Lean production not only successfully challenged the accepted mass production practices in the automotive industry, significantly shifting the trade-off between productivity and quality, but it also led to a rethinking of a wide range of manufacturing and service operations beyond the high-volume repetitive manufacturing environment. The book 'The machine that changed the World' that introduced the term 'lean production' in 1990 has become one of the most widely cited references in operations management over the last decade. Despite the fact that the just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing concept had been known for almost a decade prior, the book played a key role in disseminating the concept outside of Japan. While the technical aspects of lean production have been widely discussed, this paper sets out to investigate the evolution of the research at the MIT International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP) that led to the conception of the term 'lean production'. Furthermore, the paper investigates why -despite the pre-existing knowledge of JIT -the program was so influential in promoting the lean production concept. Based on iterating series of interviews with the key authors, contributors and researchers of the time, this paper presents an historical account of the research that led to the formulation and dissemination of one of the most influential manufacturing paradigms of recent times. #

In an effort to improve operational efficiency, healthcare services around the world have adopted process improvement methodologies from the manufacturing sector, such as Lean Production. In this paper we report on four multi-level case studies of the implementation of Lean in the English NHS. Our results show that this generally involves the application of specific Lean 'tools', such as 'kaizen blitz' and 'rapid improvement events', which tend to produce small-scale and localised productivity gains. Although this suggests that Lean might not currently deliver the efficiency improvements desired in policy, the evolution of Lean in the manufacturing sector also reveals this initial focus on the 'tool level'. In moving to a more system-wide approach, however, we identify significant contextual differences between healthcare and manufacturing that result in two critical breaches of the assumptions behind Lean. First, the customer and commissioner in the private sector are the one and the same, which is essential in determining 'customer value' that drives process improvement activities.

Purpose -An underlying principle of supply chain management is to establish control of the end-to-end process in order to create a seamless flow of goods. The basic idea is that variability is detrimental to performance as it causes cost in the form of stock-outs, poor capacity utilisation, and costly buffers. This paper questions this approach and argues that in the light of increasing turbulence a different approach to supply chain management is needed. Design/methodology/approach -The paper reports on the authors' work on a Supply Chain Volatility Index and shows how current supply chain practices may no longer fit the context most businesses now operate in -primarily because these practices were developed under assumptions of stability that no longer hold true. The paper illustrates the findings with case study evidence of firms that have had to adjust to various aspects of turbulence. Findings -The paper is able to show that most current supply chain management models emanate from a period of relative stability, and second, that there is considerable evidence that we will experience increasing turbulence in the future. This calls into question whether current supply chain models that feature some dynamic flexibility, yet are built on the general premise of control, will be suitable to meet the challenge of increased turbulence. Practical implications -It is argued that what is needed to master the era of turbulence is structural flexibility which builds flexible options into the design of supply chains. This marks a major departure from current thinking and will require revisiting the management accounting procedures that are used to evaluate different supply chain decisions. The paper presents guidelines on how to manage supply chains in the age of turbulence: by embracing volatility as an opportunity rather than viewing it as a risk, by understanding its nature and impact, and finally by shifting the exposure to risk by building hedges into the supply chain design. Originality/value -The paper questions the fundamental premise upon which current supply chain models are built and proposes an alternative approach to build structural flexibility into supply chain decision making, which would create the level of adaptability needed to remain competitive in the face of turbulence.

The application of lean thinking has made a significant impact both in academic and industrial circles over the last decade. Fostered by a rapid spread into many other industry sectors beyond the automotive industry, there has been a significant development of the lean concept. Despite successful applications in a range of settings however, the lean approach has been criticised on many accounts, such as the lack of human integration or its limited applicability outside high-volume repetitive manufacturing environments. The resulting lack of definition has led to confusion and fuzzy boundaries with other management concepts. Summarising the lean evolution, this paper comments on approaches that have sought to address some of the earlier gaps in lean thinking. Linking the evolution of lean thinking to the contingency and learning organisation schools of thought, the objective of this paper is to provide a framework for understanding the evolution of lean not only as a concept, but also its implementation within an organisation, and point out areas for future research.

PurposeWhile the concept of supply chain responsiveness (SCR) has received considerable attention in the operations management literature, mostly under the auspices of concepts such as build‐to‐order, mass customisation, lean and agility, so far there is a lack of comprehensive definition of SCR, as well as a defined relationship between “responsiveness” and “flexibility”. Also, the frameworks at hand tend to consider only a subset of factors previously identified in the literature, and thus do not comprehensively portray the cause‐and‐effect relationships involved. This paper aims to address these gaps.Design/methodology/approachThe paper synthesises the existing contributions to manufacturing and supply chain flexibility and responsiveness, and draws on various related bodies of literature that affect a supply chain's responsiveness such as the discussion of product architecture and modularisation.FindingsFour types of responsiveness are identified: product, volume, mix, and delivery, all of which can relate to different time horizons, and can be present as either potential or demonstrated responsiveness. It is argued that a supply chain can feature different levels of responsiveness at different tiers, depending on the configuration of the individual nodes, as well as the integration thereof. Furthermore, a holistic framework is proposed, distinguishing between requiring and enabling factors for responsiveness, identifying the key relationships within and between these two categories.Research limitations/implicationsThe definition and framework proposed provide novel insights into the concept of SCR as well as a clear terminology that will inform future research. The framework developed in this paper is suitable for both qualitative and holistic quantitative studies.Originality/valueIn addition to a detailed review of the factors associated with SCR, a generic definition of responsiveness is developed. The paper proposes a definition of four types of responsiveness which will support further empirical studies into the concept and its application. Furthermore, a holistic framework is developed that allows for cause‐and‐effect relationships to be investigated and dependencies to be identified.

Purpose -The concept of responsiveness has been widely discussed, yet so far most of this discussion has remained qualitative in nature. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model identifying the key factors that determine the responsiveness of a supply chain system, whichonce quantified -provide a unique profile of each supply chain setting towards the appropriate supply chain strategy. Design/methodology/approach -The paper reviews existing contributions and synthesises these into a conceptual model of responsiveness. The model is applied using three case studies from the automotive and electronics industry. The case research is based on value stream mapping, semi-structured interviews, and site visits. Findings -Three key findings could be established: first, the concept of responsiveness has a simple logic that aligns itself to a wide range of manufacturing strategies. However, underlying this remit is a complex interaction of an array of key variables, and it was found that previous contributions largely have only addressed a subset of these. Second, these key variables can be grouped into three categories or dimensions of responsiveness -product, process and volume -to provide a holistic understanding of responsiveness and its key determinants. Third, due to the large involved, there cannot be one single "holy grail" concept of how responsiveness can be achieved, neither does one single approach apply to entire sectors. Research limitations/implications -A great variety of variables needs to be considered in order to provide a balanced view of all three dimensions of responsiveness, thus the case analyses remain at a necessarily high level. Practical implications -The paper provides guidelines for management on how to align their supply chain strategy to volume, product and process contingency factors in order to balance responsiveness to customer demand and supply chain efficiency. Originality/value -The paper aims to elevate a discussion that previously has been held mostly at a conceptual level beyond the qualitative description, and thus addresses a key shortcoming in the current debate.

No abstract

Supply-chain coordination relies on the availability of prompt and accurate information that is visible to all actors in the supply chain. However, new demands on the supply-chain system require changes to information flow and exchange. We undertake a case study of three automotive supply chains that face such new demands resulting from the introduction of an order-driven supply-chain strategy. We use our case study findings to evaluate the applicability of three different theoretical lenses on the multi-faceted interactions between information, physical flow, and the complex rationales driving supply-chain evolution: the resource-based view (RBV), the concept of complex adaptive systems (CAS), and adaptive structuration theory (AST). We find that each theory has a separate realm of applicability and while complimentary in nature, provides distinct insight on the structural shift in the supply-chain system. More specifically, we find that AST, a theory prominent in the social sciences, provides novel insights to supply-chain research at the firm level, particularly with respect to the difficulties in using IT systems to drive systemic change. It complements both the system-level perspective offered by the complex adaptive systems theory, as well as the concept of dynamic capabilities originating in the resourced-based view. The paper concludes with wider implications for future research in supply and value chain management. # Coordination across tiers in the systemManufacturing and logistics operations are increasingly driven by customer needs rather than forecasts, increasing the importance of demand and inventory information visibility across the supply chain (Gunasekaran, 2005). However, supply chains are complex systems, and the assumption that organizations across tiers in the supply chain interact and behave as a unified entity with a common purpose is often violated (Choi et al., 2001). As a result, there is a great interest in the operations management (OM) literature in the coordinating mechanisms and the associated information technology (IT) systems that facilitate supply-chain integration and coordination, especially with respect to control and connectivity (Mukhopadhyay et al., 1997;Lee et al., 2000;Ye and Farley, 2006). At the same time, researchers in the supply-chain arena have noted the importance of considering cultural, organizational, and path dependence challenges in attaining IT system shifts, such as those needed to bring about customer responsiveness (Choi and Liker, 2002;Lewis and Suchan, 2003).We undertake a qualitative exploration of the IT and information challenges associated with moving to a customer-driven order-to-delivery model in three