A case study for surgical mask production during the COVID-19 pandemic: continuous improvement with Kaizen and 5S applications

PurposeWith the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the production shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as surgical masks, has become increasingly significant. It is vital to quickly provide high-quality, hygienic PPE during pandemic periods. This comprehensive case study aims to confirm that Kaizen and 5S applications reduce wastage rates and stoppages, which as a result, created a more efficient and sustainable workplace in a small–mediumenterprise (SME) producing PPE in Turkey.Design/methodology/approachThe method for this case is discussed with the help of a flowchart using the DMAIC cycle: D-define, M-measure, A-analyse, I-improve and C-control.FindingsThe total stoppages due to fishing line, gripper, piston and yarn welding have decreased by approximately 42.4%. As a result of eliminating wasted time and reduced changeovers, a total of 5,502 min have been saved per month. This increased production of approximately 10.55% per month, led to an addition of 506,184 units.Originality/valueThe use of lean manufacturing (LM), Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma and continuous improvement methodologies are not common in textile SMEs. Based on the current literature reviewed, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first comprehensive case study that combines statistical tools, such as hypothesis tests and LM practices, in the production process for a PPE company operating as a textile SME.

Managing inpatient bed setup: an action-research approach using lean technical practices and lean social practices.

PURPOSE: This article aims to introduce a guide to improving hospital bed setup by combining lean technical practices (LTPs), such as kaizen and value stream mapping (VSM) and lean social practices (LSPs), such as employee empowerment. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Action research approach was employed to analyze the process of reconfiguration of bed setup management in a Brazilian public hospital. FINDINGS: The study introduces three contributions: (1) presents the use of VSM focused specifically on bed setup, while the current literature presents studies mainly focused on patient flow management, (2) combines the use of LSPs and LTPs in the context of bed management, expanding current studies that are focused either on mathematical models or on social and human aspects of work, (3) introduces a practical guide based on six steps that combine LSPs and LSPs to improve bed setup management. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The research focused on the analysis of patient beds. Surgical beds, delivery, emergency care and intensive care unit (ICU) were not considered in this study. In addition, the process indicators analyzed after the implementation of the improvements did not contemplate the moment of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, this research focused on the implementation of the improvement in the context of only one Brazilian public hospital. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The combined use of LSPs and LTPs can generate considerable gains in bed setup efficiency and consequently increase the capacity of a hospital to admit new patients, without the ampliation of the physical space and workforce. SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The improvement of bed setup has an important social character, whereas it can generate important social benefits such as the improvement of the admission service to patients, reducing the waiting time, reducing hospitalization costs and improving the hospital capacity without additional physical resources. All these results are crucial for populations, their countries and regions. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: While the current literature on bed management is more focused on formal models or pure human and social perspectives, this article brings these two perspectives together in a single, holistic framework. As a result, this article points out that the complex bed management problem can be efficiently solved by combining LSPs and LTPs to present theoretical and practical contributions to the important social problem of hospital bed management.

Influence of Gender, Education, Age Group and Time in the Company on the Adoption of New Technologies and their Impact on Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement (CI) is a principle being adopted in many organizations around the world. It is present in relevant excellence models such as the Toyota Way, Shingo Model, and Lean Thinking. CI was implemented some years ago in a Public Company (Lipor) based in Porto, dedicated to municipal waste treatment, but the Covid-19 pandemic created some important challenges. The forced adoption of new technologies associated with I4.0 required important changes in the existing CI routines. This paper aims to assess the influence of gender, education, age group, and time in the company on adopting new technologies used in their IC routines. This study, based on employees' perceptions through questionnaires, shows that the CI system had, in general, a positive impact on their work and overall performance. Regarding the effect of forced teleworking caused by COVID-19 on office workers, this study shows that age, gender, education, and years in the company have an impact on the effective adoption of new technologies associated with digital transformation and Industry 4.0. The study also shows that those technologies effectively allow routines and culture of CI to be maintained when workers are forced to work remotely.

A case study for surgical mask production during the COVID-19 pandemic: continuous improvement with Kaizen and 5S applications

PurposeWith the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the production shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as surgical masks, has become increasingly significant. It is vital to quickly provide high-quality, hygienic PPE during pandemic periods. This comprehensive case study aims to confirm that Kaizen and 5S applications reduce wastage rates and stoppages, which as a result, created a more efficient and sustainable workplace in a small-mediumenterprise (SME) producing PPE in Turkey. Design/methodology/approachThe method for this case is discussed with the help of a flowchart using the DMAIC cycle: D-define, M-measure, A-analyse, I-improve and C-control. FindingsThe total stoppages due to fishing line, gripper, piston and yarn welding have decreased by approximately 42.4%. As a result of eliminating wasted time and reduced changeovers, a total of 5,502 min have been saved per month. This increased production of approximately 10.55% per month, led to an addition of 506,184 units. Originality/valueThe use of lean manufacturing (LM), Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma and continuous improvement methodologies are not common in textile SMEs. Based on the current literature reviewed, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first comprehensive case study that combines statistical tools, such as hypothesis tests and LM practices, in the production process for a PPE company operating as a textile SME.

Implementation of a Lean Manufacturing and SLP-based system for a footwear company

Paper aims: This research article addresses an innovative solution to face one of the main problems in the footwear industry, namely the high order non-fulfillment rate. Originality: This research offers companies in the footwear industry the possibility of implementing Andon through a structured and planned process that allows expediting problem solving. The advantage of this system is the ability to signal the status of workstations through rapid visual identification. Moreover, in this way social distancing is also secured, in line with World Health Organization guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Research method: The article presents four phases through which the case study was addressed. Planning (determination of objectives), Restructuring of the Operations Area, Improvement of the Production Line and Continuous Improvement. Main findings: An Arena simulation system was used to establish a new scenario where the defective product indicator decreases by 3.13% and productivity improves by about 38%. In turn, the resulting increase in the number of orders enhances company sales and profits, as well as the ability to meet the customer demand in a timely manner. Implications for theory and practice: The case study suggests that the main causes of this issue (high order non-fulfillment rate) are the increasing rate of defective goods, delays in the production process, and excessive time consumption in the movement of staff and materials. This research serves as the basis for future lines of research, as well as for other organizations with similar characteristics to implement the proposal. © 2022

Increasing Forklift Time Utilization in a Food Equipment Manufacturing Plant with a Kaizen Event

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted several services organizations such as hotels and restaurants. Some studies suggest that 50% of restaurants closed during quarantining days will not reopen in the future, producing a domino effect with their suppliers. Therefore, to survey in this crisis, organizations focused their efforts on reducing waste and/or repurposing their manufacturing operations by introducing new products. The purposes of this paper are (1) to mention an overall strategy followed by food equipment manufacturing plant to address the COVID-19 pandemic challenge;and (2) to describe one of the five Kaizen events conducted to address COVID-19 challenges. This Kaizen focused on increasing forklifts utilization rate from 44% to 80%. The authors followed three steps to achieve this aim: understanding company background, conducting a literature review, and elaborating on a Kaizen event. Practitioners in manufacturing and services organizations could extract several highlights to help them to sort operations problems during crisis time. However, future research still needs to understand the socio-economic impact that COVID-19 pandemic around the world. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The Digitalisation and Virtual Delivery of Lean Six Sigma Teaching in an Irish University During COVID-19

This research discusses how lecturers in an Irish university transferred their classroom-based blended learning Lean Six Sigma modules to online delivery. The transfer from a practical classroom environment to an online classroom needed to be seamless in the students Lean active learning experiences. The output of the paper is to discuss the designing of appropriate delivery methods and practical examples, games, scenarios, exercises in a flipped online classroom. Problem-based learning is ideal for teaching lean manufacturing, driven by a problem-solving culture that values learning as a critical output. The design of a “practical problem based” online Kaizen utilising the virtual classroom as an obeya room enabled students to learn Lean Six Sigma tools and practically deploy the tools. Qualitative and quantitative measures were deployed to assess the success of the transition. © 2021, IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.