the EFQM model for more than five years, the paper identifies some of the best practices to integrate self-assessment outcomes with business improvement strategies. It then proposes a framework that can help to accomplish this integration and to mitigate the problems mentioned earlier. The conclusion of this work emphasises the necessity to standardise this process, and to integrate it with current knowledge management projects to store and retrieve the information for future business improvements project

An integrated approach of Six Sigma and QSAM methodologies for a pharmaceutical company: A shipment improvement process

This paper presents a shipment improvement project in a pharmaceutical company to reduce distribution costs of a set of products shipped to Germany. The project consisted in the diagnosis and improvement of the shipment process through the deployment of Quick Scan Audit Methodology (QSAM) as a precursor to Six Sigma implementation. The original sample-shipments process was analysed to improve it and achieve the targets based on optimised sub-processes. The results showed a set of non-value added activities in transportation, motion, waiting, defects and the sub-utilisation of people. Based on the application of quality tools such as VSM, CFD, VOC, CTQ-Three under the Six-Sigma approach, the improvements achieved a 26% reduction in cycle time, and no complaints from customers were reported since the implementation. A control plan was deployed to track shipments and maintain open and close communication with the customer. The resulting benefits had a significant impact on reducing distribution costs