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This work is a continuation of our former investigations in the field of corrosion of steel by alternating currents. In‐vestigations of corrosion of construction ship steels by alternating currents in seawater have been made. Investigations were performed within the range of alternating current densities from 20 up to 1500 mA/dm2 at frequencies from 18 up to 20000 Hz. Investigations have shown that the corrosion rate increases with the increase of current density at constant frequency. Besides, it has been established that at constant current density the corrosion rate decreases with the frequency increase up to 2000 Hz, and with the further increase of frequency up to 20000 Hz the rate of corrosion is increased. The material effect of corrosion by alternating currents in our investigations amount to 4.35–17.57% of the corrosion by equivalent densities of direct current.

With the transition from supplying ships with direct current to alternating current, plus the increase in the number of electricity consumers within the coastline region, as well as with the construction of steel quays and docks and reinforced steel quays, the conditions have been created for the occurrence of wandering exchange currents in the sea. Corrosion due to these currents considerably exceeds all expectations. In this work, the rate of steel corrosion in synthetic sea‐water has been investigated in an alternating electric field. Electro‐chemical parameter measurements determining corrosion rate were performed on samples in sea‐water in an alternating current field and compared with the sample — applying a “blind test” — without an electric field. All measurements were performed at an electrolyte temperature of 20°C. Corrosion rate was investigated in dependence on the current density. The following factors were applied as measures of corrosion rate: specific concentration of Fe ions in the electrolyte and the change of potential of the steel electrode polarized within alternating electric field. Measurement results shown that in the sea‐water with an alternating electric field an increase in the corrosion of steel takes place, exceeding expected amounts. The change of steel potential in alternating current field is proportional to the corrosion rate and can be very simply applied for estimation of corrosion rate due to alternating currents.

Adopting lean principles can unleash several opportunities for firms seeking to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their product development (PD) process. This study aims to investigate the implementation paths of lean tools in the innovation process of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

A set of 47 lean tools are identified from the literature and ascribed to the five lean thinking principles, i.e. Value, Map, Flow, Pull and Perfection. Their practical adoption – in terms of “when” and “how” – is then explored in a multiple case study of three SMEs in the manufacturing industry.

SMEs adopt multiple lean tools in different phases of their innovation process. They are still at the beginning of the holistic adoption of lean PD, but some core lean tools, such as A3 reports and visual management, are adopted systematically. Results reveal that specific sets of lean tools and supporting principles are more valuable in certain phases of SMEs innovation process. Specifically, the lean tools concerning the principle of Value and Map can enable the phases of Innovation inputs, Concept development and Solution implementation; the ones ascribed to Flow and Pull the phases of Concept development, Testing and experimentation, and Solution implementation; the Perfection tools to the final phases of Testing and experimentation, Solution implementation and Market introduction.

Results provide a reference for SMEs already adopting lean tools in their production process to be extended to the PD process, especially when the delivery of new products is pivotal. Innovative SMEs could evaluate the introduction of specific lean tools in one or more definite phases of their PD process.

The study contributes to the literature on the complementarity between lean and innovation by studying the context of SMEs with a process perspective, thus unveiling the potential paths of a widespread application of lean innovation in SMEs.

The evaluation of time-based performance is a valued approach in the lean management thinking which is based on delivering value from customer's perspective. This approach contributes for long-term competitiveness and success in today's business environment. The focus of this study is to analyse the cycle time and manufacturing lead time with value stream mapping (VSM) in the preparatory stage of the textile fabric manufacturing process and to identify and improve the non-value adding activities in the value chain (VC). The study presents an insight on the translation of performance improvement across functions and how upstream supply chain (SC) segments can be linked in the performance improvement program. It also covers how the application of VSM improves visibility and planning flexibility in textile fabric manufacturing process.

The time-based performance was evaluated using VSM and recording of the activity times in the existing process. The impact of the quality of supplier's raw material was also measured contributing to identify the strategy for procurement and the means to establish a feedback system to the upstream segments of the SC. The methodology of VSM, observation of the practice and the expertise of the individuals involved with the process were utilised to develop the value stream maps and to identify value adding activities, non-value adding activities, existing gaps and plans for improvement.

The means for improving the time-based performance were identified and their impact was measured. The factors responsible for improvement are related to the production system and with the procurement strategy. The improvement was achieved in terms of available capacity utilisation, balancing the work flow in the preparatory stages, visibility of the process by measuring its capability and flexibility for the planning function. The study revealed that the effectiveness and enhancement of VSM and related tools should be adopted to address the issue of limiting success rates of long term and repeating application of such tools. Continuous improvement, innovations and the systematic embedding of VSM in the process life cycle provide the ways for achieving long-term success.

The paper presents a real and in-depth study on the application of VSM in the textile manufacturing process. The scope of the study is broad; it covers activities across functions with actual estimates of activity times in the manufacturing process for the focused value streams. It offers researchers the opportunity to analyse the translation of productivity improvement across functions and how upstream SC segments can be linked in a performance improvement program.

The study offers useful insight for the managers in textile manufacturing and other sectors for improving the time-based performance and achieving higher utilisation of capacity. It identified the production factors and their impact on warping and sizing cycle time in selected value streams and those which share common activities. It also identified the directions for future research when repeating the application of VSM in the continuous improvement cycle. Furthermore, since the industries need to progress towards advanced systems including Industry 4.0 standards, adoption of advanced VSM tool with relevant technology can align their production systems to develop the required capability. This will also bring a sustainable competitive advantage in the system.

The focused sector is stagnant in terms of productivity and innovation. The adoption of the advanced tools can facilitate the implementation of continuous improvement and innovation strategies.

The main focus of this study is to analyse and improve the cycle time in the preparatory stage of the fabric manufacturing process. This has impact on other important and tangible measures including capacity utilisation and work flow and intangible measures including production planning flexibility and process visibility. The improvement impact is across departments.

This study aims to propose a complementary method to the A3 information collection, data analysis and capturing and sharing knowledge to facilitate problem solving in a general framework. The incorporation of this method minimizes the difficulties identified in the literature focused on continuous improvement of processes. The method comprises combining triangulation techniques utilizing focus groups for a survey of qualitative data and the approach called Look – Ask – Model – Discuss – Act (LAMDA), which was originally designed for cycles of knowledge creation applied in product development processes.

The methodology proposed in this work follows the A3 report approach including focus groups’ techniques in the planning step and problem analysis and the use of the LAMDA learning cycle, aiming to fill the gaps in A3 method. Therefore, the methodology includes five macro steps, which are divided into smaller steps. Note that the inclusion of the LAMDA learning cycle in the A3 report is called A3LAMDA. In addition, macro steps from 1 to 4 belong to “knowledge creation” step and macro step 5 deals with the “Capture of knowledge” step. Along the proposed methodology application, greater focus will be given to techniques incorporated in the A3 report, as they represent the main contribution of this method.

The proposed approach to the A3 report was more concise and comprehensive, allowing different views and perspectives to be considered to understand the problem and find solutions through the focus groups method. In addition, the development of a structured questionnaire for the interviews encouraged the participants to present their opinions regarding the problem hypotheses. The use of the LAMDA learning cycle was essential to capture and share the knowledge acquired during the problem-solving process. It allowed not only the reflection on the aspects that have either worked or not but also the understanding of how to do the next work differently.

This study aims to propose a complementary method to the A3 information collection, data analysis and capturing and sharing knowledge to facilitate problem solving in the general framework. The incorporation of this method minimizes the difficulties identified in the literature that focused on continuous improvement of processes.

This chapter aims to present the development of education in the South-East European (SEE) countries, which took place under strong influence of the European Union (EU) education policy. This is examined irrespective of the different relationships these countries have with the EU. Some of these are Member States, and others are candidate or partner countries. The chapter opens with the explanation of the concept of SEE, and it is processed with a discussion on the concept of Europeanization in the education field. The concept refers to the process of forming a common education policy in the EU. This is also transferred to non-EU European countries. The third subchapter synthetizes and evaluates the main characteristics and challenges of the education in the SEE countries from the perspective of common European policy goals.

According to the literature, on an average, it takes around three to four years to develop a new product and about 50 percent of the costs incurred in product development (PD) tend to be spent on waste that occurs during the PD process. Hence, organizations are implementing various alternative methodologies such as Concurrent Engineering (CE), Lean Product Development (LPD)/Lean New Product Development (LNPD), and Agile Product Development (APD)/Agile New Product Development (ANPD) to improve their existing PD process. However, it is not clear: how does an organisation or a PD manager choose between these alternative methodologies for improving their PD process?

Since the above‐mentioned problem requires multiple factors/criteria/elements (in short, it will be called as “attributes” for the sake of simplicity) to be considered simultaneously; the use of a Multi‐Attribute Decision Making (MADM) model is warranted. The most commonly used MADM model, namely the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is utilized to model the above problem using a hypothetical case situation.

In this paper, the different attributes that are to be considered while making a decision of selecting a suitable PD methodology were identified. Furthermore, the results of AHP indicated that LPD is a better alternative for the case situation under consideration.

According to the authors' knowledge, no paper exists in the literature of AHP or PD or LPD/LNPD that discusses the application of AHP for the selection of a product development methodology, especially for making a strategic decision in a product design and development department of an organisation.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This study is the first attempt to advance the understanding of various interrelated and interdependent components of Lean innovation management in a holistic way.

The purpose of this paper is to address the emerging need to map knowledge and information with a novel classification, suitable to have a clear and integrated overview of the design method, models and techniques from both the sides of product and process. The proposed classification allows to understand main relevance of different design methods, models and techniques according their characteristic and also level in where company usually applied.

The authors decided to structure the research into three steps: from the analysis of background literature, in order to draw the main evidences for the development of a novel classification, to their application. First, the papers search related to collect the different methods used in literature. Second, paper characterization which aims to understand main traits and usefulness of design methods, models and tools. Third, the assessment of design methods, models and tools according proposed classification.

Each method, model or technique would be more useful according to the context in which is applied. Most of methods and modes can be continuously improving, considering different sub-classification or complement each other, striving to compensate to the extent possible for weakness in any one of the approaches.

The proposed classification did not deliver absolute results in every analyzed model or techniques, it delivered a wide range of possibilities in every sub-classification, thus the engineers get multiple options to choose depending on its main goal or the available resources.

The author’s proposal aims at filling a classification gap in the design method literature, which has to plausible in use. The different alternatives can be represented according to a scalable and hierarchical logic embedding also a more structured evaluation of the methods and tools in practice.