Valeria Martínez-Loya

Interrelations among SMED Stages: A Causal Model

Mexico has received a lot of foreign investment that has brought in a wide range of novel production philosophies, such as Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED). Despite its popularity and reported effectiveness, Mexican companies often quit SMED implementation as they consider it challenging. This usually happens when organizations are not familiarized enough with each one of the SMED stages or do not know how they are interrelated. In this article the interrelations among the different SMED implementation stages by means of a structural equations model are analyzed. Data for constructing the model were gathered from a survey administered to 250 employees from the Mexican maquiladora industry. The survey assessed the importance of 14 activities belonging to the four SMED stages. The descriptive analyses of these stages were conducted and integrated into a structural equations model as latent variables, to find their level of dependency. The model was constructed using WarpPLS 5 software, and direct, indirect, and total effects among variables are analyzed and validated. Results from the model revealed that Stage 1 of SMED implementation, known as the Identification Stage, has both direct and indirect effects on all the other SMED stages, being the most important stage.

Benefits Associated with the TPM Implementation in the Industry

Throughout this chapter, the main benefits that can be obtained with the effective TPM implementation are exposed. In addition, these benefits have been identified from the literature review previously written, including a total of 22 benefits (observed variables) divided into three categories: Benefits for the company, productivity benefits, and safety benefits. Also, a brief description of each element is presented.

The Role of Knowledge Transfer in Supply Chain Flexibility and Performance

This chapter proposes a structural equation model to analyze four latent variables: internal knowledge transfer, external knowledge transfer, supply chain flexibility, and supply chain performance. These variables are interrelated through three research hypotheses. The model is validated with data obtained through a questionnaire that was administered to 269 Mexican manufacturing companies. Then, the hypotheses are tested at a 95% confidence level using partial least squares. The results indicate that internal knowledge transfer has the most important direct effect on supply chain flexibility and the highest indirect effect on supply chain performance.

TPM Literature Review

This chapter presents some data related to the evolution of total productive maintenance in recent decades, specifically from 1994. As a matter of fact, the data is organized according to the type of publication, the published, number as well as the TPM use trend, information is presented on the number of published articles by each journal, the authors that publish information about TPM, and the industrial sectors that implement this tool. In addition, the data was obtained from a literature review in different databases, where keywords were used such as total productive maintenance (TPM). Also, the results show that in 2015, it was the year where more papers were published about TPM, the most common type of publication is research articles with 714, the journal with the most reported publications is International Journal of Production Economics, the sector that uses it more is the construction of industrial buildings, and the editorial that has published the most is Taylor & Francis LTD. Similarly, a series of case studies are included that demonstrate the success of the TPM implementation, both in the manufacturing industry and in-service companies.

Structural Equation Models—Methodological Factors

In this chapter, two structural equation models are presented. The first one refers to a model that integrates two technical variables and two benefits, while the second model is an integrator, since it integrates the Human factor independent latent variable where the independent Operating factor and Benefits latent variables intervene in the total productive maintenance programs implementing process. In addition, each of the latent variables is validated and the model is evaluated through the partial least squares technique. Also, the direct effects, indirect effect, and total effects between the variables are measured. Similarly, a series of industrial implications from the results obtained are displayed.

Definition of the Problem and Objective of the Research

In this chapter, the research problem that is addressed in the book is described and based on that the objectives of the book are established, where the limitations and scopes are defined according to the accessed data.

The Role of ICT in Educational Innovation

In this chapter, the importance of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education is emphasized, and a case study describes their integration into a higher education institution, specifically, the Instituto Tecnologico de Colima. Since ICT are considered a tool to innovate teaching practices, as well as providing the possibility of including new didactic strategies that arouse the interest and motivation of students to improve the quality of teaching-learning processes inside and outside of the classroom. The case study reports a survey integrated by 43 items related to ICT, which was administered to 469 students of the Instituto Tecnologico de Colima. Using the WarpPLS Software v5.0, the causal relationships that exist between the uses of ICT (independent variables) and the benefits obtained when using ICT (dependent variables) were analyzed. After the analysis, it is concluded that there is sufficient statistical evidence to ensure that academic uses have a direct and positive impact on students’ performance, improving the grades and their psychological state.

Structural Equation Models-Human Factor—Part II

In this chapter, four structural equation models are presented, where variables that integrate the human factor category appeared during the TPM implementation process, which operate as independent variables and are related to variables from the operational factor categories as well as from the obtained benefits. In addition, the models are validated and evaluated, and also direct, indirect, and total effects are obtained as well as their effect sizes. Finally, a series of industrial implications are discussed and displayed based on the results.

Activities Associated with the Success of TPM

In this chapter, a description from a total of 75 critical success factors for the total productive maintenance (TPM) implementation program within the industry is reported, these critical success factors were divided into 2 categories: activities related to the human factor and activities related to the operative factor, which is briefly described.

Structural Equation Models-Technical Factors

In this chapter two structural equation models are presented, which are related to the technical factors associated with the total preventive maintenance programs implementation such as the PM Implementation, TPM implementation, Technological status, Layout and Warehouse management. In addition, these technical factors are linked to the Benefits for the organization, productivity, and worker and environment safety, which generate a series of hypotheses. Also, least squares algorithms are implemented to evaluate the models, and the hypotheses are validated by estimating the direct effects, although indirect and total effects are also acquired as well as the effect size. Finally, for each relationship between the variables, a sensitivity analysis is performed.