OBJECTIVES To demonstrate the contribution of community pharmacy from NHS 111 referrals out of hours (OOH) for emergency supply repeat medication requests via presentation of service activity, community pharmacist feedback and lean thinking transformation. DESIGN Descriptive service evaluation using routine service activity data over the pilot period; survey of community pharmacists, and serv...

This chapter focuses on providing a methodology for lean thinking based investment planning from the perspective of cellular or hybrid manufacturing systems. The chapter has been divided into three parts. First part provides a general explanation of why lean thinking is so beneficial for managing manufacturing processes and obtaining sustained improvement. This part then moves to the aim of cel...

Software-intensive systems are increasingly part of new products, which leads to significant business impact. This is especially true for the automotive industry where a majority of new innovations are realized through the use of software. The architecture of the software-intensive system will enable value creation when working properly or, in the worst case, prevent value creation. Lean Thinki...

While improvement methods have delivered higher efficiency and better quality products, the question of applicability in healthcare is still clouded by uncertainty. Traditionally, there have been opposing views: on the one hand promoting large-scale industrial-type improvement to bring healthcare into the modern era and, on the other, arguing that people are not motor cars and that simplistic a...