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Implementing Lean Production in an Old Industrial Space: Restructuring at Corner Brook, Newfoundland, 1984–1994
Author(s) -
Norcliffe Glen,
Bates Judy
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
canadian geographer / le géographe canadien
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.35
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1541-0064
pISSN - 0008-3658
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-0064.1997.tb00929.x
Subject(s) - restructuring , workforce , mill , production (economics) , modernization theory , business , lean manufacturing , operations management , engineering , economic growth , economics , finance , mechanical engineering , macroeconomics
Kruger Incorporated purchased the aging pulp and paper mill in Corner Brook in 1984, armed with a federal‐provincial modernization agreement and a pattern‐breaking contract with the mill unions. It is argued that changes made in the decade since then correspond most closely with a form of lean production. Six elements of lean production are found at Corner Brook: tighter coordination of production and automation; a continued concentration on core activities; the farming out of ancillary activities; shrinking and segmentation of the workforce; environmental compliance, increasing technical efficiency; and the co‐opting of the workforce into the mission of the firm.