scholarly journals LEAN PRODUCTION IMPLEMENTATION: A SURVEY IN ITALY

2008 ◽  
pp. 52-60
Author(s):  
Alberto Portioli Staudacher ◽  
Marco Tantardini

European companies can beat competition from low cost countries only through innovation, and large investments are devoted to RD to improve products and processes. But this is not enough. Organisational and managerial innovation lever must be exploited too. Typically, some 40-70% of total activities companies carry out are waste because don't add value to the customer.Lean production focuses on waste reduction to improve operations' performances.Despite many firms report large benefits from lean implementation, a lot of scepticism still remains regarding attainable results and on the possibility to apply Lean approach outside high volume manufacturing. This is particularly true in Italy, where SMEs competing on high variety and customization are a dominant portion of the manufacturing industry .Therefore a survey has been implemented to better understand Lean Production approach and implementation, because it appears to be quite an effective organisational and managerial innovation, as many Lean implementer can testify. But, Lean Production is a trick easy approach, because it appears easy to understand and implement, but it is not. And the number of companies that have achieved no significant improvement is quite large. Therefore a survey has been designed and carried out, in order to deepen the knowledge and help companies that started a Lean implementation, or are considering to do so, in achieving best results. 60 Lean implementers and 45 Non Lean Implementers have been surveyed, out of companies of any manufacturing industr y, with at least 100 employees.Due to space limitation, only a small portion of the results can be presented in this paper. Future papers will present other results and comparisons with the results of other surveys. Besides, the same survey is about to be conducted in other European countries, allowing a much larger respondent sample and a comparison among different countries.

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (09) ◽  
pp. 572-577
Author(s):  
B. Prof. Lorenz ◽  
I. Kaltenmark

In modernen Produktionen ist Lean Manufacturing einer der wichtigsten Treiber für Produktivitätssteigerungen. Durch neue Entwicklungen im Bereich Industrie 4.0 können Impulse im Lean Manufacturing gegeben werden. An der OTH Regensburg wird getestet, wie kostengünstige Kamerasysteme helfen können, Verschwendungen sichtbar zu machen und zu minimieren. Es zeigt sich, dass auch mit geringen Investitionskosten neue Potentiale zur Verschwendungsreduktion aufgedeckt werden können.   In modern production lean manufacturing is one of the most effective drivers for productivity. Due to new developments in the Industrie 4.0-campaign new impulses can be given into lean manufacturing. Experiments at OTH Regensburg indicate that a low-cost camera system can help to make waste visible and minimize it. This shows that with low invest costs, new potentials for waste reduction can be revealed.


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 2822
Author(s):  
Rocco Crescenzi ◽  
Giuseppe Vincenzo Castellito ◽  
Simone Quaranta ◽  
Marco Balucani

Gyroscopes are one of the next killer applications for the MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) sensors industry. Many mature applications have already been developed and produced in limited volumes for the automotive, consumer, industrial, medical, and military markets. Plenty of high-volume applications, over 100 million per year, have been calling for low-cost gyroscopes. Bulk silicon is a promising candidate for low-cost gyroscopes due to its large scale availability and maturity of its manufacturing industry. Nevertheless, it is not suitable for a real monolithic IC integration and requires a dedicated packaging. New designs are supposed to eliminate the need for magnets and metal case package, and allow for a real monolithic MEMS-IC (Integrated Circuit) electronic system. In addition, a drastic cost reduction could be achieved by utilizing off-the-shelf plastic packaging with lead frames for the final assembly. The present paper puts forward the design of a novel tri-axial gyroscope based on rotating comb-drives acting as both capacitive sensors and actuators. The comb-drives are comprised of a single monolithic moving component (rotor) and fixed parts (stators). The former is made out of different concentrated masses connected by curved silicon beams in order to decouple the motion signals. The sensor was devised to be fabricated through the PolyMUMPs® process and it is intended for working in air in order to semplify the MEMS-IC monolithic integration.


2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 725-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatma Pakdil ◽  
Karen Moustafa Leonard

Purpose – Lean systems thinking was widely studied using relevant variables, but there is a dearth of published theoretical or empirical evidence about the cultural aspects of lean processes. The lack of conceptual development is one of the motivations for this study. Do organizational cultural variations correlate with the success and effectiveness of lean processes? What organizational infrastructures are required for effective lean implementation and continuation? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Examining literature in the area of lean production and lean management, the authors sought current literature at the intersection of organizational culture and lean processes, particularly implementation and sustainability, but found little relating to the topic. Therefore, using the Competing Values Framework taxonomy, the authors examine this intersection, relying on related research in the areas. Findings – In this paper, a brief discussion of lean processes in relation to organizational culture leads to propositions that identify the various cultural dimensions and their purported effect on lean implementation and sustainability. A model of this interaction is developed. Those quadrants of the Competing Values Framework that might be useful in developing research directions for the future are identified. Research limitations/implications – Future research directions include the measurement of organizational culture in firms that have implemented lean processes. This would be a step toward looking at the effect that the different quadrants in the Competing Values Framework have on various elements of lean efforts. This would take a significant amount of work, because the manufacturing industry, the leader in implementing and sustaining lean processes, may have institutionalized particular organizational cultures. It would be an interesting step forward in the understanding of how lean processes are operationalized across different firms and industries. However, there are multiple ways to examine culture; the authors believe this method allows the capture of the entire spectrum. Practical implications – Knowing which dimensions influence lean effectiveness and the way that they wield that influence allows managers to develop the firm’s organizational culture to one that will support implementing and sustaining lean efforts. The challenge to implement and sustain lean processes lies in the need to identify the organizational culture infrastructure that will allow this system that was first used by Japanese firms to operate well in other organizational contexts. The values and norms that underlie lean processes may create conflict with the culture that already exists within the organization; such divergence retards adoption and performance. Originality/value – There is a lack of research at the critical intersection of organizational culture and lean implementation/sustainability. Culture is key to making the changes required of lean implementation and in sustaining the drive toward lean production and management. The paper begins to fill that gap.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanhua Xun ◽  
Stephan Thomas Lane ◽  
Vassily Andrew Petrov ◽  
Brandon Elliott Pepa ◽  
Huimin Zhao

AbstractThe need for rapid, accurate, and scalable testing systems for COVID-19 diagnosis is clear and urgent. Here, we report a rapid Scalable and Portable Testing (SPOT) system consisting of a rapid, highly sensitive, and accurate assay and a battery-powered portable device for COVID-19 diagnosis. The SPOT assay comprises a one-pot reverse transcriptase-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) followed by PfAgo-based target sequence detection. It is capable of detecting the N gene and E gene in a multiplexed reaction with the limit of detection (LoD) of 0.44 copies/μL and 1.09 copies/μL, respectively, in SARS-CoV-2 virus-spiked saliva samples within 30 min. Moreover, the SPOT system is used to analyze 104 clinical saliva samples and identified 28/30 (93.3% sensitivity) SARS-CoV-2 positive samples (100% sensitivity if LoD is considered) and 73/74 (98.6% specificity) SARS-CoV-2 negative samples. This combination of speed, accuracy, sensitivity, and portability will enable high-volume, low-cost access to areas in need of urgent COVID-19 testing capabilities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-179
Author(s):  
Guidong Wang

Purpose With the increase of state capital, corporate total factor productivity (TFP) has a tendency to jump up at first and then slowly decrease. Generally, no significant “productivity paradox” can be observed in China’s manufacturing industry. With the increase of export density, corporate TFP also shows a trend of initial jump growth and subsequent slow decline. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Using the 1996–2013 China Industrial Enterprise Database, this paper studies the monopolistic behavior of Chinese manufacturing enterprises through the measurement of TFP and corporate monopoly power. Findings Results show that China’s manufacturing monopoly enterprises are generally innovation-oriented rather than rent-seeking. However, there are certain differences between diversified types of monopoly enterprises: the ones with state capital are more inclined to innovate than those without, whereas the ones with export delivery value are more inclined to seek rent than those without. Originality/value Therefore, the government should implement differentiated policies for diversified types of monopoly enterprises, and do so in a targeted manner fully reflecting the containment of rent-seeking and the encouragement of innovation.


Circuit World ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Fillion ◽  
R. Wojnarowski ◽  
T. Gorcyzca ◽  
E. Wildi ◽  
H. Cole
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Torri ◽  
Kaustav Kundu ◽  
Stefano Frecassetti ◽  
Matteo Rossini

Purpose In spite of huge advancement of Lean in the manufacturing sector, its advantage in the service sector is not fully investigated. The purpose of this paper is to cover this gap in particular for the information technology (IT) sector through the implementation of the Lean philosophy in a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME), operating in the IT sector. Design/methodology/approach A case study is conducted and following the A3 model, Lean is deployed in the case company. Data were collected through on-site interviews, waste sources were identified and then countermeasures for their reduction were proposed and adopted. Findings This study reveals that the implementation of the Lean practices in an SME operating in the IT sector offers good operative and financial results, thanks to the higher productivity obtained through the reduction of non-value-added activities. Research limitations/implications This paper reports a single case study, not enough to generalize the results. Moreover, more Lean tools and practices should be tested in IT companies to assess their effectiveness. Practical implications This paper increments the knowledge base for the application of Lean and A3 model outside the manufacturing industry. This paper should assist practitioners and consultants who have the desire to understand a better way of Lean implementation in fast-growing IT industry and in SME. Originality/value Research on Lean implementation in an SME company and in IT sector is scarce. This study aims to assess the efficiency of the adoption of Lean practices following the A3 model. The results could be highly valuable for similar companies (dimension or sector), especially those that are facing transition situations in terms of size and at the same time want to improve their operations performance, efficiency and avoid waste.


2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (01) ◽  
pp. 30-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Cowger

This article highlights advantages of Lean Manufacturing in the manufacturing industry. The U.S. Bureau of Census survey shows that leaner the company, the faster it grows and the more profitable, productive, and innovative it becomes. It is a constellation of interrelated processes that improve productivity and reduce waste through continuous monitoring, evaluation, and improvement. The successful results of lean implementation have shown that workers are going to have to take more responsibility for outcomes, and managers are going to have to treat workers like partners. However, lean brings out the skepticism in many engineers and owners of small- and medium-sized businesses. It takes a lot to convince them to invest the time and money needed to transform even a modest factory into a lean operation. Lean has proven to be a philosophy of continuous improvement, as learning how to expose and fix problems creates sustainable advantages that are expected to continue in the future.


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