The University of Luxembourg has recently launched its learning factory, the “Lean Manufacturing Laboratory”. With the help of this manual assembly line, students gain valuable insights in the ...operation of a manufacturing line as well as in buffer, waste and congestion management.
Currently, one of the main research topics at the University of Luxembourg in the field of Lean Management is the further development of the method Value Stream Management (VSM). The application of VSM in the “Lean Manufacturing Laboratory” with a projected focus on industry and service sectors reveals the need for a standardized VSM approach. Thus, one of the research objectives is the development of a common VSM method accompanied by standardized software and process interfaces to ensure robust product and information flows within a company and also throughout supply chains.
On the way towards a VSM method as standard, existing VSM approaches have to be investigated and validated. By a detailed comparison of existing VSM approaches, all necessary fields of action for the development of a standardized Value Stream Management approach are shown
Cross-enterprise value stream assessment Oberhausen, Christof; Plapper, Peter
Journal of advances in management research,
05/2017, Letnik:
14, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Purpose
In most cases, the conventional assessment of value streams is based on key performance indicators (KPIs) like the share of added value, the degree of flow or a comprehensive lead time ...analysis. To evaluate cross-enterprise value streams of manufacturing, business or service processes in detail, a holistic methodology is needed. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
In this research paper, the assessment of value streams within complex cross-company networks is described. After a presentation of relevant KPIs in the fields of value stream management (VSM) and supply chain management (SCM), an approach for a cross-enterprise evaluation of value streams on different levels of detail is shown. In addition, the use of an absolute VSM evaluation, in contrast to a relative VSM assessment, is examined.
Findings
Based on a uniform and well-balanced set of KPIs and other VSM and SCM parameters, a performance assessment on different levels of value stream detail is enabled. Further investigations reveal the advantages of a relative compared with an absolute VSM assessment.
Research limitations/implications
In addition to a comprehensive overview of existing KPIs for a value stream assessment beyond company borders, a holistic and multi-level VSM approach is presented in this paper. In contrast to existing VSM approaches, the described method allows an evaluation and subsequent improvement of value streams within supply chain networks. Up to now, the presented approach for the assessment of cross-enterprise value streams has only been tested in specific industrial environments. In future, the proposed methodology shall also be validated for other process types like business, service or further manufacturing processes.
Practical implications
The described cross-company performance measurement approach shows a high practical relevance for organizations operating in supply chain networks. Due to the integrated use of different VSM parameters, the evaluation of highly interconnected value streams across corporate boundaries is facilitated. By means of a case study, the proposed methodology is validated under real industry conditions and proves its practical applicability.
Originality/value
One of the novel features of this research is the extension of the traditional VSM method with respect to a relative evaluation of value streams based on a set of significant KPIs. In addition, the allocation of these KPIs to different value stream layers and categories leads to an innovative approach for a multi-level assessment according to the needs of the specific VSM application, e.g. a more standardized use of VSM in complex supply chain networks.
Due to globalized business operations, companies in different economic sectors are part of complex supply chain networks. Their value-added processes comprise product and information flows, e.g. with ...a focus on manufacturing, service or trade. Until the final product is delivered to the end customer, it needs to pass many different processes in cooperating organizations. As a result, there a lot of business-to-business (B2B) interactions with crossenterprise transactions, often including cross-border communications and sometimes even cross-industry trades with technological and often cultural implications. Especially the interfaces of supply chain networks are prone to inefficiencies, misunderstandings and delays due to a lack of standardized B2B transactions, which leads to waste in form of rework, errors and mistakes. In addition, new customers are hard to find for the manufacturing or trading company, since potential customers are so far limited to a regional network. The advantages of extending the customer base still need to be explored by many organizations. This paper discusses the opportunities by streamlining the communication along supply chain networks in a general fashion and then describes the application in a B2B automotive retail business. A concept of a web-based trading platform, which provides a seamless service for all steps of a convenient and efficient used vehicle remarketing business, is developed. It includes all phases, like offering and price finding in a comprehensive online platform, which also covers further activities, such as logistic services, financial transactions, and a mandatory feedback loop. The suggested B2B vehicle-trading platform enables a quick turnover of each transaction, which is analyzed and optimized based on the application of cross-enterprise Value Stream Management.
Myocardial scintigraphy Alexander, Christof; Oberhausen, Erich
Seminars in nuclear medicine,
04/1995, Letnik:
25, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Nuclear cardiology continues to be of particular importance in nuclear medicine. In this domain, myocardial scintigraphy has become the eminent diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of cardiac disorders ...like coronary artery disease, myocarditis, heart transplant rejection, chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity, and others. In a comparison of the latest worldwide trends, European investigators seem to be more interested in recently developed myocardial tracers than those in the US. Besides research into antimyosin monoclonal antibodies for the detection of myocardial damage, the technetium 99m-labeled perfusion markers are being studied as potential substitutes for thallous chloride TI 201. In recent years, the dual use of
201TICI/
99mTc-sestamibi taught us the comparable clinical value of these two radiopharmaceuticals in the detection of coronary artery disease. In the future, additional
99mTc-labeled perfusion markers may contribute to the ongoing decrease in thallium's widespread use. In the area of viability (ie, the preinterventional detection of potentially reversible myocardial wall-motion abnormalities),
201TICI is still not fully accepted. The most reliable diagnostic tool for this procedure is
13N-NH
3 (ammonia)/fluorine F18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography because of its options for quantification and high-resolution imaging. In the near future, the limited number of these sophisticated but expensive positron emission tomography centers will not satisfy the growing clinical demand for viability studies. Thus, European nuclear cardiologists are developing alternative techniques for positron imaging. They have shown that by means of a conventional gamma camera with special high-energy collimators, a reliable perfusion/viability assessment is feasible. Such a low-cost solution becomes more and more attractive for those nuclear cardiologists who cannot afford a positron emission tomography scanner, but who are close enough to a cyclotron producing positron-emitting radiopharmaceuticals.
The detection of preserved glucose uptake in hypoperfused dysfunctional myocardium by fluorine-18 deoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) represents the method of choice in myocardial ...viability diagnostics. As the technique is not available for the majority of patients due to cost and the limited capacity of the PET centres, it was the aim of the present work to develop and test FDG single-photon emission tomography (SPET) with the means of conventional nuclear medicine. The perfusion marker sestamibi (MIBI) was used together with the metabolic tracer FDG in dual-isotope acquisition. A conventional SPET camera was equipped with a 511-keV collimator and designed to operate with simultaneous four-channel acquisition. In this way, the scatter of 18F into the technetium-99m energy window could be taken into account by a novel method of scatter correction. Thirty patients with regional wall motion abnormalities at rest were investigated. The results of visual wall motion analysis by contrast cine-ventriculography in nine segments/heart were compared with the results of quantitative scintigraphy. The scintigraphic patterns of MIBI and FDG tracer accumulation were defined as normal, matched defects and perfusion-metabolism mismatches. Spatial resolution of the system was satisfactory, with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 15.2 mm for 18F and 14.0 mm for 99mTc, as measured by planar imaging in air at 5 cm distance from the collimator. Image quality allowed interpretation in all 30 patients. 88% of segments without relevant wall motion abnormalities presented normal scintigraphic results. Seventy-five akinetic segments showed mismatches in 27%, matched defects in 44% and normal perfusion in 29%. We conclude that FDG-MIBI dual-isotope SPET is technically feasible with the means of conventional nuclear medicine. Thus, the method is potentially available for widespread application in patient care and may represent an alternative to the 201Tl reinjection technique.
The recently developed technetium-99m-labelled monoclonal antibody-170 (MAb-170) was designed for diagnostic use in patients suffering from gynaecological adenocarcinoma. Following in vitro studies ...which showed immunoreactivity of this antibody to more than 90% of human adenocarcinomas, the present investigation was initiated to verify its usefulness for radioimmunoscintigraphy of ovarian tumours. Most of the 30 patients participating in this study underwent immunoscintigraphy prior to first-look surgery. Biokinetic evaluation in two patients showed a plasma half-time of 18.9 h (mean value, n = 2, r = 0.98) and a biexponential total body curve with values of 7.7 h and 17 days (r = 0.98). The mean 24-h urinary excretion was 12% of the injected dose. Radioimmunoscintigraphy using the MAb-170 recognised 12 of 13 cases of adenocarcinoma of the ovaries, corresponding to an overall sensitivity of 92.3%. Specificity was 94.1% (16/17). The calculation of accuracy yielded a figure of 93.3% (28/30). Of 33 known lesions, 26 were visualised successfully; thus the locoregional sensitivity was 78.8%. Of 29 benign tumour sites, 28 showed no evidence of tracer accumulation, corresponding to a locoregional specificity of 96.6%. The smallest lesion visualised was an adenocarcinoma of the corpus uteri with a diameter of 1.5 cm. Technetium-99m labelled MAb-170 is a promising new radiopharmaceutical for immunoscintigraphy of ovarian adenocarcinoma.
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