Paul Forrester

A model for evaluating the degree of leanness of manufacturing firms

Clarifies the concept of lean manufacturing and what it comprises. Commences with a review of the lean production literature and, specifically, existing models that identify the variables and component elements of lean production firms. Presents a research instrument for measuring the degree of leanness possessed by manufacturing firms. Research questions were developed and incorporated into structured survey questionnaires for both manufacturing directors and managing directors that enabled a quantitative assessment to be made for the various components of leanness. The survey was completed by over 30 firms in the UK ceramics tableware industry and so represents a comprehensive overview of the state of play in that sector. The figures derived allowed for hypotheses testing and a quantitative analysis. Presents selected results and conclusions from the current survey to illustrate the application and usefulness of the instrument. Argues that, though developed specifically for the tableware industry, the research instrument can be adapted for use in other industries.

Managing planned and emergent change within an operations management environment

Organisational change, as a general topic, has been extensively researched since the 1950s, as evidenced by the proliferation of papers in the last five decades. As a research topic within operations management, it offers fascinating insights into the way manufacturing organisations function and adapt in reality. This paper evaluates what has worked, and what has not been effective, within a UK‐based manufacturing company, tracking multiple change initiatives over several years across two company sites. The core research focused on the implementation of change initiatives based on common constructs, such as planned change, as defined by management writers and consultants. From the research it emerged that a realistic interpretation of the change process had to take into account multiple and varied forces, such as: customers and suppliers; the economic environment; national and international legislation; the history of the organisation; etc. The research underpinning this paper enabled an identification of the specific influences on changes in the organisation and the way these interacted over time. A model of organisational change, developed from the research, is presented. The contribution of this paper lies mainly in deepening operations managers’ understanding of organisational change. It also uncovers the underlying rationales that steer change initiatives (planned or emergent) and identifies the key influences on organisational change. It provides and renews the necessary vocabulary, allowing managers to understand better and act on the multiple dimensions of organisational change. Furthermore, the provision of key learning points through a number of management “guidelines”, provides specific advice on how to effect sustainable change within organisations.

Agile supply: rethinking systems thinking, systems practice

There has been extended debate about how to conceptualise inter‐organizational restructuring in late twentieth century capitalism, giving rise to a number of models that attempt to represent productive change. A number of such conceptualisations of transformation under the banner of “agility” attempt to provide guidance about “managing” physical and social relationships within and between companies in response to growing market complexity. The theoretical argument in this paper is that inter‐firm agility cannot be objectively understood in all cases using simple unidirectional cause and effect as such theories do not take into account more subjective aspects of interaction. Specifically, we argue that to have a vision of agility in action there must be an evaluation of complexity in and between organisational boundaries with a theoretical approach that gives a more robust appreciation of inter‐firm ties. Conceptualising agility in this way captures the essence of tacit knowledge between firms along with the physical dynamics of network functioning.

Lean Production, Market Share and Value Creation in the Agricultural Machinery Sector in Brazil

By adopting Lean Manufacturing firms wants to see the value created in its results at the bottom line. The agricultural machinery and implements sector in Brazil had experienced in Lean and saw its results affected by the program. Using an established analytical model, the paper tests three hypotheses: H1: firms with a high degree of management commitment to the program simultaneously support this commitment with investments in support of the plant infrastructure and problem-solving groups; H2: firms that adopt lean principles have made changes in the direction of these principles; H3: firms that made continuous investments in plant infrastructure in to support lean principles have better performances. All hypotheses H1, H2 and H3 were fully accepted and corroborated.

Partial and iterative Lean implementation: two case studies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of lean within two contrasting UK-based organizations; a food manufacturer and a healthcare organization. The different contexts provide insight to the strategic desire for efficiency gains and tactical issues and challenges of lean execution and implementation. Design/methodology/approach – The research questions developed from the review of the literature were tested using evidence from field-based, action research within a food manufacturer and a National Health Service organization. The reported contrasting case studies contribute to the longer term debate on the adoption and adaptation of lean-based “best practice” within organizations. Findings – There are three primary findings: first, that the adoption of lean provides a strategic benefit, as well as providing a basis for a strategy of operational change; second, that partial, as opposed to full, adoption of lean occurs due to external organizational constraints, such as demand p...

The development of a lean park homes production process using process flow and simulation methods

Purpose – Continuous process flow is a prerequisite of lean systems as it helps to reduce throughput times, improve quality, minimize operational costs, and shorten delivery times. The purpose of this paper is to empirically demonstrate the application of a methodology that combines a time‐based study, discrete‐event simulation and the trial and error method to enable a leaner process through more efficient line balancing and more effective flow for a park homes production process. This method is replicable across other contexts and industry settings.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the UK park homes production industry and, specifically, a major factory that builds these homes. It compares the factory method to traditional on‐site construction methods. An empirical study of production times was carried out to collect data in order to analyse the current workload distribution and the process flow performance of the park homes production process. Finally, seven discrete‐event simulation mode...

Application of QFD for e-Business planning

E-Business represents new avenues for sustainable competitive advantage. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are now expected to be digital-ready to continue as trading partners for their customers. SMEs require socio-technical skills and organizational skills and know-how to comprehend e-Potentials and transform them into e-Implementation. An e-Business planning framework is proposed here which links both in strategic and operations management by applying quality function deployment (QFD, also known as house of quality). The balanced scorecard (BSC) will be used to provide an organization overview to objectives setting, critical in ensuring e-Initiatives are aligned with organization vision and objectives. The paper presents the pilot stage of this research project, discussing how the proposed planning framework works. Data from a case study are employed, and expert advice was sought to prioritize and rank the system components (the ‘whats’) and their interrelationships. The paper begins with an introduction to the importance of e-Business to SMEs, and a brief review of the key components of the proposed framework. Next follows a discussion of the case study and how the framework can be applied in this particular situation. The paper concludes with suggestions for proposed future work; the conclusion can also be extended to provide a series of matrices to provide a clear, step-by-step planning framework for SMEs which are planning and implementing e-Business, by converting customer needs into feasible e-Business plans.

An application of the Delta Model and BPR in transforming electronic business – the case of a food ingredients company in UK

Abstract.  Companies are leveraging existing resources and the internet to come up with new or modified business models to respond to the demands of e‐business. Companies in the food processing industry are also waking to the reality that e‐business technology can make a big difference to the bottom line. This paper presents the result of an action research project which applied a new approach labelled as the Delta Model developed by Hax and Wilde (2001) of Sloan School of Management to strategy development for brick‐n‐mortar companies launching e‐business initiatives. The case company is called Whetstone Food Ingredients (WFI), located in UK. The company is firmly embedded in the agri‐product industry and operates in the ‘egg by‐product’ subsector. This paper is based upon action research supplemented by a programme of in‐depth interviews with managers at WFI for various aspects of their supply chain and e‐business initiatives. On the basis of these interviews and the companies also made a range of documents available throughout. These included internal memos, strategy plans, operational control documents and minutes of meetings. The Delta Model and Davenports methodology of business process reengineering were adopted to structure this analysis. Used in conjunction, they helped to develop a vision, analyse the business processes, identify critical business processes, benchmark the critical processes, and then develop the information technology infrastructure. The infrastructure thus supported the critical business processes and leveraged the e‐business supply chain to enable the company to gain competitive edge.

Market‐driven Strategies and the Design of Flexible Production Systems: Evidence from the Electronics Industry

Links the concept of market-driven business strategies with the design of production systems. It draws upon the case of a firm which, during the last decade, changed its strategy from being “technology led” to “market driven”. The research, based on interdisciplinary fieldwork involving long-term participant observation, investigated the factors which contribute to the successful design and implementation of flexible production systems in electronics assembly. These investigations were conducted in collaboration with a major computer manufacturer, with other electronics firms being studied for comparison. The research identified a number of strategies and actions seen as crucial to the development of efficient flexible production systems, namely: effective integration of subsystems, development of appropriate controls and performance measures, compatibility between production system design and organization structure, and the development of a climate conducive to organizational change. Overall, the analysis suggests that in the electronics industry there exists an extremely high degree of environmental complexity and turbulence. This serves to shape the strategic, technical and social structures that are developed to match this complexity, examples of which are niche marketing, flexible manufacturing and employee harmonization.

Organizational growth demands concurrent engineering

In the past few years a considerable amount of research knowledge regarding organizational change and concurrent engineering (CE) has been accumulated. Suggests that organizational growth provides a framework for the emergence of CE techniques. Organizational growth demands CE and it is important to consider how changes to the organizational structure can best enhance the implementation of CE principles.