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Declaration of Originality
This project is all my own work and has not been copied in part or in whole from any
other source except where duly acknowledged. As such, all use of previously
published work (from books, journals, magazines, internet etc.) has been
acknowledged within the main report to an item in the References or Bibliography
lists.
I also agree that an electronic copy of this project may be stored and used for the
purposes of plagiarism prevention and detection.
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part of the project, belong to Coventry University.
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Coventry University
Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
All glories to Almighty Allah (God) who has created us with the ability to think and
curiosity to explore into different dimensions. I would like to thank my parents and my
sister for their constant, never ending and beloved support.
I would like to thank Mr. Alan Richards for being my supervisor. Without his kind,
flexible and cooperative guidance, I would never be able to produce such a highly
professional piece of work.
I would also like to thank to the Computing and Engineering department of Coventry
University which has provided me ample knowledge and expertise to explore into the
research and generated the set of skills required to produce this research. With
special thanks to Dr. Zulf Khan for his constant support throughout the MSc.
Programme.
Coventry University
Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
ABSTRACT
Producing perfect and defect free services have long been desired and it is still
considered as an important strategic objective for the companies to build market
share in a global competitive economic environment. Continuous improvement of
company operations and processes and value added service is an absolute
requirement.
Successful re-engineering demands a total closer linkage throughout the value chain
which comprises of customer order processing, IT infrastructure, and supply chain.
The main problem of the linkage is the poor coordination between the different
functions of the supply chain and logistics. If the product groups within the
organization can be identified from raw material input to final delivery to customer
and the existing value adding capability can be determined. These elements can
then be analysed and by process tracking and improved by using structured
methods. This leads to a systematic improvement of value adding capability by
removal of all non value adding elements and will bring improvements in customer
service levels, cost reduction and profitability.
Coventry University
Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
CHAPTER-1
1.0 INTRODUCTION:
To make the services the best, we need to continually improve and develop them by
testing and implementing new ideas and approaches to service delivery. The tools
and techniques for the improvement process are many, but the whole process of
moving from an idea to successful implementation can be broken into different parts.
According to Mugglestone M. et al. (2007), the organizations must develop, test and
use a high level improvement process for all of its areas of work, which must also
incorporate the traditional improvement techniques but also draw on evidence and
experience from three domains:
The processes that organizations use for the development of new products and
services. Theory and wider concept of thinking about how design and design science
can be transferred into organizational processes. Evidence from how innovation and
creativity can be best utilised within organizations.
However, there are different tools and techniques are used to improve the areas of
work. Among them techniques KAIZEN (Continuous Improvement) and Lean
Management is widely spoken.
Lean identifies the waste into the form of overproduction, waiting, transportation,
inappropriate processing, inventory, unnecessary motions and defects.
Coventry University
Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
The author tried to gain the comprehensive knowledge of the practices exercised by
the non manufacturing organizations into their logistics processes. And looked for the
areas of improvement where lean and kaizen can be applied to improve the
efficiency.
The research aims to gain the comprehensive knowledge of current practices used in
the logistics of non manufacturing organizations. Research will satisfy the following
goals.
The author set the following objectives to meet the above mentioned goals.
Objective-1:
Explanation
This objective will fulfil the need to understand the concepts of lean and Kaizen and
their successful implementation to the logistics of non-manufacturing organizations.
Objective-2:
Examining different models to improve the logistics and creating value chain.
Explanation
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
Looking into different models that can help in maximising the efficiency of the overall
processes and create customer focused robust supply chain.
Objective-3:
Explanation
Reducing waste related to the inbound logistics and outbound logistics with primary
focus on reducing the cost.
Objective-4:
Explanation
Lean and Kaizen in the past have been implemented in augmenting the production
process but its study to the logistics of non-production environment has never been
considered successful. Therefore, author aims to conduct research on implementing
Lean and Kaizen to the logistics of non manufacturing organizations. Following are
the main factors which actually give the motive for the research.
Coventry University
Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
and processes. If the waste is not managed effectively, there are less possible
chances of improving the service provided to customers. Several non manufacturing
organizations inevitably fail to exploit Lean’s and Kaizen full potential to make a
significant difference. Therefore, this motivated the author to explore this area of
study as a final research thesis.
Lean was introduced as an approach with the concern of elimination of waste and
stressing on continuous improvement (CI). Lean has earned a widespread attention
over the years, which has been well documented in the literature. In United Kingdom
(UK) there are so many non-manufacturing businesses which are using Lean and
Kaizen knowingly and without knowingly. This has given author an opportunity to
explore lean and kaizen as means of identifying the areas of improvement and
identifying the waste removal techniques for the non-manufacturing businesses. The
research will provide new views about improvement techniques and effective
implementation of lean in different set of environments.
ERIKS group is the undisputed European market leader for industrial products and
services fulfilling the twin roles of specialist and total supplier to all segments of the
industry. ERIKS has both the forward and reverse logistics operations. But the study
only focuses on the forward logistics. Author has been given an opportunity by
ERIKS to work with its Regional Distribution Center which has provided an insight
into the different logistics processes and areas of improvement. Therefore, including
ERIKS as a case study will help in understanding the logistics’ processes and how
Lean and Kaizen can be implemented to remove waste.
Coventry University
Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
The research is divided in to nine (9) chapters. Chapters in chronological order along
with a brief outline are listed below:
Chapter-1: (Introduction)
The chapter explains about the nature and the background of the research
highlighting the objectives and basis of the research.
This chapter includes the background of current literature on Lean Management and
Kaizen which is necessary to address the issues raised in the research objectives.
This chapter encompass the literature about various improvement models with a
reflection on their processes and implementation.
This chapter gives the overall view of the research design taking into account the
methodology undertaken to do primary research and explains the type of research,
questionnaire, data and tools used.
This chapter discusses the ERIKS (UK) as a case study representing the
organizations of similar nature. This chapter highlights about ERIKS operations and
the problems faced by the logistic department on the daily basis.
Coventry University
Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
CHAPTER-2
This chapter explains the current issues and literature on Lean Management and
Kaizen. The chapter discloses the key topics related to Lean and Kaizen and
highlighting the organizational behaviour adopting lean, waste elimination, lean as a
learning system, indicators and strategies and how to achieve lean processes.
Lean was introduced as an approach to manufacturing whose primary aim was the
elimination of waste and stressing the need for continuous improvement. Lean has
remained the focal point of the research over the years. Some of the research
findings are ambiguous while on the other hand some studies succeeded in
providing awareness of the lean potential
According to Hines P. et al. (2004), implementation of Lean has made a great impact
both in academic and industrial sectors. It has spread into many other industry
sectors beyond the automotive industry and studies show that there has been an
ample development and ‘localisation’ of the lean concept.
According to Repenning and Sterman (2001) state that companies use lean
initiatives as a fad and conclude that there are number of tools, techniques and
technologies available to improve operational performance but despite dramatic
success in few firms most efforts to use them fail to produce significant results.
Coventry University
Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
The fierce competition imposed by mass production system during and after World
War II led the Toyota Motor Company (TMC) to a thorough study of the production
system of the American Automobile Industry. The solution offered by Toyota led to
the complete reconstruction of the company and gave birth to the introduction of an
alternative production system which is referred to as Toyota Production System
(TPS). Just In Time (JIT) philosophy was introduced in the framework of this new
production system and the value of the system was proven to the global
manufacturing industry and a great number of organizations across the globe
hastened to implement this model of production to their own production systems.
As the popularity of the system increased and more companies implemented JIT, a
third wave of research emerged in 1980s. This time the focal point of the research
was ‘Lean Manufacturing’. The term ‘Lean’ was introduced by Krafcik (1988) at that
time the leading researcher in the International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP)
conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
• Product/Process- oriented.
• Production Planning.
• Lean implementation.
• Work-force management.
Lean has evolved with an extensive range of tools but not all the proposed lean
enablers are necessary vital for the implementation. Therefore, the selection of lean
tools should be utilised in specific case or certain application. There are considerable
disparities dealing with the issue of the lean implementation is the failure of the
former to keep track of the ongoing lean evolution. Also there is great challenge that
other companies face adopting lean principles is that lean systems are inherently
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
knowledge intensive. Much of the knowledge is captured from highly refined systems
and processes.
The first well known and most stated proponent of Kaizen was Imai, who wrote
KAIZEN- The Key To Japan’s Competitive Success (1986). He described the
concept, core values and principles, its relation to other concepts and the practices
used in the improvement process.
Lillrank and Kano (1989) refer to Kaizen as the ‘principle of improvement and it is
used as an axiom to define other concepts.
According to Imai (1986), Kaizen is process oriented, i.e. before results can be
improved, process must be improved. But it does not necessarily mean that results
are not important but the management attention should be directed towards creating
sound processes since it is believed that good results would follow automatically.
Also, it requires the evaluation criteria which can monitor and bring attention to the
improvement process itself, while simultaneously acknowledging the outcome. The
number of suggestions, implementation and participant rates are used as prime
criteria for evaluating the improvement process in terms of employee efforts,
supervisor and first line manager support.
Second principle of Kaizen states that lasting improvements can only be achieved if
innovations are combined with an ongoing effort to maintain and improve standard
performance levels. Since it is distinctive in its focus on small improvements of work
standards. There can be no improvement where there are no standards which in
presence denote the relation between Kaizen and maintaining standard operating
procedures for all major operations.
Third principle of KAIZEN states that it is people oriented and should involve
everyone in the organization from top management to workers at the shop floor.
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
According to Imai, there are three types of KAIZEN activities each with its own form
and focus in overall improvement.
2) Group oriented KAIZEN is represented in Quality Control Cycles (QCC) and other
small group activities in which employees focus primarily on improving work
methods, routines and procedures.
3) Individual oriented KAIZEN is primarily focused to improve one’s own work i.e. on
the spot improvements of work methods, routines and the use of resources.
Bessant et al. (1994) recognised the need for a Continuous Improvement (CI)
framework for capability development. It shows the key characteristics of a
successful organization’s implementation and maintenance of CI programmes.
Bessant et al.’s model shows the characteristics that an organization needs to
develop CI capability. Bessant and Caffyn (1997) illustrated their earlier model which
consists of five stages of development in the evolution of CI capability which is
shown in the Table-I below:
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No Strategic Impact.
Use of participation.
Recognition System.
In-line system.
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According to Chang R. (1995), the core threads that weave through the quality
performance measurement are based on quality award criteria and certification
guidelines and are listed below:
Intense customer focus: Product and service characteristics which add some value
to the customer and increases customer reliability and satisfaction is the basis for the
organization’s quality improvement system
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
2.2.4 Conclusion:
Kaizen and lean are characterised by workers on the shop floor identifying problems
and processing solutions. Small scale tuning of system is likely to be low cost,
generated from an intimate knowledge of a small part of the system. Progress is
likely to be largely outside the control of management who are not the sponsors of
change but only play at most a supporting role but management must act as key to
encourage improvement and not leave things to chance.
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
CHAPTER-3
It is quite significant from the past practices that efforts to improve the processes of
organizations have been important since the dawn of the industrial era. The first well
known documented practitioners in the area of process improvement were Adam
Smith (1776), Eli Whitney (1800), Baggage (1832), Frank B. and Lillian Gilberth
(1900), Taylor (1903) and Henry Ford (1913).
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
The Lean Extended Enterprise Reference Model (LEERM) is a structured model for
assisting companies, their customers, and suppliers in transforming to total value
stream conversion of Lean. It provides a structured methodology for creating a
customer-centric organization followed by aligned execution to increase customer
value.
LEERM is shown in the Figure 3.1 and the architecture of LEERM has four layers
which are referred to as Panels of Value Stream Integration as illustrated in the
Figure 3.2 below
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
This panel contains the seven fundamental building blocks that the top executive
management must incorporate in their organization if they want to achieve the Lean
Extended Enterprise improvement initiative:
Lean Extended Enterprise Vision/Leadership: This is the main brain and drive
behind any strategic improvement initiative. This involves aligning strategy,
deployment and execution. It mentors the organization through the correct
improvement pathways, drives cultural and behavioural change, and achieves
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
financial results. Without this block, the improvement process is like just an ordinary
‘Flavour-of-the-month’ improvement program.
Total Value Stream Perspective: This block recognizes multiple value streams,
value stream mapping, qualification and root cause analysis and ‘chunking out’ of
high impact, manageable improvement opportunities. This element helps the
organization to avoid the hardcore improvement initiatives.
Lean Extended Enterprise Methodology and Tools: This block involves education
via certification and deployment of an expanded arsenal of tools that address the
broader spectrum of requirements encountered in a collaborative total value stream
setting. The total value stream consists of issues that require a much broader
spectrum of improvement methodologies than the five basic principles of Lean.
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
This panel describes the best practices and principles of Lean that can be applied
across the complete value stream and it expands upon the five basic principles.
Following are the five basic principles:
• Leadership
• Organizational Learning.
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
This panel incorporates the KAIZEN, Lean, Six Sigma, ERP and other technologies
to acquire the bigger improvement of the Lean Extended Enterprise. The core of this
panel comprises of Kaizen, Lean and Six sigma methodologies providing the
guidance on the types of problems applicable to these tools. The outer layer
recognises the importance of leadership and innovation, knowledge of the tools,
focus of improvement, teaming and employee involvement and closed-loop
performance at the micro level.
The Lean Extended Enterprise phenomenon can be applied onto the service
organizations as well. The elements of LEERM can be re-adjusted to any processes
be it any type of service organization ranging from manufacturer of commercial
planes, a process industry, a bank, a health care institution, a retail or
distribution/logistics business etc.
The LEERM is basically based on the premise of value stream integration. In order to
achieve this, the organizations must develop a concrete strategy for their strategic
improvement initiatives. It must build the right infrastructure through properly
coordinated activities and acquiring comprehensive knowledge of best practices and
principles of a Lean Extended Enterprise. The most important thought is that it must
understand the methodologies, tools, and enabling technologies in order to apply the
right solutions to the best improvement opportunities.
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
3.3.1 Introduction:
The origins of Six Sigma according to Raisinghani S.M. (2005) date back to the
manufacturing arena in the early 1980s by Motorola in revolutionizing the scope and
use of quality systems. Six sigma covers the techniques of problem solving with the
focus on optimization and cultural change.
According to Antony J. (2006), the term sigma is a measure that indicates the
deviation in the performance characteristic of a service from its mean performance.
The main focal point of six sigma strategy is to reduce variation within the tolerance
or specification limits of service performance characteristics. Also it focuses to
reduce cost by reducing the variability in the processes which leads to decreased
defects. Six sigma is also considered as a method to reduce waste, increasing
customer satisfaction and improving financial results. It adopts the use of statistical
methods which enable the organizations to understand the fluctuations in a process,
which allow it to pinpoint the cause of the problem.
According to Näslund D. (2008) Six Sigma is based on the DMAIC cycle (define,
measure, analyze, improve, and control) as shown in figure 3.3. This includes the
definition of the problem (D), measurement (M) of the problem (i.e. defects which are
responsible for the problem), data analysis (A) to discover the root cause of the
problem, improvement (I) of processes to remove the root causes of defects and
controlling (C) or monitoring processes to prevent perennial problem.
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
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According Antony J. (2006), following are the different phases of Six Sigma;
• Identify stakeholders.
• Understand the link between the problem at hand and the critically of the
problem from the perspective of the customers.
• Establish the process inputs, outputs and various controls of the processes.
• Forming a Six sigma project charter which clearly defines the roles of the
people and their responsibilities for the project. Defining the resource required
for the project and allowed time-frame for the project at hand. The charter
must also reveal the scope of the project, its boundaries and the key benefits
to internal and external customers.
• Identifying the project sponsor and stakeholders and determine whether this
project is worth an effort using cost benefit analysis.
• Identify all customers both internal and external and justify how this problem is
linked to customer satisfaction.
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• Understand the root causes of variability which lead to defects and prioritise
them for further investigation.
• Determine the key service process variables that may be linked to defects.
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• Develop potential solutions to fix the problems and prevent them from
recurring.
• Validate improvement (i.e. reduce defect rate or improve sigma quality level of
the process) by pilot studies.
• Implement process control plans and determine the capability of the process.
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• Close project, finalise documentation and share key lessons learned from the
project.
But the question lies if the Six Sigma paradigm can be implemented in the service
orientated organization. As Cho R.B. (2007), indicated that Six sigma is a powerful
business strategy that results in dramatic reduction in defects, errors, or mistakes in
service processes. According to previous researches, Six sigma is considered to
accelerate improvement in service quality by reducing the process variation and
eliminating non-value added steps.
However, the concept of Six Sigma was adopted by the manufacturing organizations
for the quality and process improvement but the service organizations are adopting
the methodology exponentially. The implementation of Six Sigma strategy in the
service processes is to understand how defects occur and then to devise process
improvements to reduce the occurrence of the defects resulting in improved
customer experience and enhanced customer satisfaction.
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Coventry University
Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
• Reduced cost of poor quality (cost associated with late delivery, customer
complaints, misdirected problem solving, etc.)
• Effective management decisions due to reliance on data and facts rather than
assumptions and instincts.
• Efficient and reliable internal operations, leading to greater market share and
satisfied shareholders.
Most of the industry experts give the reason that service organizations are less
interested to adopt Six sigma is the view of it as a manufacturing solution. Also the
service organizations do not need many of the tools and techniques of the Six sigma
tool box. Also on the other hand, it requires huge training cost and training the most
talented people in an organization and converting them into the ‘change agents’.
In some scenarios, the frustration sets in as the solutions driven by the data are
expensive and only a small part of the solution is implemented at the end.
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
The statistical definition of Six sigma is 3.4 defects or failures per million
opportunities. In the service processes, a defect may be defined as anything which
does not meet customers’ expectations or needs. It is quite not logical to assume
that all defects are equally good when calculating the sigma capability level of a
process.
The start-up cost for institutionalising Six sigma into a corporate culture can be a
significant investment. This particular feature would discourage many small and
medium size enterprises from the introduction, development and implementation of
Six sigma.
If organizations decide to implement Six Sigma, they must need to be aware of some
key risks that have to be managed; including focus, organization, culture,
capabilities, resources, training, projects and people. Its implementation all too fail
easily for so many reasons. Such as the lack of obvious management support
compromising its project team’s authority leading to their inability to undertake
necessary activities. Similarly, a lack of co-ordination can result is wasted time and
effort as team follow interesting projects that have little relevance to business needs.
Also, how an organization reacts to the data that is generated by a Six Sigma project
can be very disappointing and so the people are unlikely to co-operate unless they
feel assured by the senior management that any findings will only be used to help
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the company move forward and not be used to beat them or departments over the
head with.
According to Bond T.C. (1999), management tasks are complex in nature and the
number of states necessary to describe all possible futures and the corresponding
range of decisions that could be taken are limitless. In order to get the details of a
process requires the manager to access the total database of relevant events, an
enormous wealth of data, which uncovers the overall picture.
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• Traditional metrics have not worked and the major shortages came into view
such as:
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There are three classes of performance measures. The bottom class resembles the
traditional measures concentrating on finance whereas the middle level has the more
balanced view. The highest level looks for casual relationships across the
organization. Accordingly, organizations need to adopt measures that facilitate
balancing external pressures, i.e. customer satisfaction, in conjunction with internal
pressures i.e. employee satisfaction. If seen differently, the internal measure may
intimate that a company is performing well but on the other side external measures
show poor performance.
Companies need to understand how key performance measure can guide and drive
an organization processes towards superior results. As lean have the following
benefits to offer:
• Faster Response.
• Lower cost.
• Higher Quality.
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• Higher revenue.
• Higher throughput.
• Increased profit.
Maskell and Baggaley (2004), emphasized on the need to realign the financial goals
with those that lean attempts to accomplish. They focus on the need to measure
financial progress from a perspective of relevant business issues and the real cost
instead of traditional standard cost methods. Performance measures should be
chosen enabling an organisation to gauge whether progress is being made against
targets and check points (milestones).
As lean is viewed as a process focused initiative that makes it fundamental for the
lean expedition to have periodic appraisals. Variation in time and quantity is found in
every process from supply chain demand amplification to the dimensional variation. It
is the greatest adversary of lean.
1. Customer;
2. Internal;
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4. Financial.
Bhasin S. (2005) referenced Standard and Davis (2000) that the best measure to
track lean progress is total product cycle time that can be accommodated in a
scorecard approach. The related benefits include shorter lead time, greater flexibility,
lower inventory, better customer service and higher revenues.
The key reason to measuring the success of Lean using only one time dimension
may be misleading; short-term corporate success, i.e. sales and cash position, may
alter during the next year.
• Distinguish between means and ends which is not very well defined; there
exist no clear provision for very long-term measures.
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1. Financial;
2. Market;
3. Process;
4. People; and
5. Future.
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3.5 Conclusion:
The LEERM is defined and the context that leads to its development described. In
near future more organizations will be using the LEERM paradigm. It relies on
advanced information and communication technology but is not dependent on
significant technological development. The primary challenge to the effective
realization of the LEERM is management practice and organizational development.
According to Antony J. (2006), on the other hand Six sigma is a business strategy
and a systematic methodology which leads to breakthrough in profitability through
leaping gains in service quality, productivity and performance. At present it has been
considered as a strategic approach to achieve excellence in operations and service
performance through the effective utilization of statistical and non-statistical tools and
techniques.
Two performance measurement methods has been discussed in the above context
which have their own pros and cons. Balanced score card and DPM are adopted in
different sets of environments where balanced score card takes account of customer,
internal, financial, innovation and learning perspective but whereas the Dynamic
Multi-Dimensional Performance (DMP) model focuses on financial measures
symbolizing the approach to the organizational success, customer/ market measure,
process measure, people development measure and preparing for the future
measures.
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CHAPTER-4
RESEARCH DESIGN
4.0 Introduction:
4.1Research Design:
“A research design provides a framework for the collection and analysis of data. A
choice of research design reflects about the priority being given to a range of
dimensions of the research process”.
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“A research method is simply a technique for collecting data. It can involve a specific
instrument, such as a set completion questionnaire or a structured interview
schedule, or participant observation whereby the researcher listen to and watches
others.”
Coombes (2001) believes that selection of a topic for the research needs a careful
attention and consideration. Even though author had a major study area in his mind
prior to the start of the research (i.e. Lean Management and Kaizen for automobile
sector), but due to the hindrances in gaining the access to the information and to the
industry he has adopted to do a research based on a case study related to the
implementation of Lean and Kaizen to the logistics operation of a non-manufacturing
organization. He has worked diligently to narrow down the research area, which
should be measureable and achievable. O’Leary (2004) proposed the model helping
him in achieving the target showed in figure 4.1 as under;
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Source: O’Leary (2004, p.89). The Essential Guide to Doing Research, Sage
Publication Ltd. London
The author has adopted to conduct the qualitative research based on the case study
approach. According to Bryman A. and Bell E. (2007), some of the best-known
studies and management research are based on this kind of design. A case study
can be:
• A Single organization
• A Person.
• A Single event.
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The most common association of the term ‘case’ is associated with a location, such
as a work place or organization. The case focuses upon the intensive examination of
the setting. It is best possible to associate the case study design with the qualitative
research. It is true that exponents of the case study design often favour qualitative
methods, such as participant observation and unstructured interviewing; these
methods are considered as instrumental in the generation of an intensive, detailed
examination of the case. Knights and McCabe (1997) suggest that the case study
provides a vehicle through which several qualitative methods can be combined,
thereby avoiding too great a reliance on one single approach.
• The critical case: In this stance the researcher has a clearly specified
hypothesis, and a case is often chosen on the grounds that it will allow a
better understanding of the circumstances in which the hypothesis will and will
not hold.
• The unique case: The unique or extreme case is, as Yin observes, a
common focus in clinical studies.
• The revelatory case: The basis for the revelatory case exists when an
investigator has an opportunity to observe and analyse a phenomenon
previously inaccessible to scientific investigation. Much qualitative case study
research that is carried out with a predominantly inductive approach to theory
treats single case studies as broadly ‘revelatory’.
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• The longitudinal case: This type of case is concerned with how a situation
changes over time.
Is there transparency in how sense was made from the raw data?
Threats to Reliability:
Robson (2002) forces that there are four types of threats to reliability, the first is
subject or participant error which can be described by an example such as; if the
study is about the degree of enthusiasm employees have for their work and their
employer it may be possible that the questionnaire completed at different times of the
week which may produce different results. The second may be subject or participant
bias such as the employees will say what their bosses wanted them to say. The third
one is the observer error and the last one is the observer bias.
Validity: It is concerned with whether the findings are really about what they appear
to be about.
Therefore, author in the context of the above stated threats has tried to avoid the
happening of both threats in obtaining the data from the interviews and
questionnaires.
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To carry out the reach process and make final conclusions, author has used two
types of data. I) Primary Data. II) Secondary Data.
4.6 Sampling:
There are different sampling methods which author could have used to carry out the
research. For an effective sampling it is mandatory to define the Elementary
Sampling Unit carefully.
Baker (2003) defines sampling unit (sometimes called an elementary sampling unit
or ESU) as a specific individual or object that is to be considered in the survey.
According to this definition the ESU for the research are the individuals who were
working for ERIKS.
The sampling technique which the author used to carry out the research is ‘Multi-
Stage Cluster Sampling’ which is according to Bryman A. and Bell E. (2007) is
defined as ‘The units of population are divided into groups which in turn are known
as clusters’. The author has chosen to do the research based on the case study of
the single organization generally representing the situation of the organizations of the
similar nature. Therefore, the clusters of the sample are related to the employees
working for different departments within logistics.
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According to the ESU, author has defined the population evenly throughout the
whole organization within different departments involved in the logistics chain. Author
has used the email to reach the whole population by sending the questionnaire in the
email to the department heads.
O’Leary (2004) defines the research tools as “the device a researcher uses to help
him/her collect the data, i.e. questionnaire, observation checklists, interviews
schedules etc.” The author has used the combination of three tools for the purpose
of acquiring the primary data:
I) Questionnaires.
II) Telephonic discussion.
III) Face-to-face interviews.
These tools have been applied in such a way that they mutually support each other
and diminish the chances of hindrances involved in each one separately.
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4.7.1 Questionnaires:
Questionnaires are the true picture of about the area of interest that researcher
wants to know. Research questions are very important and no research questions or
poorly formulated questions lead to a poor research. If not specified clearly, there is
a risk that the research will be unfocused. According to Bryman A. and Bell E. (2007)
stated that research questions are crucial because they will;
The use of the telephone in the research process was for the following purposes:
• To make it ethical by asking first on telephone and then sending emails for the
formal permission.
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Interview is the prominent data collection strategy in both the quantitative and
qualitative research. The author has used the structured interview technique which
according to Bryman A. et al. (2007) is defined as:
The objective of this type of interviewing is to ensure that interviewees’ replies can
be aggregated and it can be achieved if the replies are in response to identical cues.
Know the Schedule: It’s the interviewer responsibility to be fully conversant with the
schedule. Because interviewing can be stressful for interviewers it can cause
interviewers to get flustered and miss questions out or ask the wrong questions.
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Asking Questions: The objective of the structured interview is to ensure that each
respondent is asked exactly the same questions. Because variation in the ways the
questions are asked is a potential source of error. In structured interview, the
likelihood of this happening is lesser but cannot guarantee that this will not occur.
Clear Instruction: This stage describe that interviewers need instructions about their
progress through an interview schedule.
Question Order: Besides warning interviewers about the importance of not varying
the asking questions and the recording of the answers, they should also be
cautioned about the importance of keeping to the order of asking questions,
because, changing the questions order can result in certain questions being
accidentally omitted.
Probing: It is related to the interviews where the respondents need help with their
answers. It might be the case that where the interviewee does not understand
question and require further information or to clear from what they are struggling to
provide an adequate answer.
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1) Due to the short period of time and accessibility, author has only managed to
gain access to only one organization in UK which is included in the form of
case study in the later chapter.
2) Due to the lack of time, author was not able to implement the LEERM model
physically and measure the performance level after the implementation. This
can possibly be another area of research and can be useful for the
organizations of the similar nature.
3) Due to the short time period and less accessibility to the organization of the
similar nature, the data obtained by the author from one organization cannot
surely be the true picture for the other organization of the similar nature,
because each organization has a different set of logistics’ operations.
4.9 Conclusion:
The first initial contact was done by telephone (Step-1) to gain permission to initiate
the distribution of the questionnaires. The questionnaires were sent to the
department heads (Step-2) where they have done copies and distributed to the
employees working within the logistics and warehouse section. Collection of
questionnaires (Step-3). Contact on telephone to gain permission to conduct face-to-
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Chapter-5:
In this case ERIKS-UK has been represented as model for implementing the Lean
and Kaizen. This case study is going to provide the inner view of all the logistics
processes involved and the major problems often faced by the organization of similar
nature. This chapter will provide the detail structure of ERIKS logistics activities
involving different departments. And the later chapter will discuss the implementation
of Lean Extended Enterprise Reference Model (LEERM) to the logistics processes of
ERIKS.
ERIKS group is the undisputed European market leader for industrial products and
services and it aspires itself to be in the top three suppliers for all the core activities
in the regional branches offering a wide range of quality mechanical engineering
components.
The activities of ERIKS group consists of the purchasing, storage, processing, sale
and distribution of an extensive range of high quality mechanical engineering
components along with highly developed technical and logistics services. Within
ERIKS there is a wide and in-depth knowledge of market developments, product
properties, product applications, processing of products, logistics, and a compatible
modern infrastructure.
ERIKS offer over 500,000 products to more than 60,000 industrial customers. ERIKS
make more than 1.3 million shipments to companies including the chemical, food,
machine and equipment construction, semi-conductor, petrochemical, construction,
offshore, metal, agriculture, energy and transport sector.
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ERIKS value chain consists of 500 qualified manufacturers, suppliers and ERIKS
believe in integration with their suppliers also educating their suppliers on extensive
technical and logistics knowledge also sourcing new producers and testing of
existing producers in order to provide the most innovative and competitive products.
It has independent brand policy by having good strategic agreements and good
conditions with the brand manufacturers passing the benefits to the customers.
ERIKS share in the market with respect to different segments is represented as
follows in figure 5.1:
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Master’s Thesis: MSc. Logistics Author: Altaf Hussain
responsible for stock keeping, product management, engineering and purchasing for
each core activity shown in the above diagram. ERIKS has integrated explicit
knowledge in all areas of its operations in different forms such as:
Market Know-How: Knowledge of the demand side of the market and the
supply side enables the company to offer new products and services and
allow entering new markets proactive and timely.
The cost involved in the above activities involves the cost of technical services for
extensive engineering and processing facilities available to be able to deliver every
conceivable solution within the entire range of mechanical engineering components.
Also there are other cost involved in the form of procurement cost which accounts for
the total cost of purchasing technical products. The level of procurement costs
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(administration and logistic costs) depends upon the composition of the product
package and the type of environment (MRO or OEM). Cost also involves the cost of
complete handling of the supply of technical components via an extensive range of
VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) solutions, complete with barcode scanning.
ERIKS-UK has a Regional Distribution Center (RDC) and the complete distribution is
carried out from the RDC. It has several strategic business units across nationwide
responsible for the distribution of different kind of industrial supplies to different
customer base. For the research, author has observed the inbound and outbound
logistics’ processes of ERIKS (UK) and highlighted the problems within the area. The
Inbound and outbound logistics of ERIKS (UK) involved the following steps:
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Order picking from the shelves, adjustable pallet racking and through picker matt
(automated physical storage system used by ERIKS to store light weight goods).
Jobs are allocated to the order pickers in their scanning guns. Order pickers pick
their jobs on their scanning guns which tell them the exact location and the type of
product.
Order pickers use the tote boxes to put the goods depending upon the weight and
size of the product. Boxes are individually assigned the RFID tags. These RFID tags
are read by the electronic circuits which are embedded into different lanes assigned
to the despatch for different branches represented with branch codes across the
country.
The despatch staff picks the goods from the lanes, print off the labels and put them
onto the packaging boxes. Scan the boxes once again to make sure the goods are in
right quantity and intended to be despatched to the right branch (identified by the
designated branch code). In case of heavy goods, goods are placed on the pallets
but the same way they are assigned labels and scanned through the scanning gun.
ERIKS (UK) uses private courier service provider (City Link) to despatch their
products to the branches across the country.
ERIKS (UK) can track their despatches through the use of IT system provided by City
Link but only the transportation from one end to the other without any guarantee that
goods reached the customer or the branch in the right quantity.
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Following are some of the problems that author has found about the inbound and
outbound logistics of ERIKS-UK which generally represents the day-to-day problems
faced by the service organizations like ERIKS;
• The deliveries intended to go to branches across the country are first received
by RDC, they are opened, re-checked and then re-packed again. Thus,
increasing the cost of transportation and packaging.
• Small deliveries are cross-docked, which increases the time to reach to the
customer long and cost of transportation is doubled.
• Product codes supplied by the suppliers are different to the codes set by
ERIKS. Which creates complication sometimes; when the products received
from the supplier do not bear any code. The warehouse staff needs to
manually allocate the product code on the basis of previous experience.
• Ineffective use of labour resources. Multi-job allocation makes it difficult for the
staff to concentrate on their own expertise.
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• When deliveries are received from the suppliers and they are cross-docked,
they need to be repacked and labelled again. This automatically increases the
cost of packaging and waste of labour.
• Inappropriate allocation of the storage makes it more difficult for the order
pickers to pick the products from the shelves.
5.4 Conclusion:
The place where ERIKS (UK) is now, has earned it with spending a significant
amount of time and money which also involves the process of learning and failure.
So, if ERIKS (UK) wants to achieve the customer satisfaction and greater market
share besides the other organization of similar nature, it is recommended that it has
to start improving their logistics process right now which is affecting the company
very heavily. The next chapter is going to discuss the implementation of Lean
Extended Enterprise Reference Model and will depict that how the processes can be
improved with the help of the model.
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Chapter-6:
6.1 Introduction:
LEERM is shown in the Figure 6.1 and the architecture of LEERM has four layers
which are referred to as Panels of Value Stream Integration as illustrated in the
Figure 6.2 below
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6.2 Implementation:
The author has applied LEERM every single layer to the processes of ERIKS (UK) to
improve and gain the objective of obtaining a lean logistic environment. As the first
layer of LEERM suggests that this panel must be incorporated by top executive
management in their organization if they want to achieve the Lean Extended
Enterprise improvement initiative:
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As the name suggests that it is strategic in nature which involves aligning strategy,
deployment and execution. ERIKS (UK) is determined to become the Europe
undisputed supplier of the industrial products.
It is necessary for the ERIKS management adopt the change and understanding the
continuous improvement and Lean behaviour. Messages enforcing change must be
conveyed non-verbally.
Targets must be clearly defined and communicated to the first line supervisors. Key
performance indicators (KPIs) trees must be developed for the individual section of
the logistics process.
Performance feedback must be taken from the employees not only from the
supervisors to the warehouse, transportation and purchasing manager. Such as the
managers must visit the RDC and ask anybody from a specific section to explain him
what is happening to the performance and the major reasons for variances.
Visual performance measures play a major role, in order to achieve this; all the
critical value drivers in every section of the RDC must be visually displayed and each
person knows accurately what the current performance is.
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From this panel all the processes which are redundant and causes hindrance in
value creation must be avoided. The waste from the chain must be removed.
Following are the processes that are found faulty in the complete chain.
Goods received from the suppliers intended for the branches coming to RDC for
booking in and separate invoice created by the RDC.
Goods are packed again which ultimately increases the time to reach and also
increases the transportation cost.
Goods are lost during the transportation because of the lack of any tracking system
such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags.
Because of the use of two warehouse management systems, there is always a delay
because the both systems are not bridge together and therefore cause delays.
Redundant inventory sitting in the storage causes the problem for the storage
allocation for new items. This in turn is also another form of financial liability.
As it has been explained earlier in the LEERM model explanation that this stage is
related to the implementation of methodologies and tools to enable LEERM, which in
this case the tool is Lean and Kaizen. Also the infrastructure expectations which is
related to establishing the values and basic rules of conduct and behaviour. In this
case the organization needs to build up the culture where it supports the training and
development. Also provides employees incentives if they want to further improve
their skills which in turn can help ERIKS to improve their work efficiency. Such as
there are several short courses available from the Chartered Institute of Logistics
and Transportation (CILT).
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This also solves the problem where the stock of some products overflows
progressing on providing the integrated services will reduce the inventory of some of
the products in the RDC which are physically bulky in nature and obviously reduce
the cost of transportation. Because in the RDC there are some products which are
sitting on the shelves for more than 40 years which is actually the waste of storage
space, and due to their enormous weight they require special handling and care.
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Chapter 7:
7.0 Introduction:
This chapter presents the survey results along with a brief analysis on the findings.
The graphical representation of the results has been achieved to further clear the
picture. Appendix I provide the sample questionnaire in detail.
7.1 Section-A:
This section consists of structured questions designed to get information from the
respondents about their gender, age, work level, level of responsibility and access to
computers at home.
Question 1: Gender
Total of 40 respondents participated in the survey amongst them 28 were male and
12 were female.
Chart-1
Male
Female
Question 2: Age:
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The results show that most of the participants out of 40 were in the age bracket of 20
to 36 years some of the respondents were above 36.
Chart-2:
20 18
15
15 20-23
10 24-28
Age 10 7
29-35
5 36andAbove
0
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There were 3 supervisors each for different section and rest of them were all on the
worker level.
Chart-3
Worker
Supervisor
37
Most of the workers have the intermediary level of responsibility within the hierarchy
but some of the workers and supervisors have the critical level of responsibility.
Chart 4 shows the statistical distribution of the values.
Chart-4:
35 34
30
25
20 intermediary
15 Critical
10
6
5
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7.2 Section B:
This section consists of 5 structured questions which shows that does management
takes initiatives to help their employees learn and to help develop the understanding
about the critical logistical processes. The questions are measured at the scale of 1-
5.
Most of the participants conceded that there is a less support available from the
management in learning and developing the skills to increase knowledge about
process efficiency and the workers need to follow defined set of procedures to
complete their tasks. Chart 5 shows the statistical representation of the data
collected for the above said question.
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Chart-5:
3
1
2
StronglyDisagree
Disagree
Neutral
22
12 Agree
StronglyAgree
This question was particularly targeted towards the employee motivation to learn in
the working environment where management support is not available to learn new
things and techniques to enhance the efficiency of the processes. Most of the
respondents have learnt the things by their selves or by the help of the old
employees where management has not played any major role in providing the
support to expedite the progress. Chart-6 shows the graphical representation of the
data collected for the above said question.
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Chart-6
2 1
2
StronglyDisagree
5
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
StronglyAgree
30
This question is targeted towards the employee self motivation to learn the new
things by actively engaging their selves into the processes and learning by their own
experiences. The graphical representation of the data collected is shown in the
Chart-7.
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Chart-7
3 0 5
2
StronglyDisagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
StronglyAgree
30
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This question is directed towards the management support available for the
employees training and development in order to achieve the desired level of
efficiency and optimizing the level of employee performance. The graphical
representation of the data is shown in chart-8.
Chart-8
5 0
11
4 StronglyDisagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
StronglyAgree
20
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Question-10: Does management supports learning by trying out new ideas and
techniques to see they work in practice?
This question focuses on the ability of the workers to adopt the new ways of doing
things which they are allowed to exercise during their normal course of work and
backed by the management. Graphical representation of the data collected is shown
below in chart-9:
Chart-9
20
2
StronglyDisagree
Disagree
20 Neutral
15 Agree
StronglyAgree
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7.3 Section-C:
This section comprises of 10 structured questions mainly concerned with the internal
processes and the major areas where improvement is needed. The questions are
measured at the scale of 1-5.
The response to this question was quite different because almost most of the
respondents have mixed opinions about this question. The 85 percent of the
response on management support shows the management is less interested to
participate in the knowledge expediting process. The graphical representation of the
data collected is shown below Chart-10
Chart-10
1 3
1
StronglyDisagree
5
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
StronglyAgree
30
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Chart-11
1 1 0
3
StronglyDisagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
StronglyAgree
35
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Question-13: Allocation of labor to different areas makes it easy for the workers to
concentrate on their area of expertise.
Most of the responses from the respondents disagree to the fact that switching the
labor to different areas makes it difficult for them to focus on their area of domain. 39
respondents out of 40 disagree with the statement. Graphical representation of the
data collected is shown below in Chart-12:
Chart-12
0
1 0
11 StronglyDisagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
StronglyAgree
28
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Question-14: Direct branch orders (cross-dock) should not be sent to RDC but must
be sent directly to the branches.
Respondent agreed to the fact that the branch orders received by the RDC are a
waste of time, packaging and time to reach the end consumer. Graphical
representation of the data is shown in Chart-13:
Chart-13
3 01
StronglyDisagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
StronglyAgree
36
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Question-15: Branches must be treated as part of the central business units instead
of separate business entity.
This question was focused individually focused on assessing the RDC and the
coordination of the branch operations. Most of the respondents agreed to the fact
that branches must be treated as a part of central business because of the so many
process redundancies when handling the branches separately. Graphical
representation of the data is given in Chart-14:
Chart-14
3 0 4
StronglyDisagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
StronglyAgree
33
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Rest of the questions from 16 to 20 as given in the Appendix I are related to the
product classification, codes used, use of RFIDs, stock checking and avoiding
packaging waste. The average positive response (Agree/Strongly Agree) to these
questions is shown in the Chart-15 given below:
Chart-15:
Question16 4
33
Question17 12
25
9 StronglyAgree
Question18 31 Agree
Question19 2
38
Question20 10
30
0 10 20 30 40
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Chapter 8:
This chapter highlights the conclusions which are accumulated on the basis of the
primary data acquired with the help of questionnaires. The conclusions will help the
author to make suitable recommendations.
8.1 Section A:
8.1.1Conclusion:
8.1.2 Recommendation:
On the basis of this author can recommend that ERIKS must initiate the
implementation of Lean and Kaizen from the lower hierarchy of the process and
progress to the top. And can induce the motivation to learn the new techniques and
tools to enhance their efficiency of their processes.
ERIKS can conduct different workshops on the shop floor giving the staff opportunity
to learn on the work so they can exercise the techniques learn at the same time on
the floor.
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8.2 Section B:
8.2.1 Conclusion:
This section is compromises of five structured questions which are focused on the
management support for learning and employee motivation to learn new things. The
results of this section show that 85 percent of the respondents agree with the fact
that the learning process must be initiated by the organization and the organization is
less interested to provide the support for training and development. This is not so
helpful for the change process. If lean and kaizen needs to be implemented, ERIKS
must provide its ample support to produce a learning environment and encourage
the learning programs to help initiate and adopt the change process.
8.2.2 Recommendations:
According to Abott C. and Pedler M. (2008), ‘Action learning sets are communicative
spaces where participants can seek to understand the tensions between the
demands of their situations and their situations and their own views’. Therefore, in
the light of the above statement, ERIKS need to;
• Organize the work staff into teams and empower them to exercise and learn
the new things on work in order to expedite the change process. These
practices can be vital and can help reduce the learning cost involved by
helping the employees learn in their own working hours.
• It needs to incorporate the vision of the organizational goals into its workforce
and keeping focus on customer demands adopting new management style
and keeping the ample focus on expediting the organization processes into
the controlled manner.
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problems which reduce the time they take to carry out their jobs and increase
their efficiency.
8.3 Section C:
8.3.1 Conclusion:
This section consists of 10 structured questions which are focused on different areas
of the warehouse operations internal and external. In the light of the analysis done in
previous chapter it can be concluded that ERIK’S internal and external logistics’
activities are not aligned and there is a need to minimize the redundant processes
and efforts must be made to produce an integrated system to minimize the waste
from the supply chain.
8.3.2 Recommendations:
In order to achieve the low level of waste and achieve high level of customer
satisfaction, ERIKS must adopt the following strategies:
• Initiate the waste minimization efforts and adopt the Lean Extended Enterprise
Reference Model (LEERM) to achieve the objective.
• Instead of allocating its labor force to different jobs, educate the labors in their
own areas so that their efficiency increases.
• Instead of receiving the branch orders to RDC, they should be sent directly to
the branches so that the waste of time, packaging and excess cost of
transportation can be avoided.
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• Stock check must be done on a weekly basis in order to avoid the waste of
redundant stock in RDC which is actually the waste of storage space and
money.
• Use of RFID tags must be put into practice in order to avoid the stealing or
loss or damage of products during the transit. Most of the complains dealt by
the transportation manager are based on the loss or damage of products
during the transit which is actually the waste of his valuable time which he can
spent doing the job he is supposed to do instead of dealing the complains
about the products losses and damages.
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Karlsson C. and Ahlstrom P. (1997) ‘A Lean and Global Smaller Firm’. International
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Emiliani M.L. (1998) ‘Lean Behaviors’ Management Decision 36, (9) 615-631.
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Dahlgaard J.J and Dahlgaard-Park S.M. (2006) ‘Lean Production, six sigma quality,
TQM and company culture’ The TQM Magazine 18, (3) 263-281.
Naslund D. (2008) ‘Lean, six sigma and lean sigma: fads or real process
improvement methods?’ Business Process Management Journal 14, (3) 269-287.
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Antony J. (2006) ‘Six Sigma for service processes’ Business Process Management
Journal 12, (2) 234-248.
Antony J. (2004) ‘Some pros and cons of six sigma: An academic perspective’ The
TQM magazine 16, (4) 303-306.
Maleyeff J. and Arnheiter E.D. (2005) ‘The Integration of Lean Management and Six
Sigma’ The TQM Magazine 17, (1) 5-18.
Towill D.R. (2001) ‘The process of establishing a BPR paradigm’ Business Process
Management Journal 7, (1) 8-23.
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Bibliography:
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Warwood J.S. and Knowles G. (2004) ‘Research and Concepts: An Investigation into
Japanese 5-S Practice in UK Industry’. The TQM Magazine 16, (5) 347-353.
Kerrin M. (2000) ‘Continuous Improvement along the Supply Chain: The Impact of
Customer-Supplier relations’ Management Development Review 13, (3) 141-149.
Achanga P et al. (2005) ‘Critical Success Factors for Lean implementation within
SMEs’ Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management 17, (4) 460-471.
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Bali K.R. and Khan Z. (2007) ‘Developing a BPI framework and PAM for SMEs’
Industrial Management and Data Systems 107, (3) 345-360.
Burnes B. (2002) ‘Managing Change and Changing Managers from ABC to XYZ’
Journal of Management Development 22, (7) 627-642.
Dahlgaard J.J et al. (2005) ‘Measuring Lean Initiatives in Health care Services:
Issues and Findings’ International Journal of Productivity and Performance
Management 56, (1) 1741-0401
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Towill D.R. (2001) ‘The Process of Establishing a BPR paradigm’ Business Process
Management Journal 7, (1) 8-23.
Mathaisel D. F.X and Comm C.L. (2000) ‘Developing, implementing and transferring
lean quality initiatives from the aerospace industry to all industries’ Managing service
quality 10, (4) 248-256.
Mortimer A.L (2006) ‘Six Sigma: A Vital Improvement Approach when Applied to the
right problems, in the right environment’ Assembly Automation 26, (1) 10-17.
Antony J. et al. (2005) ‘Six Sigma in Service Organizations: Benefits, Challenges and
Difficulties, Common myths, empirical observations and success factors’
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Buzby C.M. et al. (2002) ‘Using Lean Principles to Streamline the Quotation Process:
A Case Study’ Industrial Management and Data Systems 102, (9) 513-520.
Doolen T.L. and Worley J.M. (2006) ‘The role of communication and management
support in Lean Manufacturing implementation’ Management Decision 44, (2) 228-
245.
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Markou E. (2001) ‘Target setting for evolutionary and revolutionary process change’
International Journal of Operations and Production Management 21, (11) 1387-1403.
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Appendix:
Appendix-I
Section A:
1.Gender:
Male
2. Age:
20-50
3.Your working level in the organization:
1 (Worker) 2 (Supervisor) 3 (Management)
4.Your level of job responsibility:
1 (Normal) 2 (Intermediary) 3 (Critical) 4 (Very critical).
5.Do you have access to computer (PC) at home?
Yes
Section B:
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Section C:
11. Do the waste minimizing efforts are initiated by the management?
e.g. 1 as strongly Disagree and 5 as strongly agree.
2
12. Does the implementation of two warehouse management system make the
processing fast?
e.g. 1 as strongly Disagree and 5 as strongly agree.
1
13. Allocation of labour to different areas makes it easy for the workers to
concentrate on their area of expertise.
e.g. 1 as strongly Disagree and 5 as strongly agree.
1
14. Direct branch orders (cross-dock) should not be sent to RDC but must be sent
directly to the branches.
e.g. 1 as strongly Disagree and 5 as strongly agree.
5
15. Branches must be treated as part of the central business units instead of
separate business entity.
e.g. 1 as strongly Disagree and 5 as strongly agree.
5
16. Product codes must be homogenous (same as the suppliers) in order to avoid
double entries into the system.
e.g. 1 as strongly Disagree and 5 as strongly agree.
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17. Classification of products must be done on the basis of their age in order to avoid
the redundant stocking.
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Appendix-II
Chart-1……………………………………………………………………………………65
Chart-2…………………………………………………………………………………….66
Chart-3…………………………………………………………………………………….67
Chart-4…………………………………………………………………………………….67
Chart-5………………………………………………………………………………….…69
Chart-6…………………………………………………………………………………….70
Chart-7…………………………………………………………………………………….71
Chart-8……………………………………………………………………………………72
Chart-9…………………………………………………………………………………….73
Chart-10…………………………………………………………………………………..74
Chart-11………………………………………………………………………………..…75
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Chart-12…………………………………………………………………………………..76
Chart-13………………………………………………………………………………….77
Chart-14………………………………………………………………………………….78
Chart-15………………………………………………………………………………….79
Appendix-III
Research Proposal
Title:
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Abstract:
Producing perfect and defect free services have long been desired
and it is still considered as an important strategic objective for the
companies to build market share in a global competitive economic
environment. Continuous improvement of company operations and
processes and value added service is an absolute requirement.
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1. Aim:
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2. Background:
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“Bite of more than you can chew, then chew it. Plan more than you
can do, then do it”
-Anonymous
-Michael D. Regan
It moves from the idea that ‘if its not broke do not fix it’, to ‘If it is not
broke do not ignore it because it will break one day’.
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3. Literature Review:
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Hines P. and Rich N. (1997) have described the seven value stream
mapping tool. The focus of the value stream includes the complete
value adding and non-value adding process, from conception of
requirement through to material source and back again to the
consumer’s receipt of product, there is a clear need to extend this
internal waste removal to the complete supply chain.
New S.J. (1995) discussed about the framework for analysing supply
chain improvement. He pointed out that there is a major hindrance to
understanding the dynamics of supply chain improvement is in
untangling its various components. Managerial and commercial
reality is complicated. He represented a simple taxonomy which uses
a simple four dimensional scheme which includes four dimensions
that are ‘Specificity’, ‘Action/Investment’, ‘Location/Focus’ , and
‘Benefits’. Further describing the limitation of the taxonomy such as
the temptation of reductionism, transparency, coverage concluded
that the main benefit of using the simple taxonomy is that it
stimulates the structured analysis of the dynamics of inter-firm
relationships and highlights the important questions which risk being
overlooked in the hyperbole of supplychain management.
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4. Objectives:
The main objectives of the research are to address the issues such
as:
2. The research will look into different models that can be applied
to improve the logistics and creating value chain.
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5. Research Programme:
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As Dey (1993) and Healey and Rawlinson (1994) clearly defined the
merits and distinguished qualitative data analysis on the merits that
qualitative data analysis is based on meanings expressed through
words, collection of results in non-standardised data requiring
classification into categories and the analysis is conducted through
the use of conceptualisation.
The research can use the inductive based analytical strategies and
procedures which are:
2) Template Analysis;
3) Analytic Induction;
4) Grounded Theory;
5) Narrative Analysis.
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Also the research will use the analytic induction which is defined by
Jhonson (1998: 28) as the intensive examination of a strategically
selected number of cases so as to empirically establish the causes
of a specific phenomenon.
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The research is going to start from 14th July 2008 and will last 7
working weeks till 5th of September 2008. The tentative working
schedule is given in the form of the Gantt chart in the Appendix
6. Resources:
The allocated budget for the research is £800 and the distribution is as
follows
6.1 Finance:
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ii. Access to various Internet resources, these include websites and forums.
iii. Discussions with the research supervisor and teachers from the Logistics and
Supply Chain Management department.
Table-I…………………………………………………………………………….15
Gantt chart:
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Timeline:
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