Lean Performance Research Articles

Lean Manufacturing and Performance Measures: Evidence from Japanese Factories

Lean Manufacturing and Performance Measures: Evidence from Japanese Factories

Lean production and organisational performance: moderating roles of ability- and motivation-focused human resource management

Lean production (LP) is crucial for improving organisational performance. On the basis of ability-motivation-opportunity theory, this paper provides a new theoretical perspective to explain the interaction effect of human resource management (HRM) and LP on performance. Data from multiple informants from 212 manufacturing plants indicated that when organisations implement ability- and motivation-focused HRM to a high degree, LP is profitable. However, when organisations implement ability- and motivation-focused HRM to a low degree, LP is negatively associated with performance. Therefore, the synergy of LP and these two forms of HRM is critical for performance. Without HRM, LP could damage an organisation. Manufacturers in charge of LP must cooperate with HRM professionals because improving employees' abilities and motivation through HRM supports LP implementation.

An analytical study of lean implementation measures in pump industries in India

The manufacturing industries in India are gearing up to face the challenges namely the quality, timely delivery and satisfying customer need. This prompted some large manufacturing industries to implement lean thinking in their manufacturing process. Most of the manufacturing companies are yet to take up this task. Particularly, the pump industries which are mostly occupied by SMEs are still to follow the suit. In this context, this study has made sincere attempt to survey the implementation of lean in pump manufacturing industries in India through an instrument consisting of seven lean implementation measures namely, RILP, lean tools employed in the company, RLPTLI, MBLP, evaluation of level of waste in the company, success factors of lean practicing in the company and lean performance indicators. A survey type research was conducted and the results indicated that identified lean implementation measures were found to be significant in achieving lean implementation in pump industries.

An analytical study of lean implementation measures in pump industries in India

The manufacturing industries in India are gearing up to face the challenges namely the quality, timely delivery and satisfying customer need. This prompted some large manufacturing industries to implement lean thinking in their manufacturing process. Most of the manufacturing companies are yet to take up this task. Particularly, the pump industries which are mostly occupied by SMEs are still to follow the suit. In this context, this study has made sincere attempt to survey the implementation of lean in pump manufacturing industries in India through an instrument consisting of seven lean implementation measures namely, RILP, lean tools employed in the company, RLPTLI, MBLP, evaluation of level of waste in the company, success factors of lean practicing in the company and lean performance indicators. A survey type research was conducted and the results indicated that identified lean implementation measures were found to be significant in achieving lean implementation in pump industries.

Evaluating Lean Performance of Indian Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Automotive Sector

Abstract Under new “make in India policy” India has started to become global manufacturing hub and many Indian organizations are looking to implement lean philosophy to gain sustainable strategic benefits over others. Therefore, a need was felt to develop comprehensive lean evaluation system for Indian automotive small & medium sized enterprises in order to measure its present lean status and potential improvements to gain significant strategic advantages. Research started with the identification of various lean factors and associated sub factors through literature survey. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process was applied to assign weight to various extracted lean factors and sub factors because of its evident merits. Fuzzy comprehensive analysis was applied to assess present status of Indian automotive small and medium sized enterprises, where lean does not practice. Lean performance of Indian automotive small & medium sized enterprises was ascertained as poor. The proposed model could be useful to guiding the Indian automotive small and medium sized enterprises in judicial selection of lean practices to gain significant sustainable strategic advantage over its competitors. Novelty of this research is to emerge from the development of comprehensive lean measurement model for Indian small and medium sized enterprises in automotive sector.

Implementation lean manufacturing using Waste Assessment Model (WAM) in shoes company

The purpose of this research was to measure the level of lean performance. Lean manufacturing is a concept that implements waste elimination that can improve effectiveness and efficiency. Implementation of this research using waste relationship matrix to know the relationship between seven waste and last use waste assessment questionnaires to get the final weight of the rank of seven waste. Defect is the number waste (21,57%) and then waste of waiting (16,67%). By using this method, we can be using quantitative data by objective factor. It can be easier to reduce waste and improve industrial productivity. The impacts of ineffective and inefficient production processes are poor performance and not smooth production. Producing products effectively and efficiently is one of the goals of manufacturing companies.

Lean Bundles and Performance Outcomes in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Benchmarking a Jordanian Company and Operational Excellence International Project

This study benchmarks the implementation levels and performance outcomes of lean bundles of a Jordanian pharmaceutical manufacturing company with the results of the Operational Excellence (OPEX) model. The OPEX model is an ongoing international research project in the pharmaceutical industry. The results of the OPEX project were obtained, along with permission to use them in the present study. The same question items used in the OPEX project were used to prepare a questionnaire to collect data from the Jordanian pharmaceutical company. Fifteen managers from the Jordanian company with responsibilities related to lean management completed the questionnaire. The results demonstrated that the implementation levels of lean practices and the lean performance outcomes of the Jordanian pharmaceutical company varied in comparison to the OPEX project. The overall assessment showed that the Jordanian company is excellent in the total quality management bundle (at or above the levels of the benchmarked data), good in the human resource bundle (almost at the levels of the benchmarked data), acceptable in the just-in-time bundle (below the levels of the benchmarked data), and weak in the total preventive maintenance bundle (considerably below the levels of the benchmarked data). There are few benchmarking studies in the pharmaceutical industry in the area of lean management. In particular, this area is under-investigated in the developing world. The current study provides insights into the value of benchmarking key lean metrics against leading companies. This approach is expected to support pharmaceutical industry managers in the developing world to evaluate their current lean state, estimate the desired state based on the benchmarking results, and set appropriate strategies to promote lean management and operational excellence in their companies.

Improving Endoscopy Access for Veterans: A Lean Performance Improvement Project Decreases Endoscopy No-Show Rate at a Veterans Affairs Hospital

Access to endoscopy is essential for achieving high rates of colorectal cancer screening. Last-minute cancellations and no-shows are relatively common for outpatient endoscopic procedures, yet filling these vacated appointment slots the same day is challenging. Unfilled spots result in decreased revenue, decreased productivity, and worsened access to endoscopy. Our lean performance improvement project aimed to decrease the no-show rate of ambulatory endoscopies at a large Veterans Affairs hospital endoscopy unit with a baseline no-show rate of 16% per day. We performed a root-cause analysis to identify factors contributing to procedural no-shows. We included both colonoscopies and upper endoscopies in our analysis; endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic ultrasound procedures were excluded. Using a standardized interview guide, we interviewed patients who had not shown for endoscopy appointments over a 2-month period from December 2016 through January 2017 to derive barriers to attendance and establish behavioral patterns across the patient population. Using this data, combined with a value-stream map, we identified hypotheses and possible solutions for the no-show problem. Utilizing rapid-improvement cycles, we tested hypotheses and analyzed the impact on no-show rates. Patients reported difficulty contacting the office staff to cancel the procedure in 15% of cases; not knowing they should call to cancel in 41% of cases; and unforeseen issues, such as difficulty with preparation, acute illness, and transportation issues, in 44% of cases. Generally, patients were aware the procedure had been scheduled (89%) and had received a reminder letter and/or phone call (93%). Based on the root-cause analysis, we implemented 2 key interventions: first, streamlining the phone system within the endoscopy unit to remove barriers to patients who wished to cancel procedures; and second, highlighting the importance of cancelling procedures in advance in all pre-procedure phone calls to patients. After the implementation of these interventions, the no-show rate dropped from 16% in December 2016 to 7.8% in May 2017 (Figure 1). The improvement was sustained in subsequent months of follow-up, through September 2017. Lean methodology can be effectively leveraged to solve operations problems in endoscopy suites. Using a root-cause analysis and rapid-improvement cycles, we reduced the composite colonoscopy and upper endoscopy no-show rate by 50% over a 6-month period at a large Veterans Affairs hospital.

Effect of swirl number of pilot stage on TeLESS II combustor's lean blow-out performance

Effect of swirl number of pilot stage on TeLESS II combustor's lean blow-out performance

Age-Related Declines in the Ability to Modulate Common Input to Bilateral and Unilateral Plantar Flexors During Forward Postural Lean

Aging can impair an ability to lean the body forward to the edge of the base of support. Here, we investigated, using a coherence analysis, common inputs to bilateral and unilateral plantar flexor muscles to test a hypothesis that the age-related impairment would be related to strong synchronous bilateral activation and reduced cortical control of these muscles. Healthy young (n = 14) and elderly adults (n = 19), who were all right-foot dominant, performed quiet standing task and tasks that required the subjects to lean their body forward to 35 and 75% of the maximum lean distance. The electromyogram was recorded from the bilateral medial gastrocnemius (MG) and soleus (SL) muscles. We analyzed delta-band coherence, that reflects comodulation of muscle activity, between the bilateral homologous muscles (MG-MG and SL-SL pairs). The origin of this bilateral comodulation is suggested to be the subcortical system. Also, we examined beta-band coherence, that is related to the corticospinal drive, between the unilateral muscles (MG-SL pair) in the right leg. Results indicated that the bilateral delta-band coherence for the MG-MG pair was significantly smaller in the 75% forward lean than quiet standing and 35% forward lean tasks for the young adults (quiet: p = 0.036; 35%: p = 0.0011). The bilateral delta-band coherence for the SL-SL pair was significantly smaller in the 75% forward lean than 35% forward lean task for the young adults (p = 0.027). Furthermore, the unilateral beta-band coherence was larger in the forward lean than quiet standing task for the young adults (35%: p < 0.001; 75%: p = 0.029). Contrarily, the elderly adults did not demonstrate such changes. These findings suggest the importance of decreasing the synchronous bilateral activation and increasing the unilateral cortical control of the plantar flexor muscles for the successful forward postural lean performance, and that aging impairs this modulatory ability.

Developing an instrument to measure lean manufacturing maturity and its relationship with operational performance

This paper proposes an instrument to evaluate the maturity of lean manufacturing, and to examine the relationship between lean manufacturing maturity and operational performance. The research instrument examines companies’ maturity on eight dimensions, composed of 38 lean practices, based on Toyota’s 14 management principles. The instrument was applied to 90 manufacturing companies located in Santa Catarina State, Brazil. The results confirm that maturity can explain 49.9% of the variance of researched companies’ operational performance ( = 0.499). The present study contributes to the expansion of scientific research in the fields of lean production and maturity of organisations, bringing managerial contributions by providing an instrument for self-evaluation of lean manufacturing maturity.

The impact of lean practices on performance: based on meta-analysis and Bayesian network

It has always been the primary concern of the researchers and practitioners to carry out lean production successfully in enterprises. Most of the existing studies use performance as a measure to investigate the impact of lean practices on performance through empirical methods, and stated that lean practices have a positive impact on enterprise performance. However, there is a scarcity of in-depth studies on the non-linear relationship between lean practices and enterprise performance. In this paper, a composite approach was proposed to solve this problem. First, the relationship between lean practices and enterprise performance was examined by Meta-analysis. Then based on the analysis result, a Bayesian network was constructed, which was used to analyse the non-linear relationship between lean practices and enterprise performance. The results indicated that lean practices have positive effects on operational performance and non-operational performance. However, the probabilities of different enterprise performance levels change disproportionately with different lean practices levels. The conclusion of this paper can be used to understand the non-linear relationship between lean practices and enterprise performance, and provides a broad perspective for understanding the application of lean practices in the enterprise.

692 - Improving Endoscopy Access for Veterans: A Lean Performance Improvement Project Decreases Endoscopy No-Show Rate at a Veterans Affairs Hospital

692 - Improving Endoscopy Access for Veterans: A Lean Performance Improvement Project Decreases Endoscopy No-Show Rate at a Veterans Affairs Hospital

Conceptual Framework of Lean Ergonomics for Assembly Process: PDCA Approach

The purpose of this paper is to prepare a conceptual framework of hybrid lean and ergonomics for assembly manufacturing process based. The research used PDCA approach as a basis in linking the relationship between lean manufacturing and ergonomics. Comprehensive literature review identify the lean ergonomics issues, best practices, and also the way to improve the ergonomic conditions in the workplace, especially those impacting employees on the assembly process. The findings show that the job design strategies for reducing extreme injuries influence by repetitive tasks. Selections of lean tools and technique, human factors analysis and lean performance measure are the key point on the stages of the PDCA conceptual framework for lean ergonomics in working assembly process. This paper also demonstrates by continuous improvement applied between the elimination of waste and increased productivity and the impacts on the ergonomic conditions to carry out operations and consequently by improving the productivity and well-being of its employees based on implementation of PDCA conceptual frameworks.

An empirical investigation of workplace factors affecting lean performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify workplace factors with an impact on lean performance (LP). This can lead to better LP outcomes, thus facilitating organizations to smoothly move from the conventional to lean management.Design/methodology/approachThe direct effects of training, knowledge acquisition and organizational culture are empirically investigated using data from 126 managers employed at a global company, which recently has improved its LP. Study’s hypotheses were analyzed with hierarchical regression models.FindingsThe findings suggest that not all of the aforementioned workplace factors holistically affect LP. Only organizational culture is associated to the four LP variables (i.e. continuous improvement, waste, ergonomy and product quality). Training and knowledge acquisition offer partially effects on LP with training to contribute mostly to predicting continuous improvements. Knowledge acquisition alone, has significant yet negative impact on both continuous improvement and ergonomy. Even more, when training is combined with knowledge acquisition the results are different.Originality/valueAs this study highlights the impact of workplace practices on LP, attributes mainly importance to the distinct effects that each of the aforementioned factors has on the four distinct LP variables. Although the study results reflect a particular case, its recommendations could facilitate practitioners to achieve better lean outcomes.

A comparative analysis of quantitative-based methods used for lean index assessment

The lean index is a holistic measure of lean performance. Its assessment has been approached using qualitative and quantitative-based methods. While the qualitative based methods are of the self-assessment type, there is no such congruence with quantitative-based ones. This inconsistency can lead to confusion as to which quantitative-based methods should be adopted for specific situations. We attempt to address this issue by applying and comparing some quantitative-based methods within a manufacturing system case. Four methods based on analytical hierarchy process, data envelopment analysis, factor analysis and fuzzy logic, were set apart after a literature review, and applied to the production performance dataset of the case. The methods returned different lean index results thereby providing varied information about system lean performance. Sensitivity tests revealed the data envelopment analysis method to be the most robust.

Assessment of Lean Performance of Manufacturing Cells in an SME Using AHP

Assessment of Lean Performance of Manufacturing Cells in an SME Using AHP

Development lean assessment indicator: A case study

The manufacturing industry is always faced with global challenges such as cost effectiveness, lead time, quality, and safety. Lean as a concept of continuous improvement can be a solution in solving the challenge. PT. Compotec International is one of the companies faced with the problem. Basically, the company has implemented lean concept in its production process, but the lack of understanding and commitment of the company in its implementation still leads to the emergence of waste in the production process. Therefore a comprehensive measurement is needed to assess company performance from several dimensions such as time effectiveness, quality, process, cost, human resources, delivery, customer, and inventory. In the previous lean assessment tools research, safety issues that became the basis of production considerations before making improvements have not been taken yet into account. Therefore it is necessary to integrate waste based indicators related to poor safety. Measurements are done qualitatively and quantitatively using aggregate scoring and fuzzy approaches. From the measurement result and then weighted with Brown-Gibson method to get the value of leanness. then the results of these calculations are combined to be visualized in the form of lean radar chart. In this research, it is hoped that the development of new lean assessment can measure lean performance more comprehensively.

A Conceptual Model for the Implementation of Lean Product Development

Companies are faced with the need to address their product development challenges innovatively in order to stay competitive in today's market. One way of doing that is the integration of lean thinking in their product development process. However, due to the lack of clear understanding of the lean thinking performance measurements, the near absent of a holistic and unifying measuring method and the near or non-existence of an evaluating conceptual model to allow for the evaluation of the performance of the lean product development processes, many companies are unable to fully implement the lean thinking principle in their Product development process. In dealing with these issues, this article has therefore proposed a conceptual model which is based on some core critical success factors for the examination of lean performance in the product development process.

Multi Criteria Approach to Measure Leanness of a Manufacturing Organization

Worldwide manufacturing and or service organizations aim for continuous elimination of waste of all types. But, these organizations lack in waste management and its evaluation. The paper addresses a case study of medium scale manufacturing organization in Saudi Arabia, which emphasizes the implementation of lean principles to improvise waste in the manufacturing plant. A multi criteria lean performance score (MCLPS) approach is proposed. The MCLPS approach analyses effectiveness of the manufacturing strategies, and identifies the potential opportunities for future improvement. It is observed that implementation of lean strategies improve plant utilization from 62.72% to 67%; inventory turnover ratio from 22.2 to 25.78 times per six months; wastage of material dropped by 536 bottles of material per startup activity; and non-value added time reduced by 5.84%. Similarly with help of MCLPS approach the management measures leanness of a manufacturing organization, which helps to track and monitor step by step desired improvements in the present manufacturing systems. For the improved manufacturing system it is evident that multi-criteria lean performance score is improved by 34%.