Magali Pralus

Lean manufacturing in the screw cutting sector: assessment of maturity level

This paper describes a methodology developed to evaluate the level of maturity in companies regarding their understanding of lean manufacturing and application. We present the results of a self-assessment questionnaire that we developed for screw cutting sector companies. A strong application of practices connected to the measurement of performance and to standards was observed. On the other hand, a low level of maturity in practices relating to one-piece flow, problem solving and value stream mapping was demonstrated. We also wondered to what extent the high level of a lean practice reflects the level of maturity of the other practices. We then carried out a factor analysis according to the lean practices of the companies studied. The positive correlations which appear in our results show the existing similarity of all of the lean practices. This result can translate the close link between common lean concepts, as the lean being considered a system and not a simple collection of principles.

A study of supporting programs for small and medium enterprises: a first stage going to “Lean”

Nowadays, firms should adopt new production management systems to be competitive. Toyota production system (TPS) and Lean production are attractive systems. They promise good results to firms applying their concepts (mainly based on waste elimination and continuous improvement). Although Lean and TPS seem to be easy to apply, the field study we present in this paper reveals that they are not easy to maintain. In this paper, we present the main results of our survey and propose primary solutions. We interviewed nine consultants that supported more than sixty firms in Haute Savoie (France). The major conclusions of this survey can be split in indisputable benefits - such as a new method of work, the implication of the manager as a preliminary condition to the Lean and the successful implementation of the tools of Lean - and persistent failings like an unsuited. Thats why we propose research tracks focused on standardization and contributing management.

A new way to identify critical resources by combining human and machine data

In business management, the identification of high priority resources represents an important issue. In this paper we developed a new method based on a multi-criteria approach to identify critical resources. Eight prioritisation criteria involved in the companys global performance are proposed. The originality of our method is to take into account both material and human resources of company. Accordingly, a human-machine availability including the versatility of machine-operators is developed. We applied our method in a French screw cutting company. One great interest in identifying critical resources is helping managers to focus more effectively on resources that penalise the companys global performance.

Identifying Essential Components of Lean Approach

Any company wishing to implement a Lean approach is faced with the following issue: should Lean be implemented sequentially or simultaneously No consensus on the method for implementing Lean has been established. For this reason we sought to find out if there was an implementation order regarding Lean practices. 25 Lean experts were interviewed. We used a precedence method to identify the potential precedence for implementing certain Lean practices. We considered only the common responses from over 50% of Lean experts interviewed. We showed that five precedence levels could exist. Understanding these levels should contribute to the creation of a deployment standard for Lean, as well as the successful implementation of Lean practices in companies.