Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine

Operations management: sustainability and supply chain management

Two of the eight wastes included in the lean manufacturing concept are ‘Waiting’ and ‘Motion’. They waste precious operating time and slow down the manufacturing cycle. The major purpose of this study is to use 5S, a lean manufacturing strategy, for reducing these two wastes. The study was conducted at a plastic bag manufacturing company in Bangladesh. The manufacturing process of plastic bags consists of three operations: blowing, printing, and sealing. All activities and sub-processes were recorded, examined, and classified into value-adding and non-value-adding operations, with idle times calculated for each operation. An appropriate step-by-step 5S technique was developed and executed to improve the operational efficiency of the blowing and printing operations by eliminating extra motions and waiting time spent searching for tools. Following the deployment of 5S in these areas, the total operational time was reduced by 8% for blowing and 18% for printing. The assessment was carried out satisfactorily and is documented in this report. Through this study, a window of opportunity for improvement has been explored, which may motivate other researchers to consider applying the 5S tool in their particular research areas as a tool to reduce non-value-adding operational time. • 5S can be a highly efficient tool for minimizing idle time in manufacturing process. • Blowing and Printing poly-operations require some tasks which can be standardized. • Standard organization of sizers in blowing and blocks in printing area was ensured. • Total operational time was reduced by 8% for blowing and 18% for printing. 

Implementation of 5S in a plastic bag manufacturing industry: A case study

Since its first proposition in 1984, the Kano model has been used extensively in a variety of contexts within industries and academic research demonstrating its wide applicability. The Kano model allows for describing the relationship between an objective aspect and a subjective aspect. Yet is this relevant for environmental quality as well? In this study, we explore the cases where the Kano model is used for assessing environmental quality and its perception by consumers and identify the potential influencing factors for its application with this respect. We find that the Kano model can serve as an effective tool for converging towards environmental quality and sustainability by indicating the direction from a social and behavioral choice perspective. We propose an integration of the Kano model with Bandura's triangle (a concept of the social cognitive theory) to create an instrument for driving change of customer attitude and behavior via changing the perception of environmental quality.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/csr.1828

A holistic approach to manage environmental quality by using the Kano model and social cognitive theory

Purpose: All industry has been facing tremendous pressure since the beginning of 2020 owing to COVID-19 crisis, including real estate construction The research is a case study investigating challenges and action plans faced by stakeholders (developers/consultants/contractors) in real estate construction in some major cities in Indonesia This study aims to identify and prioritize on action plans related to real estate construction stakeholders Design/methodology/approach: The study gathered challenges and action plans by distributing open questionnaire to expert to get insights in their own verbatim Data reduction was then performed to get high-level challenges and high-level action plans High-level action plans were then analyzed using proposed Eisenhower-simultaneous importance performance analysis (SIPA) matrix which help prioritize high-level action plans Correlation matrix was also constructed to gain insight on relation between action plans to challenges and to three main LEAN elements (Muda, Mura and Muri) Alternative ranking method using “sum-product to 3M” approach was also performed to give complementary insights Findings: Ten action plans fall under category “Act now and become COVID-19 champion company ” One falls under category “prepare and invest now to gain competitive advantage,” one falls under category “external collaboration now to survive,” one falls under category “external collaboration for potential efficiency,” whereas the remaining six action plans fall under category “let-it-go” or “do-nothing ” Research limitations/implications: The study gathered only 48 and 64 respondents in its first and second questionnaires Despite small number, the respondents are experts in their own field, and their valuable insights and responses off-set the limited number of participants The study gives insightful action plans that can be taken by stakeholders in real-estate construction in Indonesia’s major cities analyzed by proposed Eisenhower-SIPA matrix Originality/value: The novelty of the research lies in the insights from industry experts in dealing with current COVID-19 pandemic in real-estate construction in Indonesia Added value is also given through the use of Eisenhower-SIPA matrix © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

Challenges and action plans in construction sector owing to COVID-19 pandemic – a case in Indonesia real estates

Warehouse is a crucial part of firms' logistic system and plays an important role in delivering products from manufacturers to end consumers. Lean principles originated from manufacturing practice can be adapted to warehouse environment to enhance its productivity. The study was based on a multinational fast-moving consumer goods in Indonesia which relied on small and medium enterprises (SME) as their intermediaries to distribute its products throughout Indonesia. Lean warehousing techniques were used as a practical tool to introduce a good and efficient warehouse practice for its distributors. As a standardised framework for its distributors, the company introduced three stages for lean warehouse implementation, i.e., 'create stability', 'create flow', and 'make flow' in the warehouse. Implementation was done for the first two stages in one pilot distributor, resulting to 26% increase in picking productivity and a more balanced warehouse operation. Result will be used as a baseline and show-case for further implementations to the rest of its distributors.

Lean implementation in traditional distributor warehouse - a case study in an FMCG company in Indonesia

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has hit all nations across the globe since the beginning of 2020 As the whole world is connected ever than before, the virus has spread very fast and affected almost all nations worldwide Despite facing a common enemy, each nation reacts and manages the virus differently The research studies how culture influences the way nations and society choose different approaches towards the pandemic Design/methodology/approach: The study uses classical cultural dimension by Hofstede and links them with three conflict management styles “integrating”, “avoiding” and “competing” in analysing three main measurements of the pandemic (test rate, case rate and death rate) The study analyses data from 116 countries and clusters them using a combination of agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) and K-means clustering Findings: The study shows there are six nation clusters with different ways of handling COVID-19, driven by their underlying dominant culture dimension It shows that individualistic culture combined with high indulgence dimension makes fatality worse, while nations with collectivism culture or uncertainty avoidance culture are better off, especially if accompanied with restraint dimension or long-term orientation Originality/value: The originality of the research lies in linking Hofstede cultural dimension with modified Onishi's conflict management style in analysing how different cultures and nations manage the COVID-19 pandemic © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

Does culture influence our ways in handling COVID-19?

Supply network planning can be considered as one of the key elements to an effective supply chain management. Decision on where and in which form a company should hold its inventory can give not only cost competitiveness but also responsiveness to customer requirement. This research is based on a case study of a multinational pharmaceutical company with international suppliers and a presence in several countries. The company has a few regional supply factories (affiliates or third parties), including one in Indonesia, serving its Asia-Pacific market. Pharmaceutical products involve many stock keeping units (SKUs) in different packaging formats even though they share the same ingredients. To enhance its supply network, the company is evaluating the option of a regional postponement centre which would serve as a consolidation and repacking facility to direct the demand of similar products from several markets to its supply nodes. This research project evaluates in which country the regional postponement fac...

Selecting Regional Postponement Centre Using PESTLE-AHP-TOPSIS Methodology: A Case Study in a Pharmaceutical Company

With the era of globalisation, firms have the opportunity to expand their operations beyond the country's boundary. Expanding business to an international market can give firms benefits such as economic of scale leading to cheaper cost, higher asset utilisation, as well as knowledge to international exposure. However, entering international market also poses its own challenges and risks. To make a sound business decision, firms wish to enter international market need to do a proper analysis and evaluation. The study is based on a case of a medium-size Indonesia company that wishes to export its metal-derivatives products to the international market. The study used a systematic international market selection (IMS) approach using a combination of analytical hierarchical process (AHP) and goal programming (GP). It chose 12 (sub) criteria, representing generic and product-related considerations. Based on the preliminary screening, it narrowed down the alternatives to 15 countries, and using the combination of AHP-GP recommended three countries to enter.

/pdf/evaluating-international-market-selection-with-multi-41h8baot1i.pdf

Evaluating international market selection with multi-criteria decision making tools - a case study of a metal company in Indonesia

A good and interconnected demand and supply planning (D&SP) is essential for firms, as it will give better allocation of resource and enabler to stay competitive. The basic and simple applications of D&SP are forecasting and aggregate planning which mainly used in big corporations, but less in small and medium enterprises. The research was a case study in a small firm in Indonesia, which started as small and family-owned company, but can enjoy the benefit of simple demand and supply planning to enhance its cost and productivity. Despite main application of D&SP in every production environment, no vast research has been done in the last couple of decades. The study and the case are thus, a refreshment on how application of D&SP still relevant. The case study examined seven common forecasting tools for demand planning side and exercised classical chase and level aggregate planning strategy for the supply planning side. It explored three possible scenarios and recommended a better scenario with 3% cost saving for the company.

Elia Oey

Papers

Lean implementation in traditional distributor warehouse - a case study in an FMCG company in Indonesia

Does culture influence our ways in handling COVID-19?

Selecting Regional Postponement Centre Using PESTLE-AHP-TOPSIS Methodology: A Case Study in a Pharmaceutical Company

Evaluating international market selection with multi-criteria decision making tools - a case study of a metal company in Indonesia

Forecasting and aggregate planning application – a case study of a small enterprise in Indonesia