Off-campus WSU users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your WSU access ID and password, then click the "Off-campus Download" button below.
Non-WSU users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
Access Type
WSU Access
Date of Award
January 2024
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
First Advisor
Ratna B. Chinnam
Abstract
ABSTRACTFRAMEWORK FOR EFFECTIVELY INTEGRATING FLEXIBILITY AND LEAN by GWENDOLYN HOLOWECKY May 2024 Advisor: Dr. Ratna Babu Chinnam Major: Industrial Engineering Degree: Doctor of Philosophy The world is full of uncertainty, which manifests itself as operational waste in firms. To remain competitive, firms implement sometimes costly flexibility solutions using a combination of buffers and process capabilities to quickly overcome uncertainty. Lean’s proven capabilities for waste identification and removal may provide an ideal foundation for choosing optimal flexibility solutions. However, the literature has been completely absent on how to objectively think about flexibility-lean integration and manage it. Even firms that have mastered lean processes employ ad hoc processes for integrating flexibility and lean. The primary contribution of the dissertation is a framework that provides a structured approach for developing and applying a holistic flexibility-lean solution that also promotes a process for reducing the flexibility investments gradually over time through continuous improvement. In developing the framework, first, we review the existing literature on flexibility and lean. This includes literature on flexibility in non-lean contexts and literature on lean applications/practices that support the preceding flexibility studies. A theoretically grounded flexibility-lean integration framework is then developed. Next, we test and elaborate the a priori theoretical framework by addressing the following research question/s through two situationally grounded case research studies: How does flexibility and lean interact with each other? And if, as the literature suggests, flexibility has a negative effect on lean performance, how can that effect be minimized? The two cases, case research and action research, in a lean Tier 1 automotive supplier provide rich details around the manufacturing framework to guide firms on how to leverage and operationalize the framework. Within the framework, contrasts of routine and time, and a lean/flexibility priority question are discovered and resolved highlighting the prioritized standardization (lean) and revealing the symbiotic nature of lean and flexibility in helping overcome time and routine contrasts. Finally, the flexibility measurement choice is clarified through timeline selection, so any type of firm understands the difference between targets setting in an operational sense (mobility/uniformity performance) versus strategic potential flexibility planning (range performance).
Recommended Citation
Holowecky, Gwendolyn, "Framework For Effectively Integrating Flexibility And Lean" (2024). Wayne State University Dissertations. 3856.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/3856