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Shop floor control systems are generally major points of discussion in production planning and control literature. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how lean production control principles can be used in a make-to-order (MTO) job shop, where the volume is typically low and there is high variety. This paper examines the procedures involved in implementing a constant work-in-process (CONWIP)/Kanban hybrid system in the shop floor environment and also provides insights and guidelines on the implementation of a hybrid system in a high-variety/low-volume environment.

The authors review literature on Kanban, CONWIP, and CONWIP/Kanban hybrid systems to analyze how lean production control principles can be used in a MTO job shop. The second part focuses on the process of implementation. Using a case study of a manufacturer of electromechanical components for valve monitoring and controls, the paper describes how the operation is transformed by for more efficient shop floor control systems. Real experiments are used to compare pre- and post-improvement performance.

The study shows that the proposed hybrid Kanban-CONWIP system reduced the cycle time and achieved an increase of 38 percent in inventory turnover. The empirical results from this pilot study provide useful managerial insights for a benchmarking analysis of the actions to be taken into consideration by companies that have similar manufacturing systems.

The statistic generalization of the results is impossible due to the use of a single case method of study.

This paper provides insights and guidelines on the implementation of a hybrid system in a high-variety/low-volume environment. The literature on real applications of hybrid CONWIP/Kanban by case study is limited.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

Starting from Gino Arias’s dictum on the uselessness of international trade theory for fascism, this contribution aims to demonstrate two main points. First, the free trade attitude displayed by fascism immediately before and after the “March on Rome” clashed with its nationalist origins. The nationalist movement had supported a strong protectionist policy starting from a rejection of the main principles of marginalist theory. This explains why some issues raised by Pareto and Barone which could have been used as arguments in favor of protectionism were neglected. In turn, this impasse played a major role in the rejection of Mihail Manoilescu’s theory in the thirties. The second point concerns the possibility of some – at least relatively – free theoretical debate on international trade theory and policy. When the regime set itself a clear objective, like the reduction of trade to begin with, and then autarky, the scope for free discussion narrowed to the point of eventually closing. In this context, refusing to support the regime’s choices in economic policy meant resigning oneself to becoming an outcast. A situation offering one more tessera in the complex mosaic of relations between science and politics in authoritarian regimes.