Zehra Canan Araci, Ahmed Al-Ashaab and Cesar Garcia Almeida
This paper aims to present a process to generate physics-based trade-off curves (ToCs) to facilitate lean product development processes by enabling two key activities of set-based…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a process to generate physics-based trade-off curves (ToCs) to facilitate lean product development processes by enabling two key activities of set-based concurrent engineering (SBCE) process model that are comparing alternative design solutions and narrowing down the design set. The developed process of generating physics-based ToCs has been demonstrated via an industrial case study which is a research project.
Design/methodology/approach
The adapted research approach for this paper consists of three phases: a review of the related literature, developing the process of generating physics-based ToCs in the concept of lean product development, implementing the developed process in an industrial case study for validation through the SBCE process model.
Findings
Findings of this application showed that physics-based ToC is an effective tool to enable SBCE activities, as well as to save time and provide the required knowledge environment for the designers to support their decision-making.
Practical implications
Authors expect that this paper will guide companies, which are implementing SBCE processes throughout their lean product development journey. Physics-based ToCs will facilitate accurate decision-making in comparing and narrowing down the design-set through the provision of the right knowledge environment.
Originality/value
SBCE is a useful approach to develop a new product. It is essential to provide the right knowledge environment in a quick and visual manner which has been addressed by demonstrating physics knowledge in ToCs. Therefore, a systematic process has been developed and presented in this paper. The research found that physics-based ToCs could help to identify different physics characteristics of the product in the form of design parameters and visualise in a single graph for all stakeholders to understand without a need for an extensive engineering background and for designers to make a decision faster.
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Abdulaziz Marzouq Almutairi, Konstantinos Salonitis and Ahmed Al-Ashaab
Numerous and diverse organizations have implemented lean principles and practices, which concentrate on improving the efficiency of business processes by reducing cost, waste…
Abstract
Purpose
Numerous and diverse organizations have implemented lean principles and practices, which concentrate on improving the efficiency of business processes by reducing cost, waste, consumptions and effort. However, previous assessments have not focused on the leanness of the supply chain in a health-care setting. This paper aims to introduce a method for assessing the successful implementation of lean principles and tools in a supply chain. Furthermore, this paper validates the method in a health-care organization.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper starts with an extensive literature review on assessing leanness and using multi-grade fuzzy logic. Then, a conceptual model was developed to measure leanness. The conceptual model was validated by discussing the initial version with select academic experts, especially those who deal with leanness in health-care organizations. After responding to the experts’ valuable comments, the health-care organization that is the focus of this case study was chosen based on two criteria. The first criterion was the organization’s ability to participate in the study, and the second was the organization’s commitment to implementing lean principles. These criteria were important to ensure the organization had the necessary foundation for implementing change initiatives such as lean process improvements. Next, a multi-grade (multi-attributes) fuzzy logic was used for leanness measurement. A leanness index was calculated, and the results were validated using experts from the case study organization. Finally, the weaker areas of the organization’s processes were identified to point the way for further improvements.
Findings
The assessment indicated that the case study organization is not lean. The organization’s weaker attributes were identified, and improvements have been suggested.
Research limitations/implications
This study focused on a single health-care organization, which was selected from a limited pool of potential organizations, namely, organizations which are accredited by both the Saudi Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions and the Joint Commission International. The scope of future research should be extended to multi-case studies to enhance the findings presented in this paper. This paper’s findings can be used to help decision-makers at health-care providers to implement lean thinking in supply chain processes.
Practical implications
This research may be interest to practicing supply chain managers, as it proposes what enablers, factors and attributes should be emphasized in lean implementation. The proposed model can work as an assessment tool to identify the gap between the present level of leanness and the desired leanness state so the health-care organization can identify what can be improved. This model enables decision-makers in hospital supply chain to take suitable actions for improving lean implementation level.
Originality/value
This study makes an original contribution to the body of research concerning lean principles; the study developed a conceptual model for leanness assessment that can be applied to the supply chain of health-care organizations. Indeed, the conceptual model is likely to be useful for assessing leanness outside of the health-care field, which suggests avenues for future research.
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Abdulaziz Marzouq Almutairi, Konstantinos Salonitis and Ahmed Al-Ashaab
The main purpose of this paper is to present lean implementation in hospital supply chain management (HSCM) and propose a new conceptual framework tailored specifically to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is to present lean implementation in hospital supply chain management (HSCM) and propose a new conceptual framework tailored specifically to the needs of Saudi health-care organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper starts with an in-depth review of existing frameworks or models for lean implementation in health care in general and in HSCM specifically. Based on the literature studies and taking experts’ opinions into account, a new framework for lean implementation in the Saudi HSCM is presented.
Findings
A new lean implementation framework is offered to decision-makers in the health-care organization for implementing a lean approach in HSCM practices.
Research limitations/implications
This study focused on health-care organizations, which were selected from hospitals operated by the Ministry of Health and only those hospitals that are accredited by both the Saudi Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions and the Joint Commission International. The framework is limited to Saudi health care.
Practical implications
The lean supply chain management (LSCM) framework is easy to understand and use without much complexity. This simplicity makes the LSCM applicable in health-care settings. Further, LSCM was validated in three different hospitals, and it helped them to identify and improve their non-added activities, thereby readying them for lean deployment in HSCM.
Originality/value
Little attention has been paid to implementing a lean approach by health-care providers in developing countries. This study presents a new framework that is considered the first of its kind for implementing lean in HSCM in Saudi. This framework could help HSCMs’ decision-makers to implement lean successfully in HSCM practices.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the links between lean, service quality expectation (SQE) and service quality performance (SQP) in outpatient departments (OPD).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the links between lean, service quality expectation (SQE) and service quality performance (SQP) in outpatient departments (OPD).
Design/methodology/approach
The measurement instruments were developed from a comprehensive literature review, then verified by experts and confirmatory factor analysis. Multiple responses were applied to improve the reliability of data obtained from 220 Thai hospitals. The hypotheses were tested with linear regression and path analysis of structural equation modeling.
Findings
It was found that lean has significant positive impacts on all SQP dimensions (i.e. tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy) and on overall SQP. SQE has significant positive direct effects on lean and SQP, and has a significant positive indirect effect on SQP through lean.
Originality/value
This is one of the first examples of research to present insights into the relationships between lean, SQE and SQP in OPD.
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The purpose of this research is to explore the differences across hospital characteristics (i.e. lean maturity, hospital size, hospital type and ISO 9001) on lean expectation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to explore the differences across hospital characteristics (i.e. lean maturity, hospital size, hospital type and ISO 9001) on lean expectation, lean performance, service quality expectation and service quality performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey instruments were developed from an extensive literature review, validated by experts and tested by statistical techniques. Data was collected from the perspective of care providers in 220 outpatient departments of Thai hospitals with multiple respondents to improve reliability of data. Analysis of variance and independent sample t test were applied for analysis.
Findings
It was found that there are significant differences across lean maturity and hospital size on overall lean expectation and overall lean performance, and across ISO 9001 on overall service quality performance. Overall, service quality expectation and performance have higher mean scores than overall lean expectation and performance.
Originality/value
To the best of author’s knowledge, this is one of the first studies to present insights into the links between Thai hospital characteristics, expected lean and service quality and performance from the care provider viewpoint. Findings form this study can be used to improve individual hospitals or develop healthcare system at national level.
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This research aims to examine the relationships among leadership and culture, human resources and process improvement in lean hospitals from the socio-technical perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to examine the relationships among leadership and culture, human resources and process improvement in lean hospitals from the socio-technical perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey instrument was developed from literature reviews, verified by experts and confirmatory factor analysis. Multiple responses were used to collect data from 473 care providers in 220 outpatient departments of Thai hospitals to improve reliability of the obtained data. Path analysis of structural equation modeling was applied to analyze the hypotheses.
Findings
It was found that human resources has a significant positive direct effect on process improvement. Leadership and culture not only has significant direct positive impacts on human resources and process improvement but also has a significant indirect positive impact on process improvement through human resources.
Originality/value
This is one of the first examples of research to present insights into the links between soft and hard factors of lean hospitals at strategic and operational levels.
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Ahmed Attar, Mohamed Amine Boudjakdji, Nadia Bhuiyan, Khaled Grine, Said Kenai and Ali Aoubed
The purpose of this paper is to show how the time frame for the execution of a construction project in Algeria is rarely respected because of organizational problems and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show how the time frame for the execution of a construction project in Algeria is rarely respected because of organizational problems and uncertainties encountered while the execution is underway.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study on the construction of a metro station is used as a pilot project to show the effectiveness of replacing traditional construction processes by more innovative procedures. Concurrent engineering (CE) is applied to optimize the execution time of the underground structure. A numerical simulation is integrated into the construction process in order to update design parameters with real site conditions observed during the construction process.
Findings
The results show that the implementation of CE is efficient in reducing the completion time, with an 18 per cent reduction observed in this case study. A cost reduction of 20 per cent on the steel frame support and a total cost reduction of 3 per cent were obtained.
Research limitations/implications
The study demonstrates that the application of CE methods can be quite valuable in large, complex construction projects. Vulgarizing it as “the solution” to adjust time frame delay, control quality and cost, might be an issue for local construction enterprises in Algeria.
Originality/value
Using the concept of CE by overlapping different activities involved in a construction project and making use of simulation tools in the process at different stages of the execution have resulted in modifying the excavation method and hence reducing the completion times.
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Sam Solaimani, Jack van der Veen, Durward K. Sobek II, Erdogan Gulyaz and Venu Venugopal
Increasingly, a firm’s innovation capability has become one of the key frontiers of competitive advantage. The Lean philosophy has a well-proven reputation for its focus on…
Abstract
Purpose
Increasingly, a firm’s innovation capability has become one of the key frontiers of competitive advantage. The Lean philosophy has a well-proven reputation for its focus on process efficiency and effectiveness, and therefore, is often applied in various areas of innovation. Such wide and ever-increasing applicability also has resulted in an incoherent corpus of literature on Lean innovation. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize an integrative view on Lean innovation management.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a systematic literature review, the key Lean principles and practices useful in the context of innovation management are identified and synthesized into an all-inclusive framework. By means of three illustrative cases (i.e. public hospital, electronics company and avionics manufacturer), this paper elaborates on how the proposed framework can be applied.
Findings
A total of 88 publications are analyzed, leading to 34 Lean principles and practices relevant to innovation management, which are further integrated into a comprehensive model, dubbed the “Leanovation” framework.
Originality/value
This study is the first attempt to advance the understanding of various interrelated and interdependent components of Lean innovation management in a holistic way.
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Adefemi Aka, Abubakar Danladi Isah, Olusegun Idris Salisu and Abdulkabir Opeyemi Bello
Waste has been a major challenge in the construction industry. Lean concepts have been adopted in developed nations to overcome waste. However, developing countries are still…
Abstract
Purpose
Waste has been a major challenge in the construction industry. Lean concepts have been adopted in developed nations to overcome waste. However, developing countries are still faced with the challenge due to a lack of strategies for effective lean knowledge by construction practitioners. The purpose of this research is to identify the strategies for lean knowledge in the future Nigerian construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This was achieved through a case study of a Nigerian university. Assignments and questionnaires were the two instruments used for data collection in the study. Content analysis was adopted to analyse the data obtained from the assignments, while statistical tools such as correlation and ANOVA analysis were used to analyse the questionnaire data.
Findings
The findings of the study showed that the introduction of lean theory into students’ academic curriculum, lean practical classes and collaboration between universities, industry and lean construction institutes are some of the critical strategies for adequate lean knowledge in the future Nigerian construction industry.
Research limitations/implications
The study is case-based and focused on a single university. The study did not also put clients’ level of lean knowledge as well as future required acquaintance into consideration.
Practical implications
This study is important as it will enable students to have an adequate understanding of the concept of lean construction right from a higher institution level. This study will enable students to put the knowledge into practice in the construction industry, hence eliminating waste or NVAAs in future construction projects.
Originality/value
The findings of the study could enhance concerted efforts by universities, lean construction institutes and the construction industry towards an intentional and systematic delivery of lean knowledge that will reduce waste in future Nigerian construction projects. Further studies should be carried out to identify the success factors required by clients for effective lean knowledge in construction projects.