Avinash Panwar, Bimal Nepal, Rakesh Jain, Ajay P.S. Rathore and Andrew Lyons
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of lean practices on performance improvement of process industries in India.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of lean practices on performance improvement of process industries in India.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a survey of Indian process industries, this paper proposes two sets of hypothesis to examine if there is any statistically significant impact of lean practices on certain specific performance metrics. First, the sample is classified into two classes of process industries: the adopters of lean and those who have not yet adopted the lean practices in their manufacturing operations. Then statistical tests are conducted to measure the differences in the level of performance between the two classes of Indian process industries with respect to nine performance measures. The survey results are augmented by two in-depth case studies. Case studies include one from lean adopter firms (a refinery) and another from the firms that have not yet adopted the lean practices (a primary metal manufacturing unit).
Findings
A survey result of 121 Indian process industries shows that adoption of lean practices results in a positive impact on inventory control, waste elimination, cost reduction, productivity, and quality improvement in process industries. On the other hand, based on the sample data on Indian process industries, no statistically significant improvement could be found on the lot size or space utilization between lean adopters and their counterparts.
Practical implications
This research provides guidance to the managers on how adoption of lean practices results in better performance in process industries in several operational areas.
Originality/value
To the knowledge, this study is the first attempt to analyze the impact of lean practices on a set of specific performance metrics in Indian process industry. Although this study focuses on the Indian process industry, the authors believe that findings of the research can inform other practitioners and researchers who are considering implementing lean in process industry sector in other developing countries like India.
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Vinod Yadav, Rakesh Jain, Murari Lal Mittal, Avinash Panwar and Andrew Lyons
Although lean thinking is deemed to be a gold standard of modern production management, a lot of scepticism still remains regarding its applicability in small- and medium-sized…
Abstract
Purpose
Although lean thinking is deemed to be a gold standard of modern production management, a lot of scepticism still remains regarding its applicability in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this paper is to understand the perception of lean in SMEs and establish the relationship between lean adoption and operational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
With the help of a survey, data were collected from 425 SMEs in India and analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
Operational performance of the firms was found to be positively related to lean implementation.
Originality/value
This study also furnishes practitioners with a better understanding of lean thinking in SMEs and its impact on performance.
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Edwin Cheng, Hugo K.S. Lam, Andrew C. Lyons and Andy C.L. Yeung
Rick Forster, Andrew Lyons, Nigel Caldwell, Jennifer Davies and Hossein Sharifi
The study sets out to demonstrate how a lifecycle perspective on complex, public-sector procurement projects can be used for making qualitative assessments of procurement policy…
Abstract
Purpose
The study sets out to demonstrate how a lifecycle perspective on complex, public-sector procurement projects can be used for making qualitative assessments of procurement policy and practice and reveal those procurement capabilities that are most impactful for operating effectively.
Design/methodology/approach
Agency theory, institutional theory and the lifecycle analysis technique are combined to abductively develop a framework to identify, analyse and compare complex procurement policies and practices in public sector organisations. Defence is the focal case and is compared with cases in the Nuclear, Local Government and Health sectors.
Findings
The study provides a framework for undertaking a lifecycle analysis to understand the challenges and capabilities of complex, public-sector buyers. Eighteen hierarchically-arranged themes are identified and used in conjunction with agency theory and institutional theory to explain complex procurement policy and practice variation in some of the UK’s highest-profile public buyers. The study findings provide a classification of complex buyers and offer valuable guidance for practitioners and researchers navigating complex procurement contexts.
Originality/value
The lifecycle approach proposed is a new research tool providing a bespoke application of theory by considering each lifecycle phase as an individual but related element that is governed by unique institutional pressures and principal-agent relationships.
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Adrian E. Coronado M. and Andrew C. Lyons
This paper seeks to evaluate the implications of operations flexibility in industrial supply chains and the effect it has on supporting initiatives designed for build‐to‐order…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to evaluate the implications of operations flexibility in industrial supply chains and the effect it has on supporting initiatives designed for build‐to‐order (BTO) manufacturing.
Design/methodology/approach
An industrial case study is used to investigate operations flexibility and its impact on industrial supply chains. Tools used in the analysis include value stream mapping (VSM) and a scorecard for performance measurement. The scorecard tool comprises daily utilisation figures, product demand and responsiveness measures such as supply chain cycle times and pipeline inventory.
Findings
The results of the analysis confirm that supply chain VSM and scorecarding are effective tools that can be used to measure the performance of supply chains through the identification of inefficiencies associated with supply chain integration/design. The analysis shows the duration of value‐adding and non‐value adding activities in the entire chain. Also, the analysis has revealed the close relationship between operations flexibility and the supply chain flexibility dimensions of people and information systems.
Research limitations/implications
The research presented analyses the operations and the supply chain of one industrial case study. The analysis does not cover the life cycle of the products mentioned in the study.
Practical implications
The study addresses the need, in the manufacturing industry, for tools that can be used in the analysis of manufacturing operations and supply chains, ultimately providing guidelines that can be used in the design of policies focused on performance improvement.
Originality/value
BTO initiatives are growing in importance in the manufacturing industry. The flexibility of operations and the supply chain are closely related to the concept of BTO in manufacturing.
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Adrian E. Coronado Mondragon, Andrew C. Lyons, Zenon Michaelides and Dennis F. Kehoe
To critically review business trends and drivers affecting the performance of supply chains and build‐to‐order initiatives.
Abstract
Purpose
To critically review business trends and drivers affecting the performance of supply chains and build‐to‐order initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a comprehensive review of the potential implications of two inbound logistics solutions: supplier parks and the notion of full‐service‐vehicle supply in addition to developing technologies such as web services interoperability, radio frequency identification (RFID) and collaborative product commerce (CPC).
Findings
It is expected that the wide adoption/consolidation of supplier parks and full‐service‐vehicle supply and technologies such as web services interoperability, RFID and CPC will facilitate/promote the adoption of build‐to‐order initiatives.
Research limitations/implications
The business models and technologies presented in this paper have been developed and exploited mainly in the automotive sector. Their success could have a big impact if transferred to other industries. Only a handful of technologies/business models affecting supply chain management have been reviewed.
Practical implications
The widespread use of the technologies and inbound logistics solutions presented in this paper might require the development of sophisticated measurement tools to assess the performance of the entire supply chain. The developed tool has to capture the state of the supply chain in terms of synchronisation, bullwhip effect, pipeline inventory, cycle times, stockout and backorder incidents plus other metrics associated to the operation of the firm including sunk costs, invested capital and ROI.
Originality/value
This paper provides a sound review on technologies and business models critical for supply chains developing build‐to‐order capabilities.
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This paper examines the comparative corporate performance of logistics companies in Korea, China and Japan. Based on the annual data from the listed companies, the growth rate of…
Abstract
This paper examines the comparative corporate performance of logistics companies in Korea, China and Japan. Based on the annual data from the listed companies, the growth rate of Chinese companies has surpassed that of Korean and Japanese companies and has labeled China as the fastest growing economy. How ever, labor efficiency of Chinese firms when calculated by total revenue per employee is the lowest of the three countries. In addition, the profitability of Chinese multimodal logistics companies and sea transport companies is also lower than that of Korea and Japan.
Using Data Envelop Analysis(DEA), the primary results regarding corporate efficiency among Korean, Chinese and Japanese logistic companies are as follows: In the multimodal industries, Japanese firms have revealed the highest level of efficiency, with Korean firms coming in second, and Chinese firms ranking third with distinctly inferior performance. This trend has also been examined in the maritime industries, in which the efficiency levels have been deteriorating continuously. However, in the air transportation industry Chinese companies revealed the highest level of efficiency, which resulted from the business characteristics of the government supported conglomerate companies.
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Many studies have investigated how the structure of the collaborative networks of researchers influences the nature of their work, and its outcome. Co-authorship networks (CANs…
Abstract
Purpose
Many studies have investigated how the structure of the collaborative networks of researchers influences the nature of their work, and its outcome. Co-authorship networks (CANs) have been widely looked at as proxies that can help bring understanding to the structure of research collaborative ties. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for describing what influences the formation of different research collaboration patterns.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use social network analysis (SNA) to analyze the co-authorship ego networks of the ten most central authors in 24 years of papers (703 papers and 1,118 authors) published in the Proceedings of CASCON, a computer science conference. In order to understand what lead to the formation of the different CANs the authors examined, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews with these authors.
Findings
Based on this examination, the authors propose a typology that differentiates three styles of co-authorship: matchmaking, brokerage, and teamwork. The authors also provide quantitative SNA-based measures that can help place researchers’ CAN into one of these proposed categories. Given that many different network measures can describe the collaborative network structure of researchers, the authors believe it is important to identify specific network structures that would be meaningful when studying research collaboration. The proposed typology can offer guidance in choosing the appropriate measures for studying research collaboration.
Originality/value
The results presented in this paper highlight the value of combining SNA analysis with interviews when studying CAN. Moreover, the results show how co-authorship styles can be used to understand the mechanisms leading to the formation of collaborative ties among researchers. The authors discuss several potential implications of these findings for the study of research collaborations.