Exploring a holistic perspective on production system improvement
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management
ISSN: 0265-671X
Article publication date: 1 February 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how holistic improvement work can be organized and what challenges can be observed in the process of adopting a holistic perspective on production system improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative case study and a questionnaire have been carried out. Data for the case study has been collected through semi-structured interviews, archived documents and participatory observations. The questionnaire was done in order to increase the generalizability of the findings from the case study and further validate the conclusions.
Findings
The improvement work at the case company is organized as a continuous improvement approach in a Lean Production system in the form of a company-specific production system (XPS), in which two other improvement approaches are incorporated. Some of the identified challenges are: the establishment of a holistic perspective on improvement opportunities; the development of a process to update the production strategy; the continuous update of the Operational Management System during the XPS implementation; aggregating measures for the improvement work and measuring the effect of improvement work.
Research limitations/implications
As the current case study is limited to one case company, future research is interested in expanding to other production systems contexts for further validation.
Originality/value
The present study offers an increased understanding of the integration difficulties of improvement work that many production companies face regarding operational effectiveness, and based on the findings, some implications for management are presented.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research work has been funded by the Knowledge Foundation within the framework of the INNOFACTURE Research School and the participating companies, and Mälardalen University. The research work is also a part of the initiative for Excellence in Production Research (lXPRES) which is a joint project between Mälardalen University, the Royal Institute of Technology, and Swerea. XPRES is one of two governmentally funded Swedish strategic initiatives for research excellence in Production Engineering.
Citation
Stålberg, L. and Fundin, A. (2016), "Exploring a holistic perspective on production system improvement", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 267-283. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-11-2013-0187
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited