Applications of lean thinking: a briefing document

This report has been put together by the Health and Care Infrastructure Research and Innovation Centre (HaCIRIC) at the University of Salford for the Department of Health. The need for the report grew out of two main simple questions, o Is Lean applicable in sectors other than manufacturing? o Can the service delivery sector learn from the success of lean in manufacturing and realise the benefits of its implementation?The aim of the report is to list together examples of lean thinking as it is evidenced in the public and private service sector. Following a review of various sources a catalogue of evidence is put together in an organised manner which demonstrates that Lean principles and techniques, when applied rigorously and throughout an entire organization/unit, they can have a positive impact on productivity, cost, quality, and timely delivery of services

On the metaphysics of management

The question about the metaphysics of management is considered especially from the point of view of the subject, acts and object of management. Management is understood holistically, in connection to production, rather than as an independent domain in itself. In terms of metaphysics, the time-honoured question about the superiority of thing (substance, matter) ontology or process ontology is addressed. The determination of metaphysical commitments is discussed. Empirical evidence on the appropriateness of alternative metaphysical assumptions inmanagement is forwarded. It is concluded that Western management thinking has been dominated by thing metaphysics. This has led to deficient conceptualizations and counterproductive methods, present in the 20th century. There have been process metaphysics based correctives, which include Japanese-originated methods and out-of-the box methods developed by Western parties. These correctives have often outperformed their substance based counterparts, but their adoption in the West has been slow. It is concluded that the Western metaphysical assumptions, especially when implicit, hinder learning, understanding and implementation of the process based correctives in the realm of management. However, even if the dominant Western metaphysics constrains our thinking, it might be possible to break out of it, through appropriate ontology training

Do we need one science of production in healthcare?

The question addressed is: Is there need, in health care, for one consolidated science of production? For responding to this question, the classical science of production is reviewed and the current approaches to production and service in healthcare are analysed as for their evolution and current status. It is found that these current movements are not self-aware of the restrictions deriving from their backgrounds, and of the resultant partiality in their approaches. It is concluded that improvement of healthcare is slowed down by the fragmentation of the related disciplines; thus one consolidated science of production (of healthcare) is needed

Application of simulation and modelling in managing unplanned healthcare demand

Patients who attend Accident and Emergency (A & E) departments with problems that could be dealt with by their general practitioners (GPs) use time and resources of the department that could be otherwise used for patients with more appropriate needs. Hospital managers throughout the world are facing increasing pressure to introduce measures and initiatives to significantly ease the problem of such inappropriate attendances at A&E departments. This study looks at an initiative in which primary care clinicians are used to help deflect patients with non-urgent needs away from A&E. Simulation and modelling was used to assess the impact that this initiative would have on A&E workflow. The results suggest that the deflection of patients attending A&E with non-urgent needs may reduce the time spent in A&E by all patients attending A&E

Knowledge and technology transfer from universities to industries: A case study approach from the built environment field

Enabling kowledge societies and knowledge based economies is a key policy in the UK. KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership) scheme initiated by the Technology Strategy Board is a pathway for collaboration and partnerships between Higher Education institutions and companies to transfer innovative knowledge based solutions from universities to businesses in order to equip them with the leading edge knowledge and technology infrastructure for sustainable long term competitive advantages in both national and international market. The paper explains a KTP project between the University of Salford and John McCall Architects (JMA) in Liverpool in the UK that aimed to identify, map and re-engineer JMA’s strategic and operational change processes through Lean thinking and the implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM), which is a foundational tool for implementing an efficient process and invariably leads to lean-orientated, team based approach to design and construction by enabling the intelligent interrogation of designs; provide a quicker and cheaper design production; better co-ordination of documentation; more effective change control; less repetition of processes; a better quality constructed product; and improved communication both for JMA and across the supply chain whereas it provided opportunity to increase business relevance of knowledge based research and teaching for the Higher Education. Case Study approach is employed in the paper and the KTP project is assessed for i) how it helped in improving JMA’s knowledge and technology capacity in conducting their practice, and, ii) how it helped the university in improving its knowledge based research and teaching