Lean & Green: Aligning Circular Economy and Kaizen Through Hoshin Kanri

As organizations are moving towards a circular economy to enable a transition to more sustainable business practices, there is a need for knowledge on how companies can leverage the capabilities of the entire organization to reach this goal. In this paper, we present some preliminary but promising results from a single company that has adapted the use of Hoshin Kanri—a strategic management method often associated with lean which seeks to engage the whole organization in breakthrough improvements in Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost. The case company has over the last year experimented with including Sustainability (the term the company uses internally) targets in their Hoshin, to develop circular capabilities within the organization. We present a literature study on Circular Economy, Sustainability, Kaizen and Hoshin Kanri, which formed the basis for Action Learning Research interventions. We then compare the results from these interventions with the findings from the review. Finally, we discuss the implications of the results and point to further research.acceptedVersio

Tool or hassle?- Production workers evaluation of the potential of digital assistance systems on the shopfloor in shipbuilding projects

AbstractTechnology development opens up for new possibilities to facilitate the production processes through digital information systems. To optimize the systems’ value, the form, content, and medium must fit the needs of the workers. This article aims to contribute to the discussion on value, use and design of digital assistance systems for production. It presents empirical data from a case study at a Norwegian shipyard, on production workers’ perception of coordinative challenges, and the value (including content) of digital assistance systems in complex shipbuilding projects. A quantitative survey among supervisors and operators at the shop floor was conducted twice due to different circumstances at the yard. These variations in circumstances are valuable to enable an evaluation of the workers’ perception of coordinative challenges and digital solutions in different situations. The findings indicate a pronounced positive attitude towards the potential of digital systems. Moreover, the role of supervisors and operators in coordinative challenges leads to different requirements to the solutions. The results from this study will have both industrial and scientific implications, as they provide valuable insights to help develop user-friendly systems that aid both workers and the company in terms of efficiency and accurate communication

Understanding and eliminating waste in Engineer-To-Order (ETO) projects: a multiple case study

This article explores how waste reduction approaches as found in lean thinking can be applied to engineering design in Engineer-To-Order (ETO) projects based on a multiple case study of ten companies over a 2-year period. ETO projects deliver capital goods that are customised to individual customer requirements. Customisation and ultimately value generation are achieved through an iterative engineering design process. Although inevitable, iterative engineering design allows much leeway for waste generation, expressed in higher costs and longer lead times. Accordingly, this paper investigates the iterative nature of engineering design in current practice and discusses how these iterations create wastes. It applies the concept of lean engineering design and elaborates on how this concept can eliminate wastes. The findings extend the literature on lean thinking by demonstrating its applicability to engineering design and provide a unique description of the most common wastes found in ETO projects. Furthermore, this article provides managerial implications on how lean engineering design can eliminate wastes and ultimately improve ETO project performance based on lessons learned from the case companies