Sequences of manufacturing improvement initiatives: the case of delayering
International Journal of Operations & Production Management
ISSN: 0144-3577
Article publication date: 1 November 2000
Abstract
Changes in manufacturing often result in decision making being decentralised. As a consequence of the decentralisation of decision making, the number of hierarchical levels in the organisation is often reduced. This paper examines when a delayering of the organisation takes place during manufacturing improvement. For two and a half years, the authors participated in and studied one company’s implementation of lean production. The observations from the clinical study are compared with existing operations management theory. The findings indicate the importance of delayering the organisation early during manufacturing improvement, to create a platform for further improvement.
Keywords
Citation
Åhlström, P. and Karlsson, C. (2000), "Sequences of manufacturing improvement initiatives: the case of delayering", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 20 No. 11, pp. 1259-1277. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443570010348244
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 2000, MCB UP Limited