Shingo prize recognises research excellence in world-class manufacturing
A Research Prize was awarded to the article "The Effects of Just-in-Time/Lean Production on Worker Job Stress" by Robert Conti, Bryant University and the University of Cambridge; Jannis Angelis and Colin Gill, University of Cambridge. The article describes a multi-industry empirical study of the relationship of worker job stress to a range of lean production practices, as well as to the degree of lean production implementation. A total of 1,391 workers, from 21 manufacturing sites in four UK industry sectors, responded to the study. Eleven work practices were found to be significantly related to job stress, and an unexpected non-linear response of stress to lean production implementation was identified. The results indicate that lean production is not inherently stressful for workers. Job stress levels appear to be significantly related to management decisions in designing and operating lean systems.