Partial and iterative Lean implementation: two case studies

Bamford, David; Forrester, Paul; Dehe, Benjamin; Leese, Rebecca Georgina

doi:10.1108/ijopm-07-2013-0329

Cited by 94 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…After careful consideration the research team identified two clusters, one in the north-west of Germany where three SMEs in the food manufacturing supply chain were selected and a further cluster of four SMEs in the south west of Germany where there was heavy manufacturing for the automotive and aerospace supply chain. Food manufacturing sector was selected to represent as perishable, low margin and high volume product (Bamford et al, 2015) in one side of the spectrome, whilst heavy automotive and aerospace manufacturing represents the opposite side of the spectrome. Each SME was initially contacted by the UK researchers to assess suitability for the study and then a visit to the companies was arranged.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The goal of LSS, similar to Six Sigma, is to focus on low hanging fruits and eliminate waste factors known as defects by accomplishing a near perfect quality level through the systematic removal of causes of the defects (Dora and Gellynck, 2015;Choi et al, 2012). LSS benefits from both Six Sigma and Lean by incorporating a focus on cost, process cycle time, delivery value and efficiency from Lean and Kaizen and sustainable and incremental process improvement and profitability from Six Sigma (Bamford et al, 2015;Holmes et al, 2015;Worley and Doolen, 2015;Atmaca and Girenes, 2013;Sarkar et al, 2013;Womack and Jones, 2005). At an operational level within the manufacturing sector, the LSS model aims to clarify the process of identifying opportunities, as well as reduce variability and improve the quality of the manufacturing process (Holmes et al, 2015;Thomas et al, 2009).…”

Section: Lss In Manufacturing Smesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As two key components of LSS, Six Sigma is primarily a systematic and rigorous tool to uncover and reduce defect and variation in breakthrough projects, whilst Lean management focuses on continuous incremental reduction of waste, environmental sustainability, increasing the speed of the operation and delivering the value (Bamford et al, 2015;Piercy and Rich, 2015;Choi et al, 2012;Hilton and Sohal, 2012;Assarlind et al, 2012;Manville et al, 2012;Womack and Jones, 2005). A number of organisations have adopted LSS as the strategy for finding the balance between quality, cost and delivery (Antony, 2014) in a continuous improvement or breakthrough improvement approach (Assarlind et al, 2013).…”

Section: Lss In Manufacturing Smesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating the readiness of people in manufacturing SMEs to embark on Lean Six Sigma projects

Shokri

Waring

Nabhani

2016

International Journal of Operations &Amp; Production Management

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.*Related content and download information correct at time of download. Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to focus on three fundamental human-related behaviour factors associated with Lean Six Sigma (LSS) projects in German manufacturing small-and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) on the readiness of people (managers and their staff) to commence LSS projects. These are core personal competence, strategic vision of the people and the organisational culture of the specific organisation. Design/methodology/approach -Based on a thorough review of the academic literature a set of hypotheses were constructed to examine the level of association between people's competence, vision and culture with LSS readiness within SMEs. This was done using correlation and regression analysis. Data collection were carried out in seven different German manufacturing SMEs involved in aerospace supply and agro-food manufacturing using a survey instrument. Findings -It was found that there is a strong positive association between the core competence of people and organisational culture with readiness for commencing LSS in the manufacturing SMEs studied. The core values of people, education level and the vision of making continuous quality improvement were identified as key variables in promoting LSS readiness in these manufacturing SMEs. This study indicates that these "softer" variables can be essential to successful LSS implementation and need to be explored further before undertaking the process. Practical implications -From the perspective of the implementers of LSS the results of this research could be of interest to different manufacturing SMEs intending to embark upon an LSS journey as it highlights the significance of human-related behavioural factors in the process. SME organisations may consider carrying out development or training with their managers and employees around personal and organisational values, addressing core competence and strengthening organisational culture in order to facilitate LSS readiness and enhance the prospect of its success. Originality/value -It would appear that this LSS research has not been carried out within the German manufacturing SME context before and although discre...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lss In Manufacturing Smesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lss In Manufacturing Smesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating the readiness of people in manufacturing SMEs to embark on Lean Six Sigma projects

Shokri

Waring

Nabhani

2016

International Journal of Operations &Amp; Production Management

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“…A careful review of the lean literature reveals a growing interest in the mechanisms through which lean practices affect firm performance and the extent of this effect (Secchi and Camuffo, 2016;Bamford et al, 2015;Arlbjørn and Freytag, 2013). This body of literature can be divided into three streams.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is lean service promising? A socio-technical perspective

Hadid

Mansouri

Gallear

2016

International Journal of Operations &Amp; Production Management

168

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Purpose -This research contributes to the ongoing debate about the effectiveness of lean practices in the service sector. Design/methodology/approach -This paper examines the impact of lean service on firm operational and financial performance. Exploratory factor analysis is used to reduce the data and identify the underlying dimensions of lean service, and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is used to test the developed model. Findings -The results indicate that the social bundles of lean service had an independent positive impact on firm operational and financial performance. Furthermore, while the technical bundles had an independent positive effect on only the operational performance, they interacted with the social bundles to improve both the operational and financial performance. The findings suggest that service managers must follow a systematic approach when implementing lean service practices without focusing on one side of the system at the expense of the other. Practical implications -The paper highlights the importance of implementing lean service as a socio-technical system if service firms are to achieve the best possible benefits from their implementation. The motivation factor (social side) and the customer value factor (technical side) are capable of improving all operational performance dimensions and profit margin even if implemented alone. Therefore, service managers with limited resources are encouraged to start lean service implementation with practices within these factors. However, they can also expect improved operational and financial performance from implementing other factors as they positively interact to further improve performance. Originality/value -Viewing lean service as a socio-technical system, this paper incorporates a larger set of lean practices than previous studies and demonstrates empirically their capability of improving service firms' operational and financial performance. It contributes significantly to the emerging literature on lean service by empirically testing the mechanism through which lean service affects firm performance.

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“…De acordo com Bamford et al (2015), o processo de implementação da produção enxuta ocorre de forma interativa e pode resultar em implementações parciais. Considerando essa parcialidade na implementação, uma vez que o processo é longo e precisa de sistemas de feedback para o acompanhamento do progresso, ressalta-se a importância dos métodos que buscam avaliar o estágio de implementação da produção enxuta nas empresas.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified