Lean operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Lean operations - Essay Example Some scholars argued that the differences between the service and manufacturing (product) firms may interfere with the effectiveness of lean operations for the service sector (Atkinson, 2010; Lee et al., 2008). Services are intangible and can hardly be evaluated after â€Å"production,† so evaluation of efficiency and effectiveness can render complications. Other scholars stressed that lean operations are viable in the service firms, but important â€Å"actors,† such as managers, champions, enthusiast converters and implementers, must have fully prepared a change management plan (Esain, Williams, & Massey, 2008; Hines, Martins, & Beale, 2008). This essay explores how lean operations can be applied to the service industry, particularly to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS). The NHS has applied Six Sigma and lean operations concepts to develop process and quality improvements. This paper begins with an overview of operation management, and then it d iscusses the theory of lean operations and lean operations at the NHS. This paper also identifies the advantages and disadvantages of lean services. Operation Management Operations management generally refers to managing processes that produce products or render services (Greasley, 2008, p.3). During the twentieth century, developments in the theory of operations management progressed. ... Factory management slowly evolved into operations management on the supposition that manufacturing ideas could also be implemented for service organizations (Seddonand, & O'Donovan, 2010, p.34). Operation management has increasingly adopted quality management philosophies, such as Just-in-time (JIT) or lean operations and Six Sigma. These management philosophies or strategies have different objectives, but they generally agree about continued incremental quality improvements that will streamline operations and make production of goods and services more effective and efficient (Coronad et al., 2004; Dean, et al., 2009). They also have the same perspective on being part of the broader strategic management objectives of the company, and the lack of this integration has led to many lean operations efforts (Seddonand, & O'Donovan, 2010, p.34). Theory of Lean Operations Lean operations started from the theory of â€Å"lean manufacturing† that was popularized by Toyota’s Produ ction System (TPS). In the 1950s, Toyota created a set of techniques that concentrated on the supply chain side of production (Lee et al., 2008, p.973). Founder of Toyota and a renowned inventor Sakichi Toyoda started the development of the lean manufacturing concept, where the management focused on constantly improving work flow to reduce costs (Karanjkar, 2008, p.10.1). With his son Kiichiro Toyoda, they perfected the operations management concept of lean manufacturing (Karanjkar, 2008, p.10.1). Nevertheless, although lean operations is closely connected with the Japanese, in reality, some elements of its framework can be linked to Henry Ford’s production system, who also designed his production system, so that he could make customized products by