Purpose – To increase productivity in an automotive assembly plant to satisfy customer demand and also develop best practices for productivity improvement for robotic welding operation lines. Design/methodology/approach – Principles of lean manufacturing and constrained management have been...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to take a fresh look at some of the contemporary operations management (OM) research issues in the automotive sector in order to identify potential future research directions. It addresses the question of what remains to be investigated after so many...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to challenge the common claim of “infinite variety” being demanded in the marketplace by measuring not just how much variety theoretically could be produced, but how much is actually demanded by the customer. To this effect, the authors propose and...

Purpose – Building on the social network view and new product development perspective, the purpose of this paper is to examine how knowledge is transferred between identical, yet geographically distant units within a multinational corporation. Design/methodology/approach – An embedded case...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical account of the significant role that Connecticut businesses and business leaders had in the spread of Lean management throughout the USA. The paper aims to describe what happens when managers do not understand and apply an...

Purpose – Demonstrates how Zodiac UK, a manufacturer of advanced head‐protection systems for the motor industry, has been given a reprieve after up‐skilling its entire 150‐plus workforce. Design/methodology/approach – Garners information from an interview with the company's...

Purpose – Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the...