Primary and incisional ventral hernias are common conditions often encountered in surgical practice. Because of the frequency of this problem it has come to be managed by surgeons in general, regardless of the type of hospital or the conditions dealt with in their daily practice. Laparoscopic surgery has demonstrated to have an important role among the different technique described to repair ventral hernia with less recurrent rate, less morbidity and less overall cost than open conventional repair, with all the advange of the laparoscopic approach. As a result the indications for this surgical technique are currently being debated since the advantages are evident and progressive implementation is ensured. Now is the time to analyze the usefulness, results, technical variants, anatomic, physiologic and scientific basis and implications involved in implementation of laparoscopy as the technique of choice.

This book reports four structural equation models (SEM) for quantifying the relationship between the most important lean manufacturing (LM) practices applied to the manufacturing industry. The SEMs are evaluated using 220 responses to a survey applied to manufacturing companies applying LM principles in the production system and are related to: distribution and maintenance, production process and quality system, supply chain and quality, and an integrator model. The findings identify the most important activities for every LM practices and how they are related. These relationship' values will help administrators, managers, engineers to focus their efforts on these most important activities, facilitating the decision-making process.