Browsing by Author "Lightfoot, Howard"

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    Decision Engineering Report Series : Industrial Product-Service Systems (IPS2): THINK TANK
    (Cranfield University, 2011-07-11) Shehab, Essam; Tiwari, Ashutosh; Annamalai Vasantha, Gokula Vijaykumar; Lightfoot, Howard; Roy, Rajkumar
    Cranfield University and Rolls-Royce plc designed and developed a one-day ‘Think- Tank’ international workshop to establish the future research direction for Industrial Product-Service Systems (IPS2). The workshop was held at Cranfield University, UK, by invitation only to visionary academics across the globe, senior industrialists and funding organisations. The workshop aimed to trigger discussions on high impact challenges involved in IPS2. The research directions from the workshop could inform IPS2 researchers and research funding decisions in the future. The overall objectives were to:  Engage multi-disciplinary academics and practitioners in a deeper discussion to identify major research directions for the future.  Identify the unique challenges faced in IPS2 and also any country specific requirements.  Prioritise the research directions into mid-term and long-term categories.  Identify major industry and public procurement trends across different countries. The workshop design has gone through two main phases. Prior to commencing the event, the participants submitted their thoughts on either “IPS2 Research Directions” or “Industrial requirements for IPS2” and these were thoroughly analysed. During the event, the analysed results were presented and followed by capturing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) to IPS2 research across different countries. One of the main strengths of the research area is that IPS2 research is maturing in international profile and creating wide awareness of its importance among stakeholders. How the bigger picture of IPS2 was described and the immaturity of models, tools and techniques developed for real industrial applications were major weaknesses of IPS2 research. To develop an enhanced understanding of IPS2 research results across countries, wider opportunities to establish a common case studying pool is suggested. Finally, prolonged research funding for analysing real impact on industry is a major threat widely discussed. Every delegate had to express his/her views on potentially high-impact in their countries. Combined grouping analysis of these answers gave ten common themes within them. Examples of these common themes are cost, skills, design and manufacturing, society, and case studies. These themes underwent a rigorous prioritization process by the delegates to identify high impact challenges. From the prioritization of grouped challenges, the themes - Design and Manufacturing, Case studies, Business capability, Cost and Complexity, all emerged as the foremost areas on which to concentrate.
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    Made to serve: a model of the operations practices and technologies that deliver servitization
    (Cranfield University Press, 2013-09-19) Baines, Tim; Lightfoot, Howard
    This paper explores how successfully servitised manufacturers deliver advanced services and proposes a model that describes how they configure their operations. A case study methodology is applied across four manufacturing organisations successful in delivering advanced services. A descriptive model is then formed based around six popular technologies and practices.
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    The Practical Challenges of Servitized Manufacture
    (Cranfield University Press, 2009-04-01) Baines, Tim S.; Lightfoot, Howard; Rajkumar Roy; Essam Shehab
    Servitization is now widely recognised as the process of creating value by adding services to products. Since this term was first coined in the late 1980s it has been studied by a range of authors who have specifically sought to understand the methods and mechanisms of service-led competitive strategies for manufacturers. This paper reports on the experiences of a large company as they have moved towards servitized manufacture. This has been based on an extensive series of interviews with key personnel. The results of the study and implications for research are all reported.
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    The servitization of manufacturing: a systematic literature review of interdependent trends
    (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2013-12-01T00:00:00Z) Lightfoot, Howard; Baines, Tim S.; Smart, Palie
    Purpose: The servitization of manufacturing is a diverse and complex field of research interest. The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative and organising lens for viewing the various contributions to knowledge production from those research communities addressing servitization. To achieve this, we set out to address two principal questions, namely: (i) where are the knowledge stocks and flows amongst the research communities? and (ii) what generic research concerns are being addressed by these communities. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using an evidenced based approach, we have performed a systematic review of the research literature associated with the servitization of manufacturing. This investigation incorporates a descriptive and thematic analysis of 148 academic and scholarly papers from 103 different lead authors in 68 international peer-reviewed journals. Findings: Our work proposes support for the existence of distinct researcher communities namely; services marketing, service management, operations management, product-service systems and service science management and engineering, which are contributing to knowledge production of the servitization of manufacturing. The generic research concerns being addressed within these communities are associated with the concepts of product-service differentiation, competitive strategy, customer value, customer relationships and product-service configuration. Research limitations/implications: Our review is limited by the issues addressed in the literature by specific researcher communities and there is likely to be a wealth of literature addressing other relevant research (e.g. vertical integration, outsourcing). Therefore, immediate opportunities for future work are rooted in the limitations of our own work and in broadening our perspective of the servitization field. Originality/value: This research has further developed and articulated the identities of distinct researcher communities actively contributing to knowledge production in the servitization of manufacturing, and to what extent they are pursuing common research agendas. This study provides an improved descriptive and thematic awareness of this existing body of knowledge, allowing the field to progress in a more informed and multidisciplinary fashion.
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    State-of-the-art of 'Lean' in the aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul industry
    (Professional Engineering Publishing, 2011-11-30T00:00:00Z) Ayeni, P.; Baines, Tim S.; Lightfoot, Howard; Ball, Peter D.
    The increasing need for maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) organizations to meet customers’ demands in quality and reduced lead times is key to its survival within the aviation industry. Furthermore, with the unpredictability in the global market and difficulties with forecasting characteristic of the MRO industry there is an increased need for the reevaluation of the operation models of organizations within this sector. However, severe economic turmoil and ever-increasing global competition introduce the opportunity for the adoption of a resilient, tried, and tested business operation model such as ‘Lean’. In order to understand this concept, its long-term viability, and its application within the aerospace MRO sector fully, this paper presents the state-of-the-art in terms of the adoption of Lean within the MRO industry by carrying out a systematic review of the literature. This paper establishes the common perception of Lean by the MRO industry and the measurable progress that has been made on the subject. Some issues and challenges are also highlighted including the misconceptions that arise from the direct transference of the perception of Lean from other industrial sectors into the aerospace MRO industry. The ‘enablers and inhibitors’ of Lean within the aviation industry are also discussed. This paper exposes the scarcity of the literature and the general lagging behind of the industry to the adoption of the Lean paradigm and thus highlights areas where further research is required.