Moacir Godinho Filho

Production planning and control for remanufacturing: literature review and analysis

This article reviews the literature on production planning and control (PPC) for remanufacturing. The objectives are threefold: to determine whether the gaps identified by Guide (Guide Jr, V.D.R., 2000. Production planning and control for remanufacturing: industry practice and research needs. Journal of Operations Management, 18, 467–483) on the subject with respect to the main complicating characteristics of remanufacturing have been fulfilled; to classify the literature based on an appropriate structure to obtain a better understanding of the subject identifying sources of future research and to provide a useful source for scholars and practitioners. Seventy-six papers were examined and classified. It was found that none of the studies deals simultaneously with all of the complicating characteristics, and that more practical research is needed. In addition it was found that we lack studies regarding forecasting and aggregate planning considering disassembly of returned products, material matching restrictions or stochastic routings, master production scheduling considering material matching restrictions or stochastic routings, ordering system and capacity planning considering material matching restrictions and inventory control and management considering stochastic routings.

Lean healthcare: review, classification and analysis of literature

Abstract This study presents a literature review of 107 papers on lean healthcare to evaluate its evolution by updating previous literature reviews and to propose a classification and analysis of the papers reviewed. The literature classification was performed based on six parameters: research method, country, healthcare area, implementation, lean tools and methods and results. From the analysis performed, this paper presents a quantitative analysis of the state of the art concerning lean healthcare and indicates current research trends, based on the stage of evolution of the area, that may guide further studies on the subject. An example is lean healthcare expansion to other countries, such as Brazil and the Netherlands. Another aspect is the application of lean healthcare in hospital as a whole, not limited to a specific setting. Finally, a few studies detail the lean implementation process and use infrequently applied tools, present the barriers and main critical factors found in the lean implementation.

Lean manufacturing in Brazilian small and medium enterprises: implementation and effect on performance

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the degree to which lean manufacturing (LM) practices are being implemented within Brazilian small and medium enterprises (SMEs), by defining what LM means, in the view of SMEs in Brazil. In addition, the paper investigates the relationship between LM implementation and performance of such companies. The research method used in this paper comprised of an exploratory survey using the partial least-square method with the structural equation modelling technique (PLS-SEM). The results show that the companies studied used practices in a fragmented manner, without a holistic view of LM, which is considered to be one of the most important parts of this approach. Only the constructs of statistical process control, total productive maintenance and employee involvement are being implemented as an integrated approach for Brazilian SMEs. These companies do not take other important constructs such as customer involvement, continuous flow, pull production, set-up time reduction, supplier development and supplier feedback into consideration as part of LM systems, despite using some practices in a dispersed manner. Concerning performance, the present study shows that even in a fragmented way, the implementation of these LM practices help these companies to achieve improvement in operational performance.

Manufatura Enxuta: uma revisão que classifica e analisa os trabalhos apontando perspectivas de pesquisas futuras

This work reviews the literature on Lean Manufacturing (LM). Until now, there was no complete literature review regarding this subject in the Operations Management literature. Based on this literature review it is proposed a LM classification system based on 4 main characteristics: methodology, comprehension, principles and enablers. The system is used to classify and to organize the papers. After that a general analyses of LM is performed. The LM analyses is based on 2 main points: i) a quantitative study of the methodology, comprehension, principles and enablers within LM papers; ii) a qualitative study regarding the main subjects and goals accomplished by the papers. The main contributions of this work are to contribute for mental clarification, communication and discovering new fields for research on LM.

A new value stream mapping approach for healthcare environments

Hospitals worldwide are giving a growing emphasis to the application of lean concepts in the healthcare sector, commonly known as ‘lean healthcare’. A fundamental tool that allows such implementations is the value stream mapping (VSM). The problem is that VSM models used in implementations of lean healthcare are simple adaptations of the original VSM model, which was initially directed towards manufacturing and may not always represent important support activities for the patient flow that directly impact treatment time. Within this context, this paper presents a new VSM approach for healthcare environments. This new VSM model, specifically designed for healthcare environments, contemplates all activities that directly affect the treatment time. In addition, the present paper also presents an action research in a Brazilian hospital where the proposed VSM model is compared to other VSM models found in the literature. The results shown that the proposed VSM model was able to identify some operational bottlenecks and wastes that interfere in the patient’s treatment that could not be identified by other mapping models studied.

Lean practices and their effect on performance: a literature review

Abstract This paper introduces a literature review of 83 studies dealing with the degree of adoption of lean manufacturing practices around the world, and the links between those practices and organisation performance. The results of this study revealed that lean practices application still occurs in a fragmented way, disregarding the systemic linkage that is essential to lean manufacturing. Forty-one articles have suggested a positive effect of lean practices in at least one operational, financial and/or environmental performance metric. Nevertheless, five studies indicated that some lean practices had a negative effect on operational or financial performance. High demand variability, a perceived result of long-term lean manufacturing implementation, a country/company’s organisational culture and the difficulty of traditional costing production systems to measure and compare investments and economic gains from adopting lean manufacturing over time are some of the reasons to explain that negative effect of lean practice on performance.

Competitive priorities of small manufacturers in Brazil

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the state of small manufacturing companies in Brazil. The paper seeks to identify their competitive priorities based on their recent developments and their anticipated opportunities and challenges.Design/methodology/approach – This is an exploratory study based on semi‐structured telephone interviews. The interview guide contained around 30, mainly open‐ended questions.Findings – The research both confirms and refutes previous research. It refutes the “traditional view” that small firms are driven by cost, quality, flexibility and delivery only; it supports recent research which has argued that there has been a shift in terms of what competitive priorities are being pursued. More specifically, innovativeness was identified as an important new competitive priority, but there was little evidence in support of other recently proposed priorities like security and sustainability.Research limitations/implications – This study is restricted to one area of Brazil ...

From time-based competition (TBC) to quick response manufacturing (QRM): the evolution of research aimed at lead time reduction

This paper presents a complete review of the literature regarding lead time reduction within the context of time-based competition (TBC) and quick response manufacturing (QRM) paradigms. From the review, a classification system has been proposed. From this study, gaps in the literature could be identified as follows: (1) lack of quantitative studies showing the benefits of TBC/QRM and the use of empirical studies (especially action research) about these paradigms; (2) some principles and tools of both paradigms are rarely studied, for example, principles related to utilization levels, lot size, and performance measures focused on time; and (3) the application of principles and tools of the TBC/QRM in practice are scarce. These gaps represent opportunity for future research in the area. This paper is also valuable for managers in practice once it concludes that the essential aspect of the paradigm TBC/QRM is the focus on lead time reduction and not on tools and methods. A direct consequence of this finding is that to develop and use performance measures of lead time reduction is critical within the TBC/QRM.

The impact of simultaneous continuous improvement in setup time and repair time on manufacturing cycle times under uncertain conditions

We develop a system dynamics model to examine the cumulative effects of continuous improvement programmes for repair and setup times on the cycle time of a simple single-stage production system. The relationship between system performance and repair and setup times is captured using the Factory Physics approach. We find that modest rates of improvement in multiple areas in parallel yield cumulative benefits over time comparable with those obtained by a large reduction in a single parameter, especially when there is significant uncertainty in the degree of improvement that can be obtained, or in the degree to which improvements can be sustained over time. These results provide an insight into the success of the Toyota Production System and related lean manufacturing approaches where continuous improvement is an ongoing activity across the work environment.

A proposal for integrating production control and quality control

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a practical proposal for integrating production control (PC) and quality control (QC) at the shop floor level.Design/methodology/approach – The proposed method is based on three principles which relate PC and QC at the shop floor level. The proposal is applied successfully at the worlds largest pencil factory.Findings – The results show that the proposed method contributes to improve four performance indicators related to PC and QC at the company studied: increase the average throughput in about 28.9 per cent; reduce the average value of work in process (WIP) in about 35.6 per cent, reduce the average lead time by about 45.4 per cent, and reduce the average defect rate by about 71.4 per cent.Research limitations/implications – The proposal (mainly because of principle III) is developed to be applied in repetitive production (RP) systems, i.e. environments characterized by low production volume and low product variety.Practical implications – Some practica...