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1 – 10 of over 2000Torbjørn H. Netland, Jason D. Schloetzer and Kasra Ferdows
Why some assembly factories implement a lean program faster than others is an enduring puzzle. We examine the effect of a fundamental characteristic of every assembly factory—its…
Abstract
Purpose
Why some assembly factories implement a lean program faster than others is an enduring puzzle. We examine the effect of a fundamental characteristic of every assembly factory—its rhythm of production.
Design/methodology/approach
We designed a multi-method study and collected data from a leading global equipment manufacturer that launched a lean program across its factory network. We use quantitative data gathered from internal company documents to test our hypothesis that production rhythm affects the pace of lean implementation. We then analyze qualitative data from interviews and factory visits to derive theoretical explanations for how production rhythm affects lean implementation.
Findings
Consistent with our hypothesis, we present evidence that factories with faster production rhythms implement lean faster than those with slower rhythms. This evidence is consistent with learning theories as well as the literature on organizational routines and forms of knowledge. We propose a theory of the relation between rhythm and learning in lean implementation.
Research limitations/implications
The hitherto unexplored relation between production rhythm and lean implementation raises intriguing questions for scholars and ushers new insights into how organizations learn to implement lean.
Practical implications
Organizations need to calibrate their expectations for lean implementation pace when their factories have widely different production rhythms and find ways to mitigate any adverse effects slower rhythms may have. Organizations can alleviate the unfavorable context of slower rhythms by inculcating practices in the factory that emulate the learning environment present in faster-paced factories.
Originality/value
We contribute novel quantitative and qualitative evidence that production rhythm affects lean implementation through learning-based mechanisms.
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Wolfgang Kaltenbrunner, Sarah de Rijcke, Ruth Müller and Isabel Burner-Fritsch
Fadia Dakka and Rob Smith
Drawing on Lefebvre’s theorization of rhythm, this chapter presents and discusses rhythmanalysis as a philosophical orientation and as an experimental methodology for social…
Abstract
Drawing on Lefebvre’s theorization of rhythm, this chapter presents and discusses rhythmanalysis as a philosophical orientation and as an experimental methodology for social, cultural, and historical research. In particular, it innovatively deploys rhythmanalysis to explore and investigate the everyday life of the contemporary university. To this end it, critically reviews the methods (and findings) of a pilot project that aimed to capture the rhythmic nature of the quotidian activities of staff and students at a “modern” university in the West Midlands of England (2017–2018). The novel combination of research methods employed, comprising audio-visually recorded walking interviews, time-lapse photography of three campuses, and of classroom/laboratory/studio teaching sessions, is examined to reveal the affordances of rhythmanalysis qua experimental methodology. The concluding section offers a reflection on the intellectual and practical purchase of the rhythmanalytical project while suggesting the possibility to further develop these innovative methods in order to refine current analyses and understandings of the contemporary university.
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Shuqiang Wang, Jia Tang, Yiquan Zou and Qihui Zhou
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process optimization of a precast concrete component production line by using value stream mapping.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process optimization of a precast concrete component production line by using value stream mapping.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is an empirical focused on of lean production theory and value stream mapping. The data in the case study were collected in real time on-site for each process during the production process of a prefabricated exterior wall.
Findings
The results of the current value stream map indicate that the main problems of the current production process are related to equipment, technology and organization. The equipment problems include simple demolding and cleaning tools and the lack of professional transfer channels. The technology problems include the lack of a marking mechanism and pipeline exit mechanism. There is a lack of standard operating procedures and incomplete process convergence. A comparison and analysis of the current value stream and the future value flow indicate that optimizations of the process flow, the production line layout, and the standard operating procedures have shortened the delivery cycle, reduced the number of workers, improved the operator’s operating level and balanced the production line.
Practical implications
The results of this study provide practitioners with a clear understanding of the optimization of the precast concrete component production and represent a method and basis for the process optimization of a factory production line; the approach is suitable for process optimization in other areas.
Originality/value
This research represents an innovative application of lean production theory and value stream mapping in a complex production line of precast concrete components and thereby fills the gap between the theory and practice of the optimization of a precast concrete component production line.
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While scholars have commonly inquired into how capital structures the material world, far less attention has been paid to how the material world has structured the historical…
Abstract
While scholars have commonly inquired into how capital structures the material world, far less attention has been paid to how the material world has structured the historical relations of the capitalist world economy. This chapter is concerned with the expansion of Caribbean sugar industry in the world economic conjuncture of the first half of the nineteenth century. It examines the relation of the material requirements of sugar production, regional geography, and productive space. The ability of planters in particular locations to respond to world economic conditions was subject to material and spatial constraints. Increased output and technological innovation were dependent on the creation of new productive spaces – including both the formation of new commodity frontiers and the reconstitution the sugar plantation – that conformed to the changing requirements of sugar manufacture. Thus, the spatial and material conditions of staple production shaped the pattern of accumulation and political economic development.