A novel interpretation of Service Management in the perspective of Lean Production

The culture and the operational methods of service management (SM) have become a formidable competitive weapon even for manufacturing firms. The term "service factory" has been proposed for identifying that particular integration of products and services, achieved by the excellent manufacturing firm. On the other hand, Lean Production (LP) emerged as one of the most popular topics in business and manufacturing literature. Since the cardinal work of the International Motor Vehicle Program at MIT several companies have gained superior performances by adopting the Toyota Production System. Lean production is seen as the third step in an historical progression, which took industry from the age of the craftsman through the methods of mass production and into an era that combined the best of both. Starting from the analysis of literature related to both the concept of service management and LP practices, the authors propose a novel interpretation of Service Management in the perspective of Lean Production. In the paper a matrix-based model is developed and highlights the relationships between the main practices that characterize Lean production with four distinctive features of Service Management. The model shows how the traditional characteristics of service factory underlie the functioning of Lean Production firms.