Introduction
Operations management refers to the administration of business practices to create the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization(Investopedia, 2010).Also converting raw materials and labor to products and services with efficiency and effectively to maximize the wealth of an organization.
Supply chain management is the main role in operation management.Supply chain management handles supply side activities of a business with efficiency and effectively to gain the competitive advantage in the market.(Investopedia, 2003)SCM concerned with raw material supply,intermediate supply,end product distribution,retailers and wholesalers.So every aspect of supply chain is critical for the business and doing it right can cause competitive advantage and it leads to successes of the business.
Lean management it is a technique that Toyota Company introduced along with Toyota production system.Lean focus on achieving large capacity production using less materials.Lean principles are elimination of waste and timing of production resources.The prominent is waste elimination.According to lean there are seven wastes which should be eliminated.
1. Waiting (idol time)
2. Defects (redoing)
3. Over processing
4. Over production
5. Transport
6. Motion
7. Inventory
In lean production there are several techniques that use to eliminate waste.Those are 5S (Sort,Set in order,Shine,Sustain,Standardize),Bottleneck analysis'identify the troublesome or low performance part in the process and then try to increase its performance,Kaizen'always try to improve(continues improvement),Continuous flow and Level scheduling.
By implementing these concepts organizations can achieve low cost quality products that lead to competitive advantage and ultimately to the success of the business.(Leanproduction, 2016) Lean management can be applied throughout the SCM.
Sustainability is'the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely'(Geraldo,2008,p.01).There are three pillars of sustainability,
1. Social sustainability
2. Environmental sustainability
3. Economic sustainability
Social sustainability is the well-being of the society.As a country they have their own set of life goals as well as their own version of quality of life.Environmental sustainability is the well-being of the environment.To ensure that all relevant parties should harvestless rate than the regeneration rate.As for non-renewable resources they should look for alternative resource and tries to reduce pollution in various ways.The economic sustainability is'the ability to support economic production'(Geraldo,2008,p.02).Economic sustainability can be shown in countries Gross Domestic Product.
The use lean management,supply chain management and sustainability for competitive advantage assist in operations management is discussed through the literature.
1. Application to the manufacturing sector
Textile and apparel industry is a major sector in both industrialized and lesser developed economies.And also it contributes to both wealth generation and employment (Bruce, Daly and Towers,2004).It is the essential link that connects broad long term strategy and day-to-day ongoing activities.
There is a huge competition in the apparel industry.The sellers are looking for real innovation and quality products from the suppliers to survive in the industry (Marudhamuthu,krishnaswamy and Pillai,2011).
1.1. Lean Manufacturing
As Paneru (2011,p.17)lean management is a'systematic approach to identify and eliminating waste through continuous improvement by flowing the pursuit of perfection'.The main objective of lean manufacturing is waste elimination.Practicing lean will reduce the production cost,increase the productivity & reduce the production time.Following lean tools and techniques are use to gain those benefits.
Table 1.1 Lean tools use in apparel industry
Lean tool Example
5S Chowdhury,Haque &Shahwath(2014) says that Talisman Ltd in Dhaka use 5S in 9 months and they increase 27% labor productivity &13% multi factor productivity
Kaizen Brandix(2016),Golden Jasmine Intimate manufacturing Co.,Ltd (Switch-asia.eu, 2016)
JIT Zara (Lu, 2016)
Quality Circle Maple Trading Co.,Ltd ,Princess Power Manufacturing Co.,Ltd (Switch-asia.eu, 2016)
Kanban Rising White Tiger Manufacturin Co.,Ltd (Switch-asia.eu, 2016)
As (Obeidat,Al-Aomar and Pei,2014)main wastes of the apparel industry are overproduction,inventory,waiting,rework or defect,disconnectivity,excess motion and excess transportation.Overproduction was the most significant,worst and the dominant waste.
1.2. Lean management and sustainability
Dept.of Agricultural Extension,University of Peradeniya (2013) says that the apparel manufacturing uses large amount of materials and resources.So that it causes the environmental problems like pollution and green house gases,threatening the surrounding natural flora fauna.In the past this is not a driving factor in the apparel industry.With the time being people concern more about the sustainability.So the apparel sector also agrees with the ethics and laws of the environmental protection.And also they identify the impacts of their activities to the environment and they use different methods to mitigate those impacts.
' Building green factories.
' Work according to the compliance of the assessment programs.(BREEAM,LEED, Green Global and ISO 20121,ISO 14000)
Green factories gain environmental stability by optimizing energy performance,decreasing emissions,decreasing waste,encouraging recycling and reducing sediment contamination and soil erosion.
1.3. Lean Supply chain management
(Christopher, 2016) says supply chain management is'the management of upstream relationships with suppliers and customers in order to deliver superior customer value at less cost to the supply chain as a whole.'Albayrakoglu,Koprulu(2013) demonstrate the ultimate goals of Supply Chain Management are
1. Waste reduction
2. Time compression
3. Flexible response
4. Unit cost reduction
Bruce,Daly and Towers,(2004)said that the apparel industry is highly diverse and heterogeneous.So the supply chain is complex.And also the manufacturers move on to the sourcing components from overseas.From that the firm can reduce waste,the labor cost,time compression.(Anon,2016) demonstrated that the retailers of the apparel industry have to deal with manufactures with the centralized buying and prices,quality and delivery schedules.And also the writer point out that there are intermediaries like export and import agencies who are play major role in supply chain.
Bruce,Daly and Towers (2004) highlighted that the JIT concept is commonly use in throughout the supply chain.Paneru N(2011)said that wastes can be reduced by JIT.(Anon,2016)said by using JIT manufacturer can fix the problems like product shortages,excessive backlogs and lost misplaced yarn at the spinning area.And also flexible delivery throughdomestic sourcing helps to minimized the levels of stock in supply chain and increase the net margine (Bruce,Daly &Tower,2004).These techniques help to reduce the waste.
1.4. Environmental sustainability and the industry
Sustainability of Textiles(2013) highlights the main environmental impact of textiles industry is fiber of the garment.However according to the previous studies greenhouse gas emission,colluviums releases,water use also gives negative impacts to the environment.According to the author by functioning the manufacturing according to the environmental friendly manner,the manufacturer can gain benefits like improving the reputation of the firm,build a strong relationship with consumers via linking business to social and environmental projects and technological innovation in production process.And also there some barriers like complex and global value chains often with low traceability represent an obstacle for producers and brands who want to improve their production patterns,environmental friendlier textiles might result in more expensive finished products,sustainable garments are unstylish and unattractive,producers and retailers who want to promote more environmentally friendlier textiles need to develop the market of environmental friendly textiles and lack of knowledge and lack of resources.
2. Application to the service sector
Healthcare provide services for the support of the community wellness,disease prevention and management of diseases.The inputs of providing the services involves medical products such as medicine,tools and machines.The labour participation for medical supervision is by medical practitioners and health professionals.Information is a main important input in a service sector like hospitals.As an example,information on medical practices and patients are combined together with the other inputs in the transformation process to improve patient health.
2.1. Lean Healthcare
The lean concept was originated from the Toyota Motor Corporation,Lean is the continuous improvement of the organization for optimal efficiency, quality, speed and cost.(SearchCIO,2016)
The five main principles applied to a healthcare organization.(Jones,2006)
1) Provide the value to the patient and the organization actually desire
2) Identify the value stream to diagnose and treat the patient and remove wasted steps
3) Enable the patient to go through a smooth and quick flow in every step
4) Match capacity with the demand of the patient based on pull production
5) Gain perfection through continuous improvement of the value stream by waste elimination
Hospitals in the worldwide follow procedures under the Lean principles which implemented customer service and work conditions.
Table 2.1.Lean implementations in hospitals summarized by Arrieta-Posada and Giraldo Betancur (2014)
Name of the Hospital Lean practice
Copenhagen University Hospital Kaizen events
Mitchell's Plain Community Health Centre Kaizen to evaluate inefficiencies in the reception process of the patients
Massachusetts General Hospital Value Stream Mapping, 5S, and standardization lean principles were used.
Odense University Hospital in Denmark Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, 5S, SMED principles were implemented and productivity increased and waiting lines were reduced.As a result training time to the hospital people was increased.
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Kaizen was implemented to improve processes.A reduction of 43% was achieved in the costs of these processes, the stay in bed of the patients diminished form 14 to 5 days
Ochsner Health System, New Orleans Kaizen events were developed to analyze the process of moving patients to another rooms or areas or hospitals
Lean philosophy is improving a process continuously by removing non-value added steps,or 'wastes'.
Table 2.2 The Wastes-Institute for Improvement and Innovation(2007,21),as summarized by Radnor (2011)
Original Waste Service Waste Healthcare Waste
1. Tranportation
Delay:Customers long waiting for service in queues for responses and not arriving as promised. ' Staff walking to the other end of a ward to pick up notes
' Central equipment stores for commonly used items instead of items located where they are used
2. Inventory Duplication: Repeating data and repeat details on forms,answer queries from several sources within the same organization.
' Excess stock in storerooms that is not being used
' Patients waiting to be discharged
3. Motion
Unnecessary Movement: Queuing several times,poor ergonomics in the service encounter.
' Unnecessary staff movement looking for paperwork.e.g. drug sheets not put back in the correct place storing syringes and needles at opposite ends of the room
' Not having basic equipment in every examination room
4. Waiting
Unclear Communication and the wastes of seeking clarification,confusion over product or service use,wasting time finding a location that may result in misuse or duplication.
' Patients theatre staff results, prescriptions and medicines
' Doctors to discharge patients
5. Over production Incorrect Inventory: Out-of-stock,unable to get exactly what was required, substitute products or services. ' Requesting unnecessary tests from pathology
' Keeping investigation slots 'just in case'
6. Over- or inappropriate processing Opportunity Lost to retain or win customers, failure to establish rapport,ignoring customers,unfriendliness,and rudeness. ' Duplication of information asking for patients'details several times
' Repeated clerking of patients
7. Defects Errors in the service transaction,product defects in the product service bundle, lost or damaged goods. ' Read mission because of failed discharge adverse drug reactions
' Repeating tests because correct information was not provided
2.2. Lean management and sustainability
According to Slack, Chambers and Johnston (2010,p.634) sustainability'ensuring that the overall productivity of accumulated human and physical capital resulting from development actions more than compensates for the direct or indirect loss or degradation of the environment'.
The healthcare industry practice environmental sustainability to reduce waste in operations and going green come to save money.Healthcare facilities consume a higher amount of energy and water to while generating large volumes of waste with increasing amounts of disposable packaging,chemicals and toxins.(Kinney,2010; Www2.health.vic.gov.au,2016)
Practicing Greenhealth increase operational efficiency and create an environmentally sustainable system to improve the health of patients,staff and the community.MultiCare is an organization practiced this and started reducing the quantity and toxicity of healthcare waste from manufacturing,purchase and use of products and materials,minimizing the use and exposure to hazardous chemicals,resource conservation and environmental improvements.Also it identified the opportunities for improvement for operational cost avoidance opportunities such as,Universal garbage,Regulated medical waste by recycling and re-use and reduce the usage and disposal result in significant cost savings and provide a safer environment and Recycling.(Kinney,2010)
From eliminating unnecessary packaging and substitutes for products containing mercury or other toxic substances and purchasing of green products for environmentally friendly healthcare facilities is done.To increase energy efficiency in order to conserve energy.For that installing energy-efficient equipments is done.(Fhnw.ch,2016)
Kinney(2010) has identified sustainability programmes such as environmental stewardship,education and communication,environmentally preferable purchasing,waste management,energy,water and climate management and mitigation,environmental services,sustainablesites management,transportation operations and chemical management.
2.3. Lean supply chain management in healthcare services
Lean thinking considers the interactions across the whole supply chain.According to(Lee,Lee and Schniederjans, 2011)SCM in hospitals has 2 chains.Internal chain includes patients care unit,storage and patients while external chain includes vendors,manufacturers and distributors.A hospital receives products and services from its suppliers and distribute them among the operational units and store them.SCM typically associated with purchasing,storing,transportation and disposal activities which integrates a continuous material and service flow.
During a patient's admission until discharge requires patient support process,channeling through the value stream mapping processes and redesign in every step.(Cooper and Mohabeersingh, 2008).As discussed earlier about the wastes in the supply chain are system complexity,lead time,transport,space,inventory,human effort and packaging.
Through reviews it's clear that lean supply chain can result the patient fill rate and patient satisfaction on treatments,excess drug velocity,effective and efficiency usage of medicine and equipments.And also the reduction in lead times and creating cost reduction the supplier performance will be enhanced while reducing the total cost of the entire supply chain.(Transportation Management Company|Cerasis, 2015)
2.4. Lean production and sustainable competitive advantage
Competitive advantage means existing in the industry by performing well relative to other competitors in the same industry or industry average.Jurevicius(2016) while sustainable competitive advantage means remaining maintaining competitive advantage within a long period.The success of competitive advantage will depend upon the external circumstances of the firm includes type of market,technology using and supply chain structure etc.(Lewis,2000)According to Cooper and Mohabeersingh(2008) to achieve competitive advantage within a global marketplace the health care organizations should be able to meet demand and reduce waiting times.Through literature reviews it can be conclude as a healthcare organization a quality medical services should be performed by reducing the costs and the services can adapt new technology to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the service.
Lean implementation will decrease overall time patients spent on care,patient troughput,reduction in waiting times and errors,enhanced patient and employee satisfaction and cost reduction.(Poksinska,2010)
All organizations have to face challenges when adapting new principles.According to Poksinska(2010)a main barrier is to convince staff.The staff can gradually understand the benefits of lean after providing specific knowledge.But expertise knowledge and experience is lack.The healthcare structure can be hierarchical with decision makers.Lean culture requires teamwork and good communication.(Purl.fcla.edu,2016)But top management may not communicate with the bottom leveled management.
In this context there is a challenge is to improve the entire system.Improving value streams may require involvement of some units but fixing problems in one unit will cause other problems at another unit.So producing work quickly without waste and on time will enhance over the competition.
3. Topical issues
There are some topical issues in operation management when following lean activities and supply chain activities in order to maintain environmental sustainability.Waste elimination collaborate the environmental sustainability through the impairment of environmental pollution and also process-centred focus is one of keystones of the lean management.The purpose of this is quality achievement of whole process.And there is a similar theory of waste elimination to collaborate the environmental sustainability(King & Lenox, 2001; Sawhney et al., 2007) as summarized by Mart''nez-Jurado and Moyano-Fuentes( 2014)
And also higher people involvement and participation is another keystone of lean management.This involvement as like as worker involvement also essential in the environmental sustainability for doing environmental practices and activities(Rothenberg et al., 2001; Soltero & Waldrip, 2002) as summarized by Mart''nez-Jurado and Moyano-Fuentes(2014).
The lean practice JIT or Just In Time also effects to the environmental sustainability.This practice manages to deduct costs of storage and maximized available capital(Porter & Linde, 1995) as summarized by summarized by Govindan et al., (2014).
The green transformation is the vital opportunity that lean companies create to green manufacturing principles for environmental sustainability (Maxwell et al., 1993; Rothenberg et al., 2001; Chiappetta-Jabbour et al., 2013) as summarized by Mart''nez-Jurado and Moyano-Fuentes (2014).But sometimes practices of these keystones are may be limited.Sometimes they need technological supports to practicing these keystones.Sometimes it may be difficult or it may be expensive.
On the other hand lean supply chain management also effects on environmental sustainability.As how,some practices and tools, ike as lean supplier development and value stream mapping,quiet useful for selecting environmental management practices (Simpson & Power, 2005; Mason et al., 2008) as summarized by Mart''nez-Jurado and Moyano-Fuentes(2014),close and long-term relationships trigger the selection of environmental management practices (Florida, 1996) as summarized by Mart''nez-Jurado and Moyano-Fuentes(2014),fixed design from the very first stages of product development effects on environmental design to diminish environmental pollution throughout all stages of a product's lifecycle (Carvalho et al., 2011) as summarized by Mart''nez-Jurado and Moyano-Fuentes( 2014).
According to the green practices, the 'cleaner production,' impact to the environmental sustainability(UNEP, 2002)as summarized by (Govindan et al., 2014).'Cleaner production' means using energy and resources efficiently to reduce toxic raw materials, and to eliminate the amount and toxicity of all emissions and wastes before leave the production process (Kjaerheim, 2004) as summarized by (Govindan et al., 2014).Via cleaner production, a company can get benefits such as Conservation of raw materials and energy;environment improvement;better clearance with environmental regulations, quiet proclivity working environment for labourers and best public image of the company (Halme et al., 2002) as summarized by (Govindan et al., 2014).Throughout these benefits, company can steady the environmental sustainability.
And the green practice of ISO 14001 certification (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2000) as summarized by (Govindan et al., 2014), and the green practices of reverse logistics (Beullens, 2004) as summarized by (Govindan et al., 2014) also effects to the environmental sustainability.Reverse logistics is not only reduction of negative impacts on environment, but also gains competitive advantages via increasing customer satisfaction (Govindan et al., 2014).Green supply chain strategy has concentrated on close cooperation with suppliers and customers,on the new product design and development process,on the analytical processes and internal operations and on environmental considerations of product life cycle.This is also support to improve environmental sustainability too (Zhu et al., 2005; Corbett and Klassen, 2006) as summarized by Mart''nez-Jurado and Moyano-Fuentes (2014).
But there is conflict between lean and green supply chain management strategies.Just In Time (JIT) logistics and, quiet essentially, the demand for deliveries in small lots and transported more frequently in smaller vehicles starts to huge traffic congestion and environmental pollution (Katayama and Bennett, 1996; Zhu et al., 2005; Carvalho et al., 2011) as summarized by (Mart''nez-Jurado and Moyano-Fuentes, 2014) and (Porter and Linde, 1995) as summarized by(Govindan et al., 2014).
According to expert's opinions,some of companies in Sri Lanka wouldn't like to focus lean practices.However,in planning sustainability;there are some efforts such as top-down policy efforts by company/organization and bottom-up efforts by municipalities (Mickwitz et al., 2011).
In top-down efforts, company or organization compliance their own rules and regulations and leads their own environmental protection implementation methods.The legislation and environmental protection methods stabilize the environmental sustainability.Waste elimination is the primary key concept of company resource conservation.Company tries to eliminate the waste via recycling.And the other main part is air emission reduction and also nasty liquid emission reduction and solid emission reduction.Under their legislation,company follow environmental protection implements in an efficient manner.
In bottom-up efforts, municipalities play major role in the environmental sustainability development.They organize the collection of disposal household dump and other similar waste.And also government set local rules and regulations on waste management, gas emissions, ozone protection, fuel importation likewise (Ministry of the Environment, 2011) as summarized by (Mickwitz et al., 2011).
4. Conclusion
Lean management and supply chain management are very important facts to any industry. All the organizations are finally expecting a profit throughout all their activities.As discussed in the literature practicing these two facts can give quality outputs to the organization and as well as a reasonable profit in an environmental friendly way.For an organization,it is very important to carry out their operations smoothly.So it is better to follow the methods that can enhance the quality of their operational activities.
In todays context the lean application outstanding to non-service sector as well as service sector.Lean management can enhance the quality of the service and performance.Lean can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the performance.The utilization of resources effectively will reduce the amount of waste.So the waste elimination can be a part of enhancing the environmental sustainability.Using lean principles it's clear that the service sector can gain competitive advantage while creating environmental sustainability.
The analyzation of environmental sustainability,there is a relationship between lean management,supply chain management and sustainability.Lean keystones such as waste elimination,process-centred focus,higher people involvement and just in time clearly impact to the environmental sustainability.And also green practices as like as green transformation,cleaner production support to improve environmental sustainability.In planning sustainability,top-down and bottom-up efforts help to stabilize the environmental sustainability.
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