4,529 research outputs found
Lean six sigma in a call centre : a case study
No full textThis paper, a case study, aims to illustrate the application of lean six sigma in a call centre of a service industry corporation. The study draws on process information and primary data from a real project. The study describes improvements in the operation of the call centre attributable to lean six sigma: increase in first-call resolution ratio, reduction in operator turnover and streamlining of processes. The introduction of lean six sigma into the call centre daily operations' management may have organizational benefits. Although lean six sigma has been extremely successful in the last two decades in the manufacturing sector, its applicability to the service sector has been a controversial topic. This study illustrates its application to a fast-growing area of the service sector, assisting companies in identifying areas of development for their call centres
A customised lean model for a Chinese aerospace OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)
No full textThe aim of this research is to introduce Lean Thinking in a systematic and cost
effective way; moreover, it is to bring Lean Principles and apply Lean Tools to
the new aerospace companies. In particular the research will develop a
customised Lean manufacturing model. The following objectives will be
achieved during the research. 1); Investigate the principal features of Lean
Thinking, and identify state of the art in Lean manufacturing implementation. 2);
Identify the current situation of a specific Chinese aerospace company and the
requirements needed in becoming Lean. 3); Develop a customised Lean model
for applying Lean into a new Chinese aerospace company. 4); Validate the
Lean manufacturing model by experts in the company and university.
The Chinese traditional thinking is different from lean think. Therefore, to
implement Lean in China will face some distinct barriers. The author attempts to
resolve these problems through a customised lean model. According to the
literature review and researcher‘s knowledge, there is no paper developing a
model linking to the barriers of lean implementation in Chinese manufacturing.
Therefore, the author will attempt to fill in this gap during the research.
The questionnaire and assessment tool will be used to collect information from
the company. Best practices will help to establish the structure of the model.
However, in China, most companies implement lean through copying examples
from the United States, UK and other Western countries without combining their
current situation and culture. The contribution of this research is to develop a
model to link Chinese barriers and a company‘s situation for lean
implementation.
Finally, this model will be validated by company and academic experts. The first
validation is based on the sponsoring company. Other validations are achieved
by academic experts and industrial expert
Principles of the lean construction on the planning process of a huge builder in Natal (RN)
No full textThe civil construction represents one of the most important sectors for the economic growth of a country. To make this industry grow it is necessary to implement an effective planning in activities. This is one of the most important concepts brought by the Lean Construction philosophy. The main goal of this article consists in investigating how the 11 principles of the lean construction influenced the schedule of a construction field. As a methodology, it was used the case study of a big enterprise located in Natal (RN). During the execution of the method, documents were analysed , it was also described the factors that caused the delays at the enterprises’ field , the actions were listed by the company, which had the purpose to solve the main causes of delays, verifying if they were linked to the lean construction principles. This research it is relevant because the principles of the lean construction uphold the reduction of processes that are useless, diminishing wastes as well as costs in construction. Among the main results, the high frequency of planning errors stands out, mainly the programming deviations and not the task programming, as well as the execution errors, low productivity and activities executed by the workers. Amongst the 11 principles of lean construction, only five were related with the 12 actions analysed by the author. From the 12 actions, four were completely cohesive to one or more from these five principles. Some improvement proposals were also highlighted and established by the research
Lean TPM : a blueprint for change /
No full textLean TPM is an accessible, step-by-step guide designed to help you increase manufacturing efficiency through continuous improvement. Based on their experience of working with organizations that have successfully achieved outstanding performance, McCarthy and Rich provide the tools and techniques required to convert strategic vision into practical reality. Packed with real-life case studies and examples to highlight common pitfalls and proven approaches, the book focuses on the continuous improvement that can be achieved within any manufacturing environment by challenging wasteful working practices, releasing the potential of the workforce, and making processes work as planned. Lean TPM contains an integrated route map along with comprehensive benchmark data to enable engineers, technicians and managers to fully explore this potent technique.Vendor-supplied metadata.Lean TPM is an accessible, step-by-step guide designed to help you increase manufacturing efficiency through continuous improvement. Based on their experience of working with organizations that have successfully achieved outstanding performance, McCarthy and Rich provide the tools and techniques required to convert strategic vision into practical reality. Packed with real-life case studies and examples to highlight common pitfalls and proven approaches, the book focuses on the continuous improvement that can be achieved within any manufacturing environment by challenging wasteful working practices, releasing the potential of the workforce, and making processes work as planned. Lean TPM contains an integrated route map along with comprehensive benchmark data to enable engineers, technicians and managers to fully explore this potent technique.Front Cover; Lean TPM; Copyright; Contents; Preface; Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; Chapter One -- The Business of Survival and Growth; 1.1 THE NEW COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS; 1.2 SILVER BULLETS, INITIATIVE FATIGUE AND FASHIONABLE MANAGEMENT; 1.3 WHY PROGRAMMES FAIL?; 1.4 THE VALUE OF A COMPELLING VISION; 1.5 LEADING THE IMPROVEMENT PROCESS; 1.6 LEAN TPM; A BETTER IMPROVEMENT MODEL; REFERENCES; Chapter Two -- The Lean TPM Master Plan; 2.1 ACHIEVING THE RIGHT BALANCE; 2.2 THE ORIGINS OF LEAN THINKING; 2.3 THE ORIGINS OF TPM; 2.4 LEAN TPM; (INTEGRATING THE INTERNAL VALUE STREAM).(MAKE PRODUCT FLOW)MILESTONE 3: BUILD CAPABILITY (EXTEND FLOW SYSTEMS); MILESTONE 4: STRIVE FOR ZERO (PERFECTION); 2.5 WHAT DOES LEAN TPM OFFER?; 2.6 TACKLING THE HIDDEN WASTE TREASURE MAP; 2.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY; REFERENCES; Chapter Three -- Policy Deployment: Aligning People, Processes and Products Profitably; 3.1 TRANSLATING DIRECTION INTO FORWARD TRACTION; 3.2 A FOUNDATION OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT; 3.3 THE POLICY DEPLOYMENT PROCESS; 3.4 THE CONTENT OF POLICY DEPLOYMENT; 3.5 THE BOWLING CHART; 3.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY; REFERENCES.Chapter Four -- The Change Mandate: A Top-Down/Bottom-Up Partnership4.1 DELIVERING LASTING IMPROVEMENT; 4.2 SUSTAINING THE CHANGE MANDATE; 4.3 WHAT DO WE WANT FROM SENIOR MANAGEMENT?; 4.4 WHAT DO WE WANT FROM MIDDLE-FIRST LINE MANAGEMENT; 4.5 CALCULATING DOOR TO DOOR OEE; (SELF-MANAGED) TEAMS; 4.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY; REFERENCES; Chapter Five -- Transforming the Business Model; 5.1 TRANSFORMATION AND THE BUSINESS MODEL; 5.2 LEAN TPM IMPLEMENTATION; 5.3 LEAN TPM IMPLEMENTATION ROLES; 5.4 PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT; 5.5 CHANGE TEAM; 5.6 OPERATIONS TEAM; 5.7 SPECIALISTS; 5.8 FACILITATION.5.9 CHAPTER SUMMARYREFERENCES; Chapter Six -- Process Stabilisation; 6.1 STABILISING PROCESSES; 6.2 ASSESSING THE GAP; 6.3 UNDERSTANDING THE VOC; 6.4 VISUALISING THE VALUE STREAM; 6.5 A3 LEARNING PROCESS; ZERO BREAKDOWNS; 6.7 IMPROVING ASSET PERFORMANCE; 6.8 LEADING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF STANDARDS; 6.9 ESTABLISHING OPERATOR ASSET CARE; 6.10 THE PROCESS OF STABILISATION: THE FREE-FLOWING MATERIALS MAP; 6.11 LOCKING IN THE RECIPE FOR LOW-INVENTORY, HIGH-FLOW OPERATION DELIVERING ZERO BREAKDOWNS AND SELF-MANAGED TEAMWORK; 6.12 CHAPTER SUMMARY; REFERENCES; Chapter Seven -- Process Optimisation.7.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE CHALLENGE7.2 CHANGING MIND-SETS; 7.3 CHANGING SKILL SETS; 7.4 THE OPTIMISATION PROCESS; 7.5 EM APPROACH TO CAPITAL PROJECTS; 7.6 LEAN TPM CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT; 7.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY; REFERENCE; Chapter Eight -- Moving beyond the Factory; 8.1 INTRODUCTION; 8.2 WHY ENGAGE THE SUPPLY CHAIN?; 8.3 ALIGN, VISUALISE AND IMPROVE; 8.4 SUPPLY CHAIN IMPROVEMENT SUSTAINABILITY; 8.5 SUPPLY CHAIN ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY; 8.6 SPLITTING AND SHARING THE GAINS; 8.7 TYPES OF IMPROVEMENT; 8.8 CHAPTER SUMMARY; REFERENCES; Chapter Nine -- Sustaining the Improvement Drive.Includes bibliographical references and index.Elsevie
Critical Flow – Towards a Construction Flow Theory
No full textThis paper introduces the concept of Construction Physics as a more comprehensive way of understanding the construction process from a flow perspective. It establishes a preliminary definition of the term and investigates briefly the present knowledge, flow models and methods for their management. From this it argues that the state of the art does not fully cover the whole process and proposes a holistic view of the flow of all prerequisites feeding the process. It introduces the key term Critical Flow and concludes by recommending areas that should be investigated as a joint IGLC research, development and testing programme
Development of an impact assessment framework for lean manufacturing within SMEs
No full textThe main aim of the research work presented in this thesis, is the development of a
novel framework with the capability of assessing the impact of implementing lean
manufacturing within small-to-medium sized manufacturing firms (SMEs). By assessing
the impact of lean implementation, SMEs can make informed decisions on the viability
of lean adoption at the conceptual implementation stage. Companies are also able
determine their status in terms of lean manufacturing affordability.
Thus, in order to achieve the above-stated aim, the following were the main set research
objectives; (1) identifying the key drivers for implementing lean manufacturing within
SMEs, (2) investigating the operational activities of SMEs in order to understand their
manufacturing issues, (3) exploring the current level of lean manufacturing usage within
SMEs so as to categorise users based on their levels of involvement, (4) identifying
factors that determine the assessment of lean manufacturing, (5) developing an impact
assessment framework for justifying lean manufacturing within SMEs, (6) developing a
knowledge based advisory system and (7) validating the impact assessment framework
and the developed knowledge based advisory system through real-life case studies,
workshops, and expert opinions.
A combination of research methodology approaches have been employed in this
research study. This comprises literature review, observation of companies' practices
and personal interview. The data collection process involved ten SMEs that provided
consistent information throughout the research project life. Additionally, visitations to
three large size manufacturing firms were also conducted. Hence, the framework and
system development process passed through several stages. Firstly, the data were
collected from companies who had successfully implemented lean manufacturing within
their premise. The second development stage included the analysis and validation of the
dataset through company practitioners. An impact assessment framework was thus developed with the aid of regression analysis as a predictive model. However, it was
realised that there were few correlations between the dataset generated and analysis. The
reasons for this were unclear.
,a
knowledge based advisory system was adopted to
conceptualise, enhance the robustness of the impact assessment framework and address
the problem of the imprecise data in the impact assessment process.
Three major factors of impact assessment were considered in the framework and the
system development process, namely relative cost of lean implementation, a company
lean readiness status and the level of value-added to be achieved (impact/benefits).
Three knowledge based advisory sub-systems that consisted of the abovementioned
factors were built. Results obtained from them were then fed into the final system. The
three sub-systems were validated with the original set of data from companies. This
enabled the assignment of a number of input variables whose membership functions
aided the definition of the fuzzy expert system language (linguistic variables) used. The
final system yielded heuristic rules that enable the postulation of scenarios of lean
implementation. Results were sought and tested on a number of firms based within the
UK, for the purposes validation. These also included expert opinions both in academic
and industrial settings.
A major contribution of the developed system is its ability to aid decision-making
processes for lean implementation at the early implementation stage. The visualisation
facility of the developed system is also useful in enabling potential lean users to make
forecasts on the relative cost of lean projects upfront, anticipate lean benefits, and realise
one' degree of lean readiness
Six Sigma vs Lean : some perspectives from leading academics and practitioners
No full textThe purpose of this paper is to present the fundamental and critical differences between two of the most powerful methodologies in a process excellence initiative in any organisation. The approach taken was to collate opinions from a number of leading academics and practitioners from five different countries. It was also important to ensure that all participants have a good knowledge and expertise in the field of both Lean and Six Sigma methodologies. Although both methodologies are focused on process and quality improvement, Lean is formalisation and codification of experience and judgement which is not a feature of Six Sigma. Lean emphasises speed and waste, however Six Sigma emphasises variation, defects and process evaluation. The viewpoints expressed in the article are those of a few academics and practitioners. It is important to capture the viewpoints of more academics and practitioners to arrive at sound and valid conclusions. The paper provides an excellent resource for many researchers and for practitioners who are engaged in research and applications of the most two powerful methodologies for achieving and sustaining operational excellence. It is also critical to understand the fundamental differences between these two methodologies
Improving Construction Processes by Integrating Lean, Green, and Six-Sigma
No full textThe overall goal of this research was to develop and implement methods to improve the performance and the efficiency of construction processes prior to and during the construction phase in Design-Bid-Build (DBB) projects. In order to accomplish these goals, the three methods Lean, Green, and Six-Sigma were implemented in two different scenarios and validated by different case studies.
First, a framework was developed that integrated the three methods Lean, Green, and Six-Sigma with an overall layout of the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) improvement model. The framework was then validated via a construction process of installation of pile caps for an educational institute during the construction phase in Pittsburgh. The framework highlighted two issues with the pile caps construction process. First, disparate quantities of materials (purchased and installed) were determined. Second, the pile caps construction process took a total time of 54 business days while it could have been completed in 30 business days. Using life cycle assessment, environmental impacts of the pile cap construction process were analyzed and results showed that major environmental impacts including global warming potential, release of carcinogenics, negative respiratory effects, ozone depletion, and ecotoxcity could result from the materials used for the process. Next, the root causes behind waste generation were determined via developing and administrating a questionnaire to a local construction company.
Second, the previously developed framework was further validated and applied to a residential development project in Saudi Arabia. The construction sector has been growing rapidly in Saudi Arabia; however, the quality of Saudi Arabian construction is decreasing, resulting in excess waste generation and associated environmental impacts. This case study examined a project with 53 residential units overall but only 10 units acceptable at final inspection. The largest quality issue was determined to be exterior paint blistering. Using the developed framework, defective units were investigated through a field examination, narrowing down the causes of the blistering applying the Pareto method as follows: Inadequate method, untrained workers, weather, and others. Next, the Process improvement tool was applied to reduce the blistering causes and to improve the current process. A new method designed and applied to a separate residential unit for validation. The modified method showed a great improvement and in the end the unit was able to pass inspection.
Finally, building on the previous case studies, the framework was later refined with the goal of applying it earlier in a project, prior to construction, to further reduce potential waste generation and associated environmental impacts. Using Lean Green, and Six-Sigma (LG6) and adopting the same improvement model, DMAIC, the owner can evaluate all steps separately in the process, addressing all resources consumed and analyzing environmental impacts which might be generated; this highlights potential waste and so can help the owner avoid waste occurrence by indicating where the process needs to be amended to create less environmental impact and more efficiency. For this research, the model was used to help evaluate the construction process for the installation of 160 woodpiles. The model identified that four steps out of eight were considered as non-adding value steps or waste. Three steps out of four non-adding value steps were involved with moving down, moving around, and setting up the equipment. The remaining wasteful step was cutting to length all installed woodpiles. The model showed that if these steps were replaced, eliminated or planned well, environmental impacts would be reduced by 9% and expenses by 1%
The role of actor associations in understanding the implementation of lean thinking in healthcare
No full textPurpose: The importance of networks in effecting the outcomes of change processes is well-established in the literature. Whilst extant literature focuses predominantly on the structural properties of networks, our purpose is to explore the dynamics of network emergence that give rise to the outcomes of process interventions. We show how Actor Network Theory (ANT) may be used as a lens for interrogating the way in which management interventions play out in the complex organisational setting of a UK National Health Service Trust, providing insights for management of process change initiatives. Design/methodology/approach: This is a rich qualitative study in the Pathology Unit of a UK National Health Service Trust, using ANT as the theoretical lens for tracking the emergence and transformation of networks of individuals over the course of a management intervention to promote “lean thinking” for performance improvements.Findings: ANT is useful for explicitly tracking how organisational players shift their positions and network allegiances over time, and identifying objects and actions that are effective in engaging individuals in networks enabling transition to a lean process. It is important to attend to the dynamics of the process of change and devise appropriate timely interventions enabling actors to shift their own positions towards a desired outcome.Research limitations/implications: We make the case for using of theoretical frameworks developed outside the operations management to develop insights for designing process interventions.Originality/value: By understanding the role of shifting networks managers can use timely interventions during the process implementation to facilitate the transition to lean processes: e.g. using demonstrable senior leadership commitment and visual communication.<br/
Taking the Playing Lean Experience Online
No full textPart 7: Skills and Knowledge ManagementInternational audienceUsing games and simulations to teach various lean methods and approaches enables the teacher to increase student’s participation and identify each individual’s challenges. Given the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, most of the businesses and institution went into lockdown from early 2020, forcing the educators to deliver remote workshops. Playing Lean is a team-based board game in which players have to develop their business through iterative development and lean experimentation. The team that reaches early majority first—by crossing the proverbial chasm—wins. In this paper, the author explores how the game was adapted for teaching the lean startup method remotely
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