Lean without Stress: Development of a Sustainable Production Concept

Together with researchers from the Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Management at DTU and the National Research Center for the Working Environment (NFA), John Johansen, Frances Jørgensen, Jacob Nielsen and Rikke Matthiesen from the Center for Industrial Production (CIP) have recently initiated a three year project aimed at developing a model for implementation of Lean Manufacturing that supports a positive working environment in Danish organizations. Although companies throughout the world, including Denmark, have been achieving often dramatic results through its implementation, there is a growing concern that the intensified demands associated with Lean Manufacturing may lead to increased stress among members of these organizations. The development of a Lean implementation model that emphasizes both improved economic and psychosocial conditions in all types of organizations is especially relevant in Denmark, with the recent heightened awareness of the individual and societal costs of stressful working environments.

The Lean without Stress project, which is being financed by the National Work Environment Research Foundation with a total budget of DKK 5,9 mio., involves the active participation of a number of large Danish concerns from the industrial, administrative and service sectors, including Danfoss, Velux, Novo Nordisk, Copenhagen National and Vejle Hospitals, Frederiksborg Amt, SparNord, and employee interest groups and union agencies. Once a model of "best practices" is developed on the basis of these companies' experiences with Lean implementation and an extensive review and analysis of the literature, an implementation manual will be published. Using action-research methods, the research group will then test the model in 9 companies. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected to measure the efficacy of the model in terms of economic and psychosocial effects. Findings from the study are expected to be published periodically, via conferences, articles, seminars, and a book detailing the theoretical and managerial aspects of the developed model.

Project Duration: 1 November 2006-30 November 2009.