Search results

The purpose of this paper is to report on a research project at a safari park in Buckinghamshire, UK. The aim is to introduce lean principles to the park, to enable the park to increase profits through eliminating waste and improving the efficiency of key processes whilst concurrently increasing customer satisfaction. The research is based on a case study approach within the organisation over a period of three months. The project team worked together with management and staff to deliver tangible benefits to the park.

The research is based on a case study approach within the organisation over a period of three months. The project team worked together with management and staff to deliver tangible benefits to the park. The team adopted a three stage approach linked by two decision points and used a variety of lean tools to help map the current state of practices in the park and to identify areas for improvement in the park's processes.

The project succeeded in identifying several key areas for improvement. The current situation across a range of customer facing processes is mapped and through detailed analysis and simulations, recommendations for improvements have been delivered to the management. The scope of the project is broad and so for the purpose of this paper, only one key area will be elaborated on, feed logistics. Feed logistics is the distribution network of feed throughout the park from receipt from the suppliers, the storage locations, through to the preparation areas and ultimately the animals.

The project demonstrated that in fact the underlying philosophies and tools of lean thinking can be used with significant benefits to drive improvements in the unusual setting of a safari park. The successful application of lean thinking into a safari park proved to be an extremely unique opportunity to observe the impact of those principles in generating both tangible and intangible benefits to that organisation. In particular, as discussed in this paper, the simplification of the feed network and distribution for the park eliminated waste in the form of movement, time and inventory.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how the full potential of the global phenomenon “Six Sigma” can be realised in low volume, high complex manufacturing.

The research reported on in this paper is based on a case study company – ComplexCo plc. A questionnaire to gauge user perceptions about the tools and techniques was used, combined with interviews with five master black belts (MBB) which were conducted as part of the study. The usefulness and the frequency of use of common Six Sigma tools and techniques as deployed in low volume complex manufacturing was gauged and also the identification of the key challenges faced during Six Sigma deployment in ComplexCo are explored.

The analysis clearly shows that the difficulty in acquiring data is restricting the use of analytically biased tools during the analyse phase of DMAIC (Define Measure Analyse Improve Control). It was also evident, through all stages of DMAIC, that the “softer” tools are deployed more often and the usefulness rank higher than for the “harder” tools. Finally an alternative to the traditional DPMO metric was developed called “% Right First Time”.

The paper is based on a single case study company and so the results from the study are not currently widely generalisable.

There is a lack of literature available which explores the deployment of Six Sigma in low volume, high complex manufacturing environments. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge through the establishment of adaptations, which both ComplexCo and other organisations can use to successfully deploy Six Sigma programmes in low volume and high complex manufacturing.

This paper seeks to investigate the links between different types of visibility, joint initiatives and business performance using the concepts of transparency as a measure of visibility in supply chains. The prognosis that increased supply chain visibility can be achieved through suppliers and customers working on joint initiative(s), the deployment of which leads to collaborative successes, is tested.

Lamming et al.'s transparency concept was used as a basis for the development of a framework for assessing the visibility gaps between the focal company – Rolls‐Royce (RR) – and their suppliers. The framework was applied to a particular supplier to identify visibility gaps; subsequently a joint initiative was launched across the supply chain and the benefits measured and assessed. A case study approach was followed due to the contemporary nature of the work undertaken.

The supply chain's performance vis‐à‐vis schedule adherence was significantly improved as a result of the initiative launched. Additionally, there were improvements in visibility across capacity planning, material ordering and inventory management.

The study demonstrated the value of using the developed transparency framework in a structured manner to generate improvements in the supply chain. RR will look to extend its use across other supply chains; the approach could also be extended out to other sectors.

The development and application of the transparency frameworks in the aerospace sector are unique and have shown the value of the approach. The work has demonstrated tangibly that the exchange of high‐quality information as part of an improvement initiative does lead to significant improvements in the overall performance of the supply chain.

This study aims to explain how supply chain alignment, which remains a major challenge for supply chains, can be achieved and its implications for business performance (BP) by testing the strengths of the relationships between previously identified enablers, supply chain alignment and BP.

A literature review develops hypotheses on the relationships between enablers, alignment and BP. A survey of medium-to-large UK manufacturing companies was conducted where the sample comprised 151 randomly selected companies, and the response rate was 56 per cent. Partial least square regression was used to test the hypothesis.

Two types of supply chain alignment are defined – shareholder and customer – but only customer alignment (CA) has a direct positive impact on BP, while shareholder alignment (SA) is its antecedent. Top management support was shown to be an enabler of both shareholder and CA, while organisation structure, information sharing and performance measurement system enabled SA, while internal relational behaviour enabled CA.

Supply chain management research lacks knowledge on exactly how supply chain alignment can be achieved and what BP implications it has. This research provides a tested conceptual model to address this gap.

The refined conceptual model provides precise guidance to practitioners on how to improve BP through supply chain alignment.

Whilst the strategic management literature emphasizes the importance of SA, this study reveals another crucial alignment – CA – and shows its direct positive impact on BP.

The purpose of this paper is to study the potential for improving sustainability performance in food supply networks by implementing collaborative distribution. Food supply chains generate a significant portion of CO₂ emissions, because of the large volume of food transportation and the large number and frequency of trips made to deliver food products to retail stores, making it available to the customers. Collaboration of partners in food supply chains will lead to reducing CO₂ emissions.

Such collaboration could be in the form of sharing trucks by retailers, to increase the fill rate of the vehicles and to reduce their empty running. A case study of the logistics network of a British company, distributing fruits and vegetables, is carried out. The company sends the products from a distribution centre to 27 retailers’ warehouses of 3 different companies in the UK. A simulation study is carried out to measure the reduced traveled distance for delivery of the products and the reduced amount of CO₂ emissions across two different scenarios, as a result of implementing collaborative distribution.

With this approach, the total CO₂ emissions are able to be reduced by at least 26 per cent.

The theoretical contribution of the paper is important both for showing the role of simulation and collaborative distribution for developing the green supply chain solutions management and their indicating to the applications to logistics and product delivery.