Frontpage  About  admin@impgroup.org
Paper info: The Lean Value Network System: Co-Investment And Co-Innovation As Drivers For A Sustainable Position In The Marketplace

Title


The Lean Value Network System: Co-Investment And Co-Innovation As Drivers For A Sustainable Position In The Marketplace

Authors


Mikolaj Fiksinski
Delft University of Technology (TUD)
Netherlands
Mikolaj Fiksinski ,
Sakyi Amoa
Delft University of Technology (TUD)
Netherlands
Sakyi Amoa ,
Sicco Santema
Technical University Eindhoven and Delft
Netherlands
Sicco Santema and Wouter W. A. Beelaerts van Blokland

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 23rd IMP-conference in Manchester, UK in 2007.

Download


Download paper
(362.3 kb)

Abstract


The current situation companies find themselves in, where the battle for market share is fiercer thanever, cost cutting becomes too often an end in itself. This leads to loss instead of creating newpossibilities. A change in the way of thinking is therefore needed. Lean thinking places ‘optimizingthe total value’ instead of ‘minimizing the cost’ as the main goal. This approach can also be found inthe way the supply chain is organized. Principles of Lean can be applied across company bordersthroughout the whole supply chain. Even the end customer becomes an integral part of the value chain,enabling the customer direct access to company processes and information, e.g. Built-to-Order, Trackand-Trace. The customer (the demand part of the chain) is now able to steer company processes andactually the entire production process throughout the chain. Thus the chain must be configured to suitthe demand (customer), which directly drives the total value chain. Extensive coordination, exchangeof information and interaction between companies are the new challenges. Therefore, in order to reallymaximize the value of the total system, companies increasingly work together on innovation. This coinnovationincreases their agility to adapt to market developments.In this paper several case studies of companies will be discussed, which have started to adopt leanwithin their organizations and thereby influencing the entire chain. A benchmark will be performedthat will indicate the ‘leanness’ or ‘agility’ and extent of co-innovation of the organizations in relationto each other. Suitable indicators of this leanness and co-innovation are turnover and profit per capita,and the innovation investment multiplier respectively. The organizations will be analyzed according tothe 3C model (continuation - conception - configuration), which identifies these three stages,including their relations, in the process of co-innovation.