The present paper proposes a modified version of the Manufacturing cost deployment (MCD) method to analyse engineer-to-order (ETO) production systems. The novel approach, named Project cost deployment (PCD), introduces two substantial and innovative modifications. To begin with, the concept of manual assembly macro-activity replaces the traditional concept of station. Then, a brand-new structure for classifying and analysing losses is introduced, that is specifically defined to deal with the inefficiencies of the manual assembly tasks. The validity of the approach is proved by a real-world industrial application. The obtained results demonstrate that the PCD method allows the analyst to identify the hidden losses and to quantify the wastes from an economical point of view. In addition, PCD permits to estimate the impacts of potential (lean) improvement activities and projects in terms of both efficiency and effectiveness.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a new Lean metric named Overall Task Effectiveness (OTE), which can help analyst to define target task times and to identify the hidden losses that account for most of the recorded time of manual assembly activities.Design/methodology/approach: An alternative classification structure of the losses is developed to divide them in two classes. In the first one the losses that are external to the project order are included, and in the other one those due to inefficiencies directly ascribable to the project order are considered. Starting from this classification structure of the losses, a novel Lean metric, inspired from the well-known Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), is developed to evaluate the effectiveness of a manual assembly task. A case study, which briefly explains the methodology and illustrates the capability of the corresponding metric, is provided.Findings: This tool can be considered a suitable method to achieve simultaneously a dual purpose to establish time standards and to identify the hidden losses that account for most of the recorded time of manual assembly activities, estimating the impacts of potential corrective actions in terms of both efficiency and effectiveness.Practical implications: OTE provides practitioners with an operative tool useful to highlight the points where the major inefficiencies take place in industries producing large complex items via manual assembly lines. Its practical application is demonstrated using a case study concerning a manufacturer of train wagons.Originality/value: One distinctive, and contemporarily appealing, feature of OTE with respect to other analogous KPIs is that it provides a breakdown structure for process losses that simplifies the task of evaluating the current performances and, at the same time, individuates both the source of losses and the corresponding corrective actions.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a structured framework whose objectives are to identify, analyse and eliminate fashion-luxury supply chains inefficiencies.Design/methodology/approach: A Lean Manufacturing tool, the 5-Whys Analysis, has been used to find out the root causes associated with the problem identified from a data analysis of production orders of a fashion-luxury company. A case study, which explains the methodology and illustrates the capability of the tool, is provided.Findings: This tool can be considered a suitable instrument to identify the causal factors of inefficiencies within luxury supply chains, suggesting potential countermeasures able to eliminate the problems previously highlighted. In addition, enabling technologies that deal with Industry 4.0 are associated with the root causes to enable further improvement of the supply chain.Practical implications: The effectiveness and practicality of the tool are illustrated using an industrial case study concerning an international Italian signature in the world of fashion-luxury footwear sector.Originality/value: This framework provides practitioners with an operative tool useful to highlight where the major inefficiencies of fashion-luxury supply chains take place and, at the same time, individuates both the root causes of inefficiencies and the corresponding corrective actions, even considering Industry 4.0 enabling technologies.

Construction projects are often unique, time-limited and require a high degree of customization by involving a significant number of Engineer-to-Order (ETO) components. Usually, ETO construction supply chains are composed by a fabrication part off-site and the installation part on-site where different supply chains have to be merged. Generally, many problems are identified during construction on-site and often in a late phase when recovering actions cannot be applied anymore. As a result, construction projects frequently face delays and budget overruns. Owing to these considerations, the paper proposes (i) a framework able to identify the losses and causes of ETO construction supply chains and (ii) a novel metric named Overall Construction Productivity (OCP) supporting the quantification of the overall impact of losses and the implementation of improvement actions. The proposed framework and metric were applied and validated in a medium-sized ETO façade supplier company and a hospital construction project.