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Application of Heijunka for Surgical Production Leveling

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Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IJCIEOM 2022)

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics ((PROMS,volume 400))

Abstract

The increasing demand and the limitation of resources in health organizations raise the need for more efficient management. With demand higher than the capacity, patient queues increase, causing hospitals to need flexible management mechanisms to deal with the existing lists. In this context, adaptations of principles and methods of Industrial Engineering and Management, such as Lean Thinking and Heijunka, naturally arise. These adaptations contribute to the improvement of performance in health processes. This work aims to reduce the average resolution times of surgical cases by application of Heijunka to level the surgical production between different specialties of a large Brazilian hospital. With the application of Heijunka principles, the organization obtained an estimated mean reduction in the resolution time of elective surgeries from 17 to 10 months. In addition to the equity obtained between the queues of the specialties, reduction of costs with materials, consultations, and preoperative examinations, there are also estimated cost savings. In this context, Heijunka has advantages related to the leveling of surgical production, greater equity in resolution times, and serves as a tool for planning the distribution of operating rooms.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Algoritmi Research Centre, Department of Production and Systems, School of Engineering of the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Thiago A. Souza, Rui M. Lima & Erik T. Lopes

  2. Escola Politécnica – Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção e Sistemas/Programa de Pós-Graduação em Gestão e Negócios – UNISINOS, Sao Leopoldo, Brazil

    Guilherme L. R. Vaccaro

Authors
  1. Thiago A. Souza
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  2. Guilherme L. R. Vaccaro
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  3. Rui M. Lima
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  4. Erik T. Lopes
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering, Universidad Anáhuac, Anáhuac Huixquilucan, Mexico

    Victor Manuel López Sánchez

  2. Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

    Francisco Gaudêncio Mendonça Freires

  3. Industrial Engineering and Management, Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon, Portugal

    João Carlos Gonçalves dos Reis

  4. DEGEIT, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Joana Maria Costa Martins das Dores

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Souza, T.A., Vaccaro, G.L.R., Lima, R.M., Lopes, E.T. (2022). Application of Heijunka for Surgical Production Leveling. In: López Sánchez, V.M., Mendonça Freires, F.G., Gonçalves dos Reis, J.C., Costa Martins das Dores, J.M. (eds) Industrial Engineering and Operations Management. IJCIEOM 2022. Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, vol 400. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14763-0_22

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