English

The Mobility of Lean Production:
A Study of How the Concept of Lean Production has been

Disseminated throughout the World

Division of Quality Technology and Management

Nan Li

Degree Project
Department of Management and Engineering
LIU-IEI-TEK-A--07/00141--SE

URL (for electronic version)

Title The mobility of Lean Production: A Study of How the Concept of Lean Production has been Disseminated
throughout the World
Author Nan Li

Abstract

Lean production is known as one of the most famous and popular methodologies applied in optimizing managing
and manufacturing nowadays. It has a big impact on operation performance such as cost reducing, quality
improving and productivity enhancing. The concept has attracted many researchers and managers throughout the
world.

In this thesis, deep investigation and research are implemented firstly in order to track how lean production
strategy has been spread to all the corners of the world during those years and what kinds of changes and
improvement of lean production have been made. Second, some other producing and managing alternatives
proposed by some articles authors are summarized. Last, a comparison between the new alternatives and lean
production are made so as to uncover the future trends of lean production.

Date of presentation

Date of presentation (Electronic version)

Department and Division
Department of Management and
Engineering
Division of Quality Technology and
Management

Key words
Lean production, Dissemination, Culture difference, Human, Region, Flexibility, Literature review.
Language

x English
Other
Type of report

Licentiate thesis
x Degree project
vrig rapport
ISBN:
ISRN: LIU-IEI-TEK-A-- 07/00141--SE
Serietitel

Serienummer/ISSN

The Mobility of Lean Production:
A Study of How the Concept of Lean Production has been
Disseminated throughout the World

Division of Quality Technology and Management

Nan Li

Supervisor
Prof. Mattias Elg

Degree Project
Department of Management and Engineering
Linkping University
LIU-IEI-TEK-A--07/00141--SE

ACKOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledgements

This thesis is the end of my study life in the master program in Manufacturing
Management in Linkoping University, but also lead to a new interesting research field
in my further education. As the most desired study program when I planned to
continue my study in Sweden, the program of Manufacturing Management brought
me a lot, not only in gaining knowledge, but also in making many friends all over the
world.

I want to give all my appreciations to my supervisor Prof. Mattias Elg first. Without
his help, I would not have the chance to start this work and complete it successfully.

Thanks to all the staff in division of Quality Technology and Management, teachers
and technicians, thanks for giving me convenient and comfortable study environment.

Also, I am really grateful for my parents and friends for their supports, I will love you
forever.

ABSTRACT

Abstract

Lean production is known as one of the most famous and popular methodologies
applied in optimizing managing and manufacturing nowadays. It has a big impact on
operation performance such as cost reducing, quality improving and productivity
enhancing. The concept has attracted many researchers and managers throughout the
world.

In this thesis, deep investigation and research are implemented firstly in order to track
how lean production strategy has been spread to all the corners of the world during
those years and what kinds of changes and improvements of lean production have
been made. Second, some other producing and managing alternatives proposed by
some articles authors are summarized. Last, a comparison between the new
alternatives and lean production are made so as to uncover the future trends of lean
production.

Key words: Lean production, Dissemination, Culture difference, Human, Region,
Flexibility, Literature review.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents

1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Background .................................................................................................. 2
1.2 Objective ...................................................................................................... 4
2 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Selection of Method ..................................................................................... 5
2.2 Procedures .................................................................................................... 5
2.3 Problem Discussion and Research Questions .............................................. 7
2.4 Delimitations ................................................................................................ 9
2.4.1 Quality of Studies .............................................................................. 9
3 Analysis and Results ............................................................................................. 11
3.1 Tracking Lean Production over Time ......................................................... 11
3.1.1 The Development of Lean Production Definition ........................... 11
3.1.2 Distributions of Articles ................................................................... 13
3.1.3 Distributions of Regional Areas over Time ..................................... 14
3.2 Applied Fields of Lean Production ............................................................ 16
3.2.1 Automotive Industry ........................................................................ 16
3.2.2 High-Tech Industry .......................................................................... 17
3.2.3 Services ............................................................................................ 18
3.2.4 Aerospace Industry .......................................................................... 19
3.2.5 Textile Industry ................................................................................ 20
3.2.6 Tile Industry ..................................................................................... 20
3.2.7 Construction Industry....................................................................... 21
3.2.8 Steel and Furniture Industries .......................................................... 22
3.2.9 Logistics and Supply Chain Management ....................................... 22
3.3 Culture Difference ...................................................................................... 24
3.4 Organizational Changes .............................................................................. 25
3.5 Other Alternatives and Future Trends ........................................................ 27
3.5.1 Agile Manufacturing ........................................................................ 28
3.5.2 Leagile Strategy ............................................................................... 28
3.5.3 Adaptable Production ....................................................................... 29
3.5.4 Parallel Flow Manufacturing ........................................................... 30
4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 31
TABLE OF CONTENTS
5 References ............................................................................................................. 33
6 Appendix ............................................................................................................... 37

INTRODUCTION
- 1 -
1 Introduction
This thesis is a part of an ongoing project Mobility of Production Concepts between
Cultures which takes place within the context of HELIX (Managing Mobility for
Learning, Health and Innovation) Research and Innovation Centre. HELIX focuses
on what the factors that drive innovation, what the role of mobility plays in labor
market conditions, education and training providers, public health and social
insurance as well as companies and public sector organizations and also how those
fields above interact each other (HELIX). The research of the mobility of lean
production which is one of the most popular production concepts should be important
and representative for the further study.

It has been 17 years since the concept of lean production was first proposed by
Womack and J ones in the book The Machine That Changed the World in 1990. With
the 17 years development, the concept of lean production is accepted by a growing
number of people and applied widely not only in manufacturing field as it originated
but also in other broad fields, such as administration, service and logistics. However,
most researchers focus on studying the applications of lean production in specific
industry or department and how to apply it to improve the companies performance,
such as Kollberg et al. (2007), Pollitt (2006), Pheng and Fang (2005), Simons and
Zokaei (2005), Comm and Mathasiel (2005), Taj (2005), Dhandapani et al., (2004) as
well as Sanchez and Perez (2001). Only a few of them notice whether there is a close
and unavoidable relationship between the implementation of lean production and
regional cultures, for example, Sandford (2005) and Basu and Miroshnik (1999).
Nevertheless, few authors do a deep investigation in the distribution and diffusion of
lean production, which might present us a clear picture of the changing applied
circumstances of lean production during these years. It is the reason that we carry this
research. In this thesis, an empirical literature review will be carried out based on two
databases search and five research questions that are summarized from the search
result are presented, which are also as the guide to the following analysis.

The structure of this thesis is shown as follows. The objective of this thesis is
conducted firstly. Then the methodology of this thesis and those five questions are
described. The result of exploring these five questions are analyzed and discussed in
the subsequent section. And in the last chapter, the conclusion that includes the
important findings of the analysis is drawn and also the further research trend is
INTRODUCTION
- 2 -
highlighted.
1.1 Background
Before the emergence of Toyota Production System in 1940, mass production which
came from Henry Ford in the early 20
th
century, famously for the Ford Model-T was
popularized around the world for many years, a large number of companies adopted
this revolutionized production system, even now, many industries are still only
appropriate for mass production rather than lean production.

Because of the weak economic environment after World War II, companies in J apan
could not afford too much cost in manufacturing products as western companies, they
had to explore some other production patterns with less cost and high efficiency. The
automotive manufacture Toyota was the one that succeed in contriving a novel
production system that had the contribution to reduce costs, increase efficiency and
produce better quality compared to mass production. Consequently, this remarkable
production pattern, as one of key factors of the success of Toyota makes Toyota
prosper and become one of the most important automotive manufactures in the world.
In 1990, Americans J ames P. Womack and Daniel T. J ones extracted the most
important and essential principles of Toyota Production System and created a new
production philosophy named Lean production in the book The Machine That
Changed the World (Womack and J ones, 1990). From then on, lean production
prevailed not only in J apan, but also in USA and the whole world and became one of
the dominated producing and managing system in the industries.

Lean production is a combination of mass production and craft production (Spithoven,
2001). Mass production which was from USA and famous for Ford Model can
produce a large amount of standardized products once on the production lines,
however, the lack of variety and flexibility could be resulted due to the standardized
production, which means it is not flexible to change or redesign those products that
are already on the production lines. Moreover, all the products produced in the
production lines are the same, which could not satisfy some specific requirements
from the customers. Craft production is a traditional production technique that was
used in the earlier time of manufacturing. During that period, the order was very few,
sometimes only one or two and every product was produced manually. As the
consequence, high variety and good quality could be achieved but less output.
Therefore manufacturers can produce products that completely satisfy the customers
need.
INTRODUCTION
- 3 -
The reason why lean production is designed is that the manufacturers want to have
more competitive in the market, meet varieties of customers need, acquire higher
quality of products, and obtain more profit. Lean production is also called half the
amount: comparing with mass production, lean production half the human effort in
the factory, half the manufacturing space, half the investment in tools and half the
engineering hours to develop a new product. (Spithoven, 2001) Lean production
aims to surpass the quality of craft production and reduce the waste of mass
production. The products which are manufactured using lean production strategy will
have both the craft production good quality and mass production large amount, as
well as the lowest waste and cost.

Five fundamental and essential principles of lean production are briefly explained
following and also some examples of the principles can be found in Simons and
Zokaei (2005), Dhandapani et al. (2004), Roberton and J ounes (1999) and etc.:
Value. Precisely identify the value according to the final customers perspective,
which means that companies should precisely understand the specific
requirements from the customers view not from the companies viewpoint. In
other words, companies should know the exact product or service the customers
are willing to pay.
Value stream. This is a route of all specific actions required to produce a product
from the raw materials to the end customers. In this step, enormous numbers of
muda will be exposed by using a tool called Value Stream Mapping (VSM) which
greatly helps to identify and reduce the waste in the value stream. Three types of
activities are indentified in this step: Value-adding activities, Non-value adding
activities and Non-value adding but necessary activities. To reduce cost and waste,
non-value adding activities should be eliminated as many as possible.
Flow. Design the value-adding activities to be a continuous and smooth single
product flow, which leads to short lead time, less cost, good quality and no
inventory between processes.
Pull. It is the most famous and important principle of lean production. Pull
strategy indicates that not produce anything until receive a customers order,
which means manufacturing is pulled by end customers completely. It is the
opposite of push strategy that suggests that manufacture a large amount numbers
of products in inventory in advance according to demand forecasting, which
would result in high inventory, unnecessary over producing and slow response to
changes. Some techniques like J ust-In-Time, Kanban and Single Minute
Exchange of Die (SMED) are used to achieve pull.
Perfection. Pursuing perfection is the final essential of lean production and also
INTRODUCTION
- 4 -
the result of continuous improvement. The aim of perfection is to find and
eliminate all muda in the processes in order to provide customer with better
products or service. Continuous improvement, Six Sigma, TQM (Total Quality
Management) and visual management, and etc. are usually used to gain
perfection.

Moreover, some tools and techniques of lean production based on those five
principles above are presented:
Eliminating non-value adding activities: eliminating everything that cannot add
value to the products or services in the process.
Continuous improvement: improving quality and service, reducing costs, and
increasing productivity.
Flexible information system: sharing information more quickly and accurately.
Takt-time: it is the acceptable maximum time to manufacture a product according
to the customer demand and the pace/ rate of manufacturing is set based on
Takt-time in order to prevent the waste of over producing. In essence, producing
to Takt-time is a type of standardization.
Standardized work: it means that work of process flow is organized, followed and
repeated by operators in a team. High quality, productivity and safety will be
achieved by applying standardized work.
Visual control: make problems visible and be easily found.
J ust-In-Time (J IT) production and delivery: it is based on waste elimination and
continuous improvement, which means that producing the right part in the right
place at the right time.
Multi-team-based working: multi-skilled workers work in the cross-functional
organization.
Integration of suppliers: building and maintaining a long term relationship with
suppliers through collaborative risk sharing, cost sharing and information sharing
agreements (Sanchez and Perez, 2001; Comm and Mathaisel, 2005; Simon and
Zokaei, 2005).
1.2 Objective
The main purpose of this study is to develop the knowledge about how lean
production philosophy has been diffused and applied all over the world based on the
result of two databases search (1993-2007), whether there are any developments or
improvements during those years and what the tendency of lean production is in the
future.
METHODOLOGY
- 5 -
2 Methodology
In this part, the author will present the methodology used in this research. Moreover,
research delimitation and reliability are described in detail as well.
2.1 Selection of Method
This research is aim to study the world wide distributions of the applications of lean
production. It is impossible for us to visit and investigate all the companies in
different countries all over the world, thus the most economic and effective way to
carry out this research are the Internet and some databases. Therefore, two economic
and business databases: Emerald and Business Source Premier as well as some
information from the internet serve as the primary data sources of this study.
2.2 Procedures
The first thing to be done when this research starts is to find the keywords that have
the closest relationships to lean production and its dissemination. Obviously, Lean
production is the most necessary word in this searching and after the search of Lean
production, there are about 2600 articles in the two databases. Subsequently, some
words such as Dissemination, Culture, Difference, Flexibility, Human and
Regional which are quite related to this research objective are chosen preferentially.
Moreover, synonyms and all terms of the phase of those words mentioned above are
also listed so as to extend the search. One possible keywords tree is drawn as follows
(Figure 1).

METHODOLOGY
- 6 -
Spread
Dissemination
Diffusion
Culture background
Culture Local culture
Cross culture
Variance
Lean production Difference
Diversity

Flexibility Mobility

Local
Regional
Country
Human
Figure 1 Searching-keywords tree

The search algorithm is like this: since only three keywords positions can be used
each search in the database system and Lean production is necessary, thus the rest
two keywords vacancies could be: any two or one or none of the keywords in the
Figure 1 except Lean production. For example, Lean production, Lean
production & Dissemination and Lean production & Dissemination & Culture,
similarly, Lean production & Flexibility and Lean production & Flexibility &
Culture background and so on. With the keywords limitation, the numbers of articles
are reduced to 241 in the two databases. Due to this empirical research, some kinds of
non-empirical articles such as literature review papers, technical papers and
conceptual papers are filtered out, and thus the rest 216 empirical articles, including
case studies, surveys, best practice and viewpoints are left in total (Figure 2).
METHODOLOGY
- 7 -

Figure 2 Family trees contributing to the articles source

40 articles that are the most associated with this research topic from these 216
empirical articles are chosen as the final data sources. It means that all the statistic
data which are within the graphs or figures in the following part are from these 40
articles.
2.3 Problem Discussion and Research Questions
16 key dimensions that can cover all the information about an article are defined, and
then all the articles which are selected from the database search above are categorized
and analyzed according to these 16 dimensions (Table 1).

METHODOLOGY
- 8 -
Category Covered Content Description
Description
of authors
and source
Topic [1] The tile of the article
Author (s) [2] Author (s) name
Author (s) title [3] Include researcher, consultant,
journalist and financial supporter.
Source [4]
Published year [5]
Methodology Method (s) for study [6] Include case study, survey, based
on practice, literature review,
technical paper, viewpoint,
conceptual paper and debating.
Main method in description
[7]
Include methodology, structure
and culture.
Issues about
lean
production
Relative areas of research [8] Include Asia, Europe, North
America, South America, Africa
and Oceania.
Fields of research [9] Include manufacturing,
administration, distribution, R&D,
sale and service.
Definition of lean production
[10]
Describe the definition of lean
production mentioned in the
article.
Definition is clear or not [11] Include precise and not clear.
Degree of definition [12] Include redesign, basic, continuous
improvement and breakthrough.
Author (s) bias [13] Include positive, neutral and
negative.
Degree of
research [14]
Include deep, new concept and
superficial.
Main
findings [15]
Describe the main findings of the
articles.
Key words
[16]

Table 1 Categories of 16 dimensions

After analyzing all the selected articles and these 16 dimensions, the following five
questions which can describe the distributions and developments of lean production
completely and exactly are summarized.

These five questions will be discussed in this study in terms of the objective
respectively, and they also can be considered as the indicators of this paper:
How has the concept of lean production been developed over time?
METHODOLOGY
- 9 -
In which areas or fields are the concept of lean production implemented and
used?
Are there any cultural differences when the concept of lean production is
implemented in different geographical regions?
Are there any organizational changes when the concept of lean production is
implemented?
What are the future trends of managing and producing methodologies based on
this empirical research?
2.4 Delimitations
In this research, we utilize two databases as our study sources, which might be
insufficient for investigating the diffusion of lean production around the world, there
could be other significant articles and papers about lean production in other databases
which are not involved in this research, thus data sources may be the primary
limitation of this study. Therefore, in view of the source limit, we only take into
account the articles included in these two databases in this study.
2.4.1 Quality of Studies
The two databases used in this thesis are famous and commonly used for searching
economy, industry, business, management, marketing and etc. articles, journals and
papers. There is a comparison of Emerald and Business Source Premier below (Table
2).

METHODOLOGY
- 10 -

Emerald Business Source Premier
Main Fields Management, Library
services and Engineering
Business, including marketing,
management, MIS, POM,
accounting, finance and
economics.
Number of Sources More than 75,000 full text
articles and 200,000
reviews.
More than 2,300 journals,
including full text for more than
1,100 peer-reviewed business
publications.
Examples of Journals Management Decision,
European J ournal of
Marketing, Leadership &
Organization Development
J ournal, J ournal of
Consumer Marketing and
Library Management
Harvard Business Review,
California Management Review,
Administrative Science
Quarterly, Academy of
Management J ournal, Academy
of Management Review,
Industrial & Labor Relations
Review, J ournal of Management
Studies, J ournal of Marketing
Management, J ournal of
Marketing Research (J MR),
J ournal of Marketing, J ournal of
International Marketing.
Other Included Sources Over 1,600 worldwide
university libraries.
Country economic reports from
the EIU, Global Insight, ICON
Group and Country Watch and
detailed company profiles for the
world's 10,000 largest
companies.
Downloads/month Average 75,000 times
Table 2 The comparison of Emerald and Business Source Premier

From the concise descriptions above, it is believed that these two databases have
reliable and sufficient paper sources which can be trusted. It also means that the result
of this research is completely impersonal and dependable and reflects the current real
status of the applications of lean production in the world.

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
- 11 -
3 Analysis and Results
3.1 Tracking Lean Production over Time
Originally developed from Toyota Production System in J apan and first proposed by
Womack and J ones in the book The Machine That Changed the World (Womack and
J ones, 1990) in 1990, lean production philosophy has been 17 years and been widely
adopted in the most of fields of industries nowadays. Although lean production was
improved continuously in the past 17 years and had been proved that it has the
capability to offer resolutions to these difficulties: more drastic competition of market,
more customers specific needs, higher quality of products, quicker cycles of
production, more attentions on environment, lower profit space, and etc., it has the
inability to accommodate the variations or reductions in demand for finished product
(Katayama and Bennett, 1996). That may be the reason that many companies or
industries still do not accept lean production as their manufacturing strategy and many
researchers try to find out other better alternatives.
3.1.1 The Development of Lean Production Definition
By carrying out this research, an interesting and important result is concluded that no
matter how the tools and techniques of lean production are improved and the applied
domains is extended, the basic definitions and principles of lean production are not
changed at all during the past 17 years and the core tools and techniques such as waste
elimination, J IT, TQM (Total Quality Management), continuous improvement, pull
system, standardized work, multi-team-based working, low inventory, non-value
adding activities reduction, and etc. are also mainly and widely used all over the
world in these days. For example, Erci Harwit concluded some features of lean
production in 1993:
Assembly-line workers grouped in teams leader (rather than a foreman) often
taking part in assembly.
Set time for teams to suggest quality-improving changes, a process called Kaizen
(improvement).
Suppliers delivered Just-In-Time and producers have minimum inventories.
Close cooperation between designers, engineering and dealers, and reliance on
detailed consumer survey in tailoring products to the public need. (Harwit, 1993)

- 12 -
And Amrik S. Sohal and Adrian Eggestone also pointed out some characteristics of
lean production in 1994:
Team-based work organization; this involves flexible, multi-skilled operators
taking a high degree of responsibility for work within their areas;
Active shopfloor problem-solving structures, central to kaizen or continuous
improvement activities;
Lean manufacturing operations, which force problems to be surfaced and
corrected, manifested by: low inventories; the management of quality by
prevention rather than detection and subsequent correction; small numbers of
direct workers, and small-batch, just-in-time production;
High commitment human resource policies which encourage a sense of shared
destiny within a factory;
Close, shared destiny relations with suppliers, typically in the context of much
smaller supply bases;
Cross-functional development teams; and
Retailing and distribution channels which provide close links to the customer and
permit a make-to-order strategy to operate. (Sohal and Egglestone, 1994)

Similarly, Beata Kollberg, J ens J . Dahlgaard and Per-Olaf Brehmer described lean
thinking exactly as the five principles that are from Womack and J ones:
Identification of customer value.
Management of the value stream.
Developing a flow production.
Using pull techniques.
Striving to perfection. (Kollberg et al., 2007)

Also, Shahram Taj and Lismar Berro suggested Lean manufacturing is much more
than a techniques; it is a way of thinking, and the whole system approach that creates
a culture in which everyone in the organization continuously improve operations. The
lean approach is focused on systematically reducing waste (muda) in the value stream.
(Taj and Berro, 2006) All the principles and characteristics of lean production
presented above are very similar to the original principles and techniques of lean
production which are explained in the chapter 1.1.

However, some notable improvements to lean production since it was proposed also
contribute a lot to the current scheme of lean production. Initially, lean production
was mainly used in the individual firm or individual department. Most companies
might apply lean production only in the manufacturing department for trials, after the
- 13 -
experimentation periods and getting satisfied results, companies accepted lean
production and gradually used it in more and more departments and even between
companies. As a result, lean production is not only used in individual companies or
departments, but also built into networks to connect their suppliers and customers
together now.

Secondly, lean production also gives a guidance to lean thinking which could have
many activities such as lean product development, lean procurement, lean service, and
lean distribution, consequently, the lean enterprise (Bonavia and Marin, 2006). Lean
enterprise implements lean thinking in from shop floor to management level, from
customers to suppliers and from internal environment to external environment, thus
enhances competitiveness of the entire companies.
3.1.2 Distributions of Articles
To carry on this empirical research, 40 articles, just as described in Chapter 2.2, were
chosen from the two databases, most of which are surveys and case studies, the rest
are based on practice and personal viewpoints. Those articles are completely
empirical and cover almost the whole world: Europe, Asia, North America, South
America, Oceanic and Africa, including more than 23 countries. More statistics could
be found in Figure 3 and Figure 4.

Europe holds nearly half amount of the total articles and refers to many industries,
such as automotive industry, electronic industry, computer industry,
telecommunication industry, tile industry, aerospace industry, services, and etc. North
America and Asia stand second and third places respectively, they cover not only
those industries which are mentioned above, but also some new industries, for
instance, steel industry, textile industry, food industry and construction industry,
which mean the scopes of the applications of lean production have been extended
over time. UK and USA are the two countries applying lean production concept most,
and the followings are J apan, France, Sweden, Spain and Mexico and so on. Figure 5
shows the attitude of authors about implementing lean production. Most authors, e.g.
Kollberg et al.( 2007), Rothstein ( 2004), Taj and Berro (2006), Comm and Mathaisel
( 2005), Dhandapani et al. (2004), Pheng and Fang (2005), Pollitt (2006) and etc.
confirm lean production indeed give companies some positive impacts, for example,
high productivity, more profit, high efficiency, less cost, less waste, and etc. ,
nevertheless, other authors, e.g. Spithoven (2001), Engstrm et al. (1996), Levy
(1997), Worley and Doolen (2006), Yusuf and Adeleye, (2002), Katayama and

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- 14 -
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- 15 -
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- 16 -
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- 17 -
production strategy and all principles and tools can be implemented smoothly.
Successful experiences from Toyota inspire other automotive manufacturers to follow
this manufacturing paradigm.

With the best practice of lean production being implemented in many automotive
plants, the following benefits could be possible:
Lowering inventory and enhancing flexibility with integrated single-piece
production flow, small batch size and pull-driven production.
Improving quality and reducing rework and rectification costs by applying quality
control, defect preventing and Total Quality Management (Soderquist and
Motwani, 1999).
Reducing non-adding value activities and cycle time with multi-skilled operators
and team-based work.
Increasing productivity and cut reduce scrap especially combined with
constrained management (Taj and Berro, 2006).
3.2.2 High-Tech Industry
With the development of technology and information, High-tech industry became
popular and the second to the automotive that are applied in lean production in this
research. It is mostly comprised of computer, electronics, telecommunication, wireless,
cable and converter. Telecommunication differs from other high technologies even
other industries because of some special characteristics.

One telecommunication product can be considered to consist of two parts: a physical
network connection and a service over that connection. The network connection is
expensive and as other high technologies products, it does not need customization for
different requirements, which is more suitable for lean production approach. By
contrast, a service over the network connection is usually based on software, it can be
customized by individual customer requirement, which is more suitable for agile
manufacturing approach (Roberton and J ounes, 1999).

Some of characteristics of Computer industry are the same as telecommunication.
Most computer companies still follow the manufacturing pattern as other common
commodities or products: manufactured by factories and sent to markets and
customers, it may be impossible for customers to order the products as their favors,
however recently, some companies with novel manufacturing and sale patterns arose
and operated successfully such as DELL Company which is the largest direct seller of
- 18 -
PCs in the world (Bruun and Mefford, 2004). Those companies have high
customizations and allow customers to order computers themselves completely,
including price, color, hardware, software and service. Nevertheless, the prerequisite
of this production model is the Internet and E-commerce. Internet is a perfect tool for
lean production and it facilitates manufacturing, distribution, and service processes
(Bruun and Mefford, 2004) that making them easy, cheap and fast respectively.
3.2.3 Services
Airline, Food (restaurants) e.g. Bowen and Youngdahl (1998) and Health Care e.g.
Kollberg et al. (2007) are three innovative industries that mainly employ lean
production concept in service according to the 40 empirical articles. Services differ
from usual manufacturing industries, it is the one that is closest to customers, and its
product is itself. J ust as the manufacturing industries, services were operated with
mass production strategy at the beginning. However, with the increased requirements
from customers in variety, unpredictability and speed, companies felt more pressures
on inflexibility, inefficiency and poor quality, thus a new service strategy is needed to
be devised to help them out of the difficulties.

David E. Bowen and William E. Youngdahl in (Bowen and Youngdahl, 1998)
mentioned that lean service solves those problems through the following methods:
Reducing setup or changeover time, and utilizing ordinary tools to produce
multiple products by flexible employees. Customers benefit from expanded
production variety, and companies benefit from expanded products without loss
of efficiency.
Totally pulled by customers and implement J ust-in-time. All products or service
are made only when receive orders from customers. Implement J IT and economy
scale batch to reduce waste and inventory and increase the visibility of process
and products quality problems.
Identify value-adding activities and eliminate waste from value flow, including
raw materials, time, inventory, and etc.
Link customers and supplier closely, and collect information about raw materials,
delivery, sale, products, quality, and etc. as soon as possible in order to plan or
modify production schedules accurately.
Offer more chances to employees and teams to participate in problem-solving and
decision-making (Bowen and Youngdahl, 1998).

Generally speaking, most principles of lean production concept applied in services are
- 19 -
the same as the ones in manufacturing industries, only some are emphasized and
highlighted in terms of the specific features of services, however the result are the
same: lean production strategy does make service better.
3.2.4 Aerospace Industry
Because of technology-intensiveness, high variety and low volume, aerospace
industry may not be fit for all rules of lean production strategy.

An essential and important difference between aerospace and other industries exists:
all are assured in the aerospace industry. Due to the huge costs, products in the
aerospace industry have to be totally driven by orders without any forecast, which is
no order on product. Whereas, for other industries, despite implementing some
principles of lean production, e.g. J IT, cell manufacturing, and Single Minute
Exchange of Die (SMED) to reduce uncertainty, there are still some speculative
factors in the process that cant be moved completely. As a consequence, those
principles mentioned above may not be powerful in the aerospace industry as they are
in other industries (Bamber and Dale, 2000).

Moreover, the redundancy programme which is necessary and cannot be got rid of is
also a big obstacle for altering organizational structure. Furthermore, employees who
are lack of education are another problem. It will not only make a negative impact on
internal companies, but also prevent to build a relationship with their supplier and
customers (Bamber and Dale, 2000).

Nevertheless, there is still other different voice of the implementation of lean
production in aerospace industry. B Haque in (Haque, 2003) demonstrated that the
application of lean principles in aerospace sector engineering or new product
introduction (NPI) processes is feasible, delivering real benefits for both large and
small companies. Some principles of lean production, such as continuous
improvement, Take time which is the maximum time allowed producing a product,
single process flow, and etc. did good performances in reducing lead time, cost and
inventory, making process more visible as well as improving quality and efficiency
(Haque, 2003).

Thus, adopting appropriate principles of lean production strategy in appropriate
departments is the key to instructing lean thinking to traditional industries.
- 20 -
3.2.5 Textile Industry
Textile industry is the industry that closest to peoples life. Developing countries are
the main place to build textile plants for the reason of labor-intensiveness and low
cost.

Thus, this paper mainly focuses on textile industry in developing countries. In those
countries, most products are made by workers with small pieces of equipment because
the payments are quite lower compared to buy large amount of machines. The least
cost way to produce products is to use the least workers to manufacture the most
products in order to make the biggest profit for companies (Comm and Mathaisel,
2005). However, this would cause some problems, such as longer lead time and loss
competition. This manufacturing method cannot produce products in a parallel way,
which means all kinds of products are manufactured serially or in sequence. The
workers who are take changes for the second step of products or components
production have to wait for the first step workers completing their job if these two
steps need the same equipment (Comm and Mathaisel, 2005). It will make companies
increase lead time, delay delivery and consequently loss their competition.

According to the situation they faced, lean production contributes to a feasible way:
small batch size, pull-driven manufacturing and J ust-in-time make companies
response quickly to changes and reduce inventory; worker in small group make
companies allocate workers more flexibility; eliminating waste and non-adding value
activities make them decrease lead time and increase throughput.

In conclusion, eliminating non-adding value activities and applying J IT are two keys
areas of the implementation of lean production in textile industry (Comm and
Mathaisel, 2005).
3.2.6 Tile Industry
Although there is only one article about tile industry: Spain ceramic tile industry, it
might represent the model of tile industry.

Unlike automotive industry or other industries, most of tile companies are localized
and small, they cannot afford to implement all the principles of lean production but
only some parts of it, especially for those small-sized companies, thus, implementing
lean think in tile industry is not as wide as other industries. Quality control and TPM
- 21 -
(Total Productive Maintenance) are the main methods used in tile industry, and in fact,
they make a positive impact on operation performance (Bonavia and Marin, 2006)

However, other principles of lean production are not so lucky. Since cell
manufacturing and pull-driven manufacturing are closely associated with kanban
system which is not suitable for the dynamic demands in tile, therefore, these two
principles could not be used in this situation. Even worse, set-up time reduction and
manufacturing standardization would make a negative impact on lead time and
inventory variation respectively (Bonavia and Marin, 2006).

Generally speaking, the implementation of lean production in tile industry is very few,
most of companies still use mass production (Bonavia and Marin, 2006), and the own
characteristics of tile industry might be the big obstacle for employing lean
production.
3.2.7 Construction Industry
Another implemented area of lean production is construction industry. Here, another
famous strategic principle will be introduced first: Sun Tzus Art of War (ST), which
is a very age-old and great theory about military and warfare from China.

ST mainly talks about how to overcome enemies through collecting and analyzing
information about enemies and itself, using least cost as well as analyzing and
utilizing external environment maximally. ST is widely used in military and business
environment including construction field. Low Sui Pheng and Teo Hui Fang in (Pheng,
and Fang, 2005) said For the interpretation of Sun Tzu in the construction context,
the contractors organization is always referred to as the State, the general as the
project manager and the ruler as the client and sometimes, even the owner of the
contracting firm. The army refers to the subordinates that work under the project
manager for the owner and the organization. The winning of the war would be
equivalent to the completion of the project that earns profit for the contracting
organization.

According to the successful implementation of lean production in other industries,
recently, it has appeared in construction industry, and the most surprisingly, lean
production principles and ST strategic principles have some agreements:
Maximize resource and control; eliminate waste of the whole process.
Make customers be involved in project and increase output value.
- 22 -
Keep long-term and close relationship with customers; make them be friends and
alliances not enemies.
Intensify continuous improvement within the whole process, reduce deviation and
improve quality.
Skill level of worker and technology level are the same significant as cost, time
and quality in the projects.
Benchmarking is very important to achieve competitive advantages for
companies (Pheng and Fang, 2005).

ST principles is still broadly and dominatingly used in construction industry, even
lean production is maturated and has same agreements as ST. Nevertheless, it is
believed that lean production may play the same important role as ST in construction
industry soon (Pheng and Fang, 2005).
3.2.8 Steel and Furniture Industries
Steel industry e.g. Dhandapani et al., (2004) and Furniture industry e.g. Pollitt (2006)
are also two main industries which are implemented lean production successfully and
widely. Lean production has good performances in improving administration, work
condition, delivery punctuality as well as lead time and total cost reduction, and etc.
3.2.9 Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Logistics and Supply chain management are also two departments influenced by the
implementation of lean production a lot, and lean production undeniably improves
distribution and logistics performance in those following areas:
Lake Theory that is from J apan indicates the relationship between inventory and
problems in the process: there is a very deep and large lake with many rocks in it,
and a boat is shipping on the surface of the lake. Because of the depth of water,
people in the boat cant see those rocks below water, which are potential risks for
the ship. Inventory is just as the lake, inventory level is the degree of depth of
water, and problems in the process are those rocks, which are hidden by high
inventory level (Christopher, 1998). Those problems could be any wrong
information about customers or market, quality problems, bottleneck and so on.
To solve this problem, inventory level need to be reduced. Some techniques of
lean production could be used to resolve it. Pull-driven production could help
companies to not depend on forecasting to catch information about customers and
market anymore, Kanban could help them to find rocks and bottlenecks in the
- 23 -
process, small batch size could help them to reduce set-up cost and ordering cost,
J IT could help them to response changes quickly. All principles are helpful to
reduce inventory level and reveal problems in time.
Bullwhip effect is a common but troubling effect in logistics and supply chain
management. Bullwhip effect shows how a small demand changes would induce
big amplitudes of order quantities and inventory level, which are further bigger
than the actual demand in the market. As a consequence, it definitely increases
inventory level and total cost. To eliminate this effect, some principles of lean
production will be used. Improving communications among all divisions is the
key to reduce magnified demand. Moreover, eliminating non-adding value
activities and sharing information are also helpful to eliminate Bullwhip effect.
Eliminating non-adding value activities is a chief principle of lean production to
lessen lead time and cost, and improve efficiency and it also works in logistics
and supply chain management.
Integrating supplier upstream and customers downstream. Collaborating with
suppliers and customers to build a supply chain network and sharing information,
cost and risk in order to attain delivery accuracy, punctuality and reliability, as
well as good quality.
Multifunctional teams make processes more flexible to changes and improve
efficiency.
Internet is a perfect tool for facilitating lean supply chain management and
logistics (Bruun and Mefford, 2004). Some software such as EDI (Electronic
Data Interchange), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and Enterprise Planning
System are very useful for establishing economic scale schedule and
communicating with suppliers and customers (Christopher, 1998).
Although lean thinking is used well in internal environment, it is indeed difficult
and expensive to apply in an international supply chain (Levy, 1997). The two
principles: DFM (Design for manufacturing) and quality control management
indeed have a good performance in decreasing defect, improving quality and
reducing disruptions in the international supply chain. However, in order to attain
those achievements, companies have to pay lots of money in communicating with
different regions, allocating appropriate people to appropriate countries, investing
advanced technology and travelling fee when introduce a new product
internationally. Furthermore, lean production is a complex and dynamic system,
thus in spite of implementing DFM and quality control, some disruptions still
might happen due to delivery reliability, quality problem, communication
problem, wrong information, and etc. Thus, it is very difficult and expensive to
execute lean production in international supply chain. Managers need to consider
- 24 -
and balance the advantages and disadvantages of lean production in international
supply chain deliberately, and make the final decision (Levy, 1997).
3.3 Culture Difference
The relationship between lean production and culture is just the same as the
relationship between the footstone and the building. Same footstone can be built into
different buildings which are varied and decided by architects, cost and functionality.
Lean production concept is the footstone and the basic principles are the same; culture,
policy and people like the architects, cost and functionality, they will decide which
principles of lean production concept should be used, where they should be applied,
how many of the principles should be adopted and to what extent they should be
utilized in terms of different conditions.

In fact, a different culture is not the essential problem for implementing lean
production, but is something within it. It is unavoidable that different countries have
different local custom and different industrial environments: labor density, degrees of
development, industrialization, education, traffic situation, price of land and so on. All
make companies have to be taken into account when putting lean production into
practice because factor variations could lead different results when applying lean
production, and sometimes, lean production is not suitable at all in some extreme
situations. For example, if the parts manufactures is far away from the main plant
because the price of land or other unfavorable situations, it would be impossible to
carry out kanban; what's more, if the workers are low-education and like self-working,
it might be difficult to persuade them to work in a team, especially in a
cross-functional team and communicate with each other frequently; furthermore, if
managers are accustomed to make a decision themselves, it may be an obstacle for
transferring information as soon as possible from upstream to downstream. Therefore,
finding the appropriate principles of lean production is the crucial step for companies
executing lean production successfully.

Companys policy is another factor that influences lean production implementation,
which is proposed in (Basu and Miroshnik, 1999), the only article about culture
impact on the applications of lean production in this research. Nissan and Toyota are
two very famous automotive manufacturers, but they adopted two completely
different policies in the plants of UK. For Toyota, there are J apanese managers at each
level of the plants; by contrast, Nissan adopts local people at those positions. However,
both of them maintain their own management styles successfully in spite of different
- 25 -
cultures and even influence other local companies (Basu and Miroshnik, 1999).

In short, culture differences indeed exist in different geographical regions.
Nevertheless, the essential factors of affecting the implementation of lean production,
just as mentioned above, is not the culture itself but something within it, and
companies policies are another fundamental aspect for carrying out different lean
production.
3.4 Organizational Changes
The implementation of lean production changes the structures of organization and
administration of companies dramatically, but it indeed makes a positive impact on
administration performances and the overall competitiveness.

There are also some changes caused by implementation of lean production, including
reducing workforce and identifying duties of the rest, training employees to be
multi-skilled, building cross-functional teams or departments, blurring boundaries
among departments, building convenient and fast information system and so on.
Actually, the failure of lean production in some traditional companies is caused by the
failure of organizational changes (Bamber and Dale, 2000). Thus, administration and
organization management are crucial for implementing lean production.

Communication and education are two keys to apply lean production successfully.
Lean production emphasizes cooperation and teamwork, thus communication is
an absolutely indispensable part to achieve lean production successfully. Some
evidence shows that most of poor communication happens among departments or
external companies (Worley and Doolen, 2006), such as supply chain. Therefore,
communication needs to be carried out not only within workers and teams, but
also among departments, it should be penetrated the whole companies from
management level to shop floor operators, from internal to external and from
suppliers to customers. Managers should work and communicate with shop floor
workers closely and frequently in order to get information about manufacturing
accurately and in time, and then plan economic scale schedules, which leads to
improve efficiency, reduce cost and time.
Education is another important factor to organizational changes caused by lean
production especially for traditional companies. Employees are accustomed to
traditional manufacturing style, and might reject these new concepts at the
beginning; moreover, employees may feel difficult to learn these new concepts
- 26 -
without managers help. Consequently, in order to help workers to adapt lean
production as soon as possible, managers need to: first, explain clearly what the
lean production is and why they need to implement it; second, provide some
materials or training lessons to help workers to join in lean production process;
last, show a implementation plans and point out the goal they will achieve
(Worley and Doolen, 2006). In addition, some encouragement policies such as
remuneration system are good and easy for workers to understand the complex
goal of lean production (Karlsson and hlstrom, 1995).

Below are some experiences from Amrik S. Sohal about building successful
organization structure for lean production:
Accepting the need to change existing attitudes, behaviors and practices. A
serious commitment by every person in the organization to achieve this is
necessary.
Full and ongoing support from top management in implementing change.
Need for a champion to drive the change initiatives and maintain the
momentum of the overall programme.
Realization by everyone that it will take a long time. There are few short-term
benefits but substantial results are possible in the long term.
Involving employees as much as possible in the planning, implementation and
evaluation of changes. Developing superior capabilities will ensure survival of
the firm in the long term as well as job security.
Developing an environment of openness and trust through communication and
sharing of information which is valid and timely. (Sohal, 1996)

However, this high efficiency and intensive work make employees feel much spirit
stress, many workers became disabled such as mental disorders, thus, it might be an
avoidable problem managers faced (Spithoven, 2001).

Moreover, Willem Niepace and Eric Molleman in (Niepce and Molleman, 1996)
mentioned another system: socio-technical system and compared it with lean
production. In Wikipedia, socio-technical system is described as A socio-technical
system (or STS) is an approach to complex organizational work design that
recognizes the interaction between people and technology in workplaces and The
term socio-technical system also refers to the interaction between society's complex
infrastructures and human behavior. In this sense, society itself, and most of its
sub-structures, are complex socio-technical systems. Moreover, more information
could be found in a website named Strategy The technical system includes machinery,
- 27 -
processes, procedures and a physical arrangement. We usually think of a factory in
terms of its technical system. The social system includes people and their habitual
attitudes, values, behavioral styles and relationships. It includes the reward system. It
is the formal power structure as depicted on organization charts and the informal
power structure deriving from knowledge and personal influence. (Strategy)

Willem Niepce and Eric Molleman in (Niepce and Molleman, 1996) mainly compared
socio-technical systems with lean production in those following aspects:
Minimal critical specification. Lean production emphasizes team cooperation,
everyone is working at the same pace in the standardization of work processes,
but STS tries to give workers autonomy, workers have own working pace and
method, the principles of STS is standardization of skills.
Boundaries. Multi-functional organization and cross-functional team are the two
principles in lean production, in comparing with STS, the two principles are more
open when collaborations in more groups other than less and small groups. For
lean production, the most significant boundary is the factory, but for STS, it is the
group.
Multifunctionality. Lean production tries to maximize multifunctionality, and
STS tries to find the optimal value.
Human values. Lean production emphasizes social relationships in order to
satisfy the needs of works, but STS relies on the improvement of work content.

From Willem Niepce and Eric Molleman viewpoints, lean production will surpass
STS in mass assembly manufacturing because self-managing might be limited in the
future.
3.5 Other Alternatives and Future Trends
Based on this literature study, most authors think lean production indeed have an
excellent performance in reducing cost and lead-time, improving quality and service,
increasing productivity and eliminating waste, but it is not perfect enough, it still has
some difficulties in dealing with variations of demands in the turbulent markets. For
lean production, though some principles e.g. J IT, pull system, cell manufacturing,
flexible information system and etc. are used to reduce unstable factors, it still have
inabilities to eliminate variations completely and performs well in volatile
environment. Thats why other alternative strategies are proposed.
- 28 -
3.5.1 Agile Manufacturing
In this literature research, there are four articles about agile manufacturing which
might be a new enterprise strategy accepted by more and more researchers and
managers.

Agile manufacturing is a strategy advocated by many researchers to be used in
volatile markets. The volatile environment could include: rapidly changing niches,
increasingly sophisticated customer demands (Robertson and J ones, 1999) and
anything that could happen suddenly. For lean production, it can maximize the
efficiencies and productivities at a specific point in some circumstances, but it may
not robust enough to cope with changing and unstable economic and marketing
conditions (McCurry and Mclvor, 2002). Moreover, the increasingly severe chaotic
traffic which result from J ust-In-Time deliveries and distressed workers who are
pressured by continuous improvement (Yusuf and Adeleye, 2002) also restrict the
development of lean production. Furthermore, cost and quality are no longer
sufficient to satisfy customer and maintain the competiveness of company, a great
multitude of order objectives are required (Yusuf and Adeleye, 2002).

Agile manufacturing is based on lean production, but it uses flexible or virtual
organizations to solve more changeful and complicated demand and exploit more
profit opportunities in the volatile markets (Roberton and J ones, 1999). It has four
fundamental aspects: delivering value to the customer; being ready for change;
valuing human knowledge and skills; forming virtual partnerships (McCurry and
Mclvor, 2002). Y.Y. Yusuf and E.O. Adeleye clarified that agile manufacturing aims
to decouple cost and lot sizes, mass customize possibly in units of one at the cost of
mass production and convert change and uncertainty into growth. An agile company
can excel simultaneously on a wide range of competitive objectives including cost,
quality, dependability, speed, flexibility and leading-edge technology products. The
decisive goal of agile manufacturing is to step out of mass production, develop
capabilities for managing continuous change in customer requirements as a routine,
and be able to produce "anything, in any volume, at anytime, anywhere and anyhow"
(Yusuf and Adeleye, 2002).
3.5.2 Leagile Strategy
As mentioned above, lean production is suitable for stable demands and agile
manufacturing is suitable for volatile demands, if combine those two strategies
- 29 -
together, the new strategy is called leagile strategy which is mainly used in unstable
supply chain management. Leagile is the combination of the lean and agile
paradigms within a total supply chain strategy by positioning the decoupling point so
as to best suit the need for responding to a volatile demand downstream yet providing
level scheduling upstream from the marketplace. The decoupling point is the point
in the material flow streams to which the customers order penetrates.(Mason-jones
et al., 2000) Before the decoupling point, it is a stable-demand manufacturing based
on lean production, and after the point, it is a volatile-demand delivery based on agile
manufacturing.
3.5.3 Adaptable Production
Adaptable production is another production strategy based on collecting together the
technologies and methodologies which can be compatible with the objective of
adaptability rather than resource and process efficiency (Katayama and Bennett, 1996).
It is a versatile production strategy used in unstable environment. Adaptable
production and agile manufacturing share some common characteristics such as being
used in dynamic environment, however, most of them are completely different.

Some features of adaptable production are in the following:
Production costs are more sensitive to changes in demand.
Systems enable production rate to be adjusted to accommodate changes in
demand.
System software can support changes in production rate and product mix.
Lower fixed costs on new product development activities and the acquisition of
new production facilities.
Use of human operators as a flexible resource.
Prevalence of mechanisms to support manual work.
Production systems support job enlargement and job rotation.
Use of technological solutions to increase the variety of upstream products and
flexibility of upstream processes.
Grouping of parts and products into families to reduce work-in-process variety
and shorten set-up times.
Modularization of product designs to enable efficient production of greater
product mixes.
Planned mixing of different product complexities to smooth production load.
Extensive use of kaizen activities and methodologies such as TQM and TPM.
(Katayama and Bennett, 1996)
- 30 -
Adaptable production is close to lean production, some core principles of lean
production are still widely used in adaptable production. Moreover, adaptable
production has good performances when demand is lower, it can use lower fixed costs
to bring more varieties and profits (Katayama and Bennett, 1996). Thus, adaptable
production might be an assistant for lean production with the unstable environment
and might be interactional.
3.5.4 Parallel Flow Manufacturing
Swedish parallel flow manufacturing is also a production strategy but differs much
from lean production. It is a parallel production model, whereas lean production is
serial production model. The Swedish parallel flow manufacturing emphasizes both
the technical and social autonomy which is similar to socio-technical systems,
materials kitting and long cycle time work, however, lean production emphasizes
team-based work, multifunctional organization, and short lead time. The Swedish
parallel flow manufacturing strives to adjust variation in the process, but lean
production strives to reduce variation (Engstrm et al., 1996). The parallel flow
model has some common features with socio-technical system. In comparing with the
socio-technical system, it is more suitable for socio-cultural and socio-economic
environment (Engstrm et al., 1996).

These four strategies have their own characteristics, some are based on lean
production, some are interactional with lean production and some are on the opposite
side of lean production. Agile manufacturing, leagile strategy and adaption production
have significant advantages in dealing with various demand in volatile environment
compared to lean production strategy, which might be the most important factor in the
future trends. Despite they are not been used as widely as lean production now, they
still have good performances in their suitable environments, in particular some
principles are the complementarities to lean production. If people can utilize the
abilities in dealing with volatile demands of agile and adaption strategies to
consummate and complement the inabilities of lean production, and applies leagile
thinking not only in supply chain as leagile strategy, but also used in other
departments, a new lean production which is more versatile or a totally new strategy
which is based on the advantages of these three philosophy may come out. Moreover,
each strategy has its own applied area, within the area, they will be useful and
successful, but on the other hand, they would not perform well. Hence, finding out the
applied boundary or limitation of each strategy can also be a significant work in the
future.
CONCLUSION
- 31 -
4 Conclusion
In this master thesis study, the author demonstrated how the concept of lean
production has been distributed widely all over the world and what the improvements
and changes of lean production have been made in the past 17 years. There is no
doubt that lean production improves the productivity and quality, reduce waste and
cost as well as enhance the efficiency and competitiveness. However, it is not
consummate, the deficiency of managing the variation of demands in the turbulent
markets is the critical difficulty for the further development of lean production.

As a conclusion, some highlights of this paper are pointed out here.

First, lean production philology as the most popular managing and producing strategy
today is not only used successfully in the traditional automotive industry but also in
other different industries, especially the non-production industry, services, it becomes
more flexible, versatile and comprehensive. However, there are some industries not
appropriate for the concept of lean production, or only suitable for some principles
and tools of lean production, such as tile industry and aerospace industry. They still
operate very well and have their own managing and manufacturing strategies.

Second, though the tools and techniques of lean production are improved and
developed to be more complex, the five basic and essential principles refined by
J ames P. Womack and Daniel T. J ones are still the central part of the applications of
lean production in the past 17 years.

Third, different cultures do not influence the implementation of lean production
directly, but something within the culture such as industrial environment, local
customers, labor density, traffic situation, the price of land and etc. impact it a lot.
Companies policies also lead to their different performances in different regions.

Fourth, the application of lean production changes the structure of organization
drastically and improves the performance of administration greatly.

Fifth, agile manufacturing, leagile strategy, adaptable production and parallel flow
manufacturing are explained as four new managing and producing alternatives which
can compete with lean production, some features of them would be good
CONCLUSION
- 32 -
complementarities for lean production. Especially, agile manufacturing and leagile
strategy become popular recently. Whether they are possible to replace lean
production or combine with lean production to be a new managing and producing
strategy could be a promising research field. Moreover, finding out the applied
boundary or limitation of each strategy would be also a very significant work in the
future.

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APPENDIX
- 37 -
6 Appendix
Paper No. 1
Topic Lean production: Experience among Australian organizations
Author(s) Amrik S. Sohal, Adrian Egglestone
Author(s) Title Researcher Consultant Journalist Financial Supporter

Source International Journal of Operations & Production Management
Published Year Nov 94
Method(s) for The Study
Case Study Survey Based on Practice Literature Review Technical Paper
Viewpoint Conceptual Paper Debating

Relative Area (Country) of
Research
Asia Europe North America South America Africa Oceania

Country Name: Australia
Field of Research
Manufacturing Administration Logistics and SCM R & D Sale Service

Applied Area:-
Degree of Research Deep New Concept Superficial

Main Method in
Description
Methodology Structure Culture

Definition of "Lean
Production"
The core characteristics of a lean production model include
team-based work organization; this involves flexible, multi-skilled operators taking a high degree of
responsibility for work within their areas;
active shop floor problem-solving structures, central to kaizen or continuous improvement activities;
lean manufacturing operations, which force problems to be surfaced and corrected, manifested by: low
inventories; the management of quality by prevention rather than detection and subsequent correction; small
numbers of direct workers, and small-batch, just-in-time production;
high commitment human resource policies which encourage a sense of shared destiny within a factory;
close, shared destiny relations with suppliers, typically in the context of much smaller supply bases;
cross-functional development teams; and
retailing and distribution channels which provide close links to the customer and permit a make-to-order
strategy to operate.
Definition is Clear or Not Not Clear Precise

Degree of Definition Redesign Basic Continuous Improvement Breakthrough

Authors bias Positive Neutral Negative

Main Finding From the analysis of the data collected it appears that it is inevitable that companies must adopt lean
manufacturing as a working philosophy within their organizations even if it is in a modified format that best
suits their particular business culture.
Key Words Australia, Implementation, Lean production, Manufacturing, Organizational change

Paper No. 2
Topic An empirical study of lean production in the ceramic tile industry in Spain
Author(s) Tomas Bonavia, Juan Antonio Marin

Source International Journal of Operations & Production Management; 2006, Vol. 26 Issue 5, p505-531, 27p, 9 charts
Published Year 2006

Research

Country Name: Spain
Field of Research

Applied Area: Tile industry

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. LP is used to denote the set of tools designed to increase business competitiveness by systematically
eliminating waste of all kinds
2. Waste can be defined as anything beyond the strict minimum needed by way of equipment, materials,
components, space or worker time in order to give added value to the goods produced
3. The complete model of lean enterprise includes not only LP (aka lean manufacturing) but also the
activities of lean product development, lean procurement and lean distribution



Main Finding 1. The degree of their respective use depends on a firms size. Very few correlations appear between the
degree of use of any specific LP practice in isolation and the operational indicators.
2. In any event, LP deployment in the tile industry is generally low in Spain now.
3. Quality control and TPM have a high degree of implementation, but other practices (group technology,
kanban, set-up time reduction, multi-function employees and graphs or panels for visual factory) are
uncommon.
4. Mass production rather than lean production is still used in ceramics tile industry in Spain now.
Key Words Lean production, ceramics, small to medium-sized enterprises, Business performance, Spain

Paper No. 3
Topic Lean production in a changing competitive world: a Japanese perspective
Author(s) Hiroshi Katayama, David Bennett

Published Year Feb 1996

Research

Country Name: Japan
Field of Research

Applied Area: Automotive industry

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
Since its publication in 1990, the book The Machine that Changed the World, with its advocacy of lean
production, has dominated much of the theory and practice of production systems design. So well known and
compelling have the principles and demonstrated benefits of lean production become that there are now very
few countries and industries where its influence, along with its associated methodologies such as just-in-time
(JIT), total quality management (TQM) and total productive maintenance (TPM), have not been felt.



Main Finding 1. Because of the external and internal environment influences, LP faces some defects; it needs a more
versatile design of production system which allows for changing circumstances. We call it adaptable
production.
2. A particular weakness of lean production is its inability to accommodate the variations or reductions in
demand for finished products which have occurred in many Japanese companies. Only small changes in
demand will often take production to below the break-even point.
3. When demand is lower adaptable production is more versatile and has the capability of carrying lower
costs and being more profitable. Adaptable production will have lower fixed costs and higher variable costs
than lean production.
4. The additional features of adaptable production help to improve its ability to produce a mix of products
and number of varieties efficiently while still remaining competitive as well as strategically viable.
Key Words Case studies, Demand, Japan, Lean production, Systems design

Paper No. 4
Topic Culture changes make Crusader fit for the future: Training in lean manufacturing helps to transform company
Author(s) David Pollitt

Source Human Resource Management International Digest
Published Year 2006

Research

Country Name: UK
Field of Research

Applied Area: A shop-fitting manufacture

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
The principles of lean manufacturing to solve its production problems by extracting waste from the production
process. The lean principles require manufacturers to investigate their processes and identify which add value
to the job. The rest are considered waste, and should be removed.



Main Finding Using the concept of lean manufacturing to improve administration performance, for example, better working
condition, more communications between office staff and shop-floor operatives and higher efficiency.
Key Words Lean production, Organizational change, Quality awards, Training

Paper No. 5
Topic The European auto components industry: Manufacturing performance and practice
Author(s) Nick Oliver, Rick Delbridge, Jim Lowe


Research

Country Name: Japan, France, Germany, Italian, UK, Spain, USA and Mexico
Field of Research

Applied Area: Automotive industry

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
The principle of lean production:
integrated single-piece production flow, with low inventories, small batches made just-in-time;
defect prevention rather than rectification;
production which is pulled by the customer and not pushed to suit machine loading;
team-based work organization with flexible, multi-skilled operators and few indirect staff;
active involvement in problem solving to eliminate all non-value adding steps, interruptions and variability
from the process; and
close integration of the whole supply chain from raw materials to the finished customer through
partnerships with suppliers and retailers.



Main Finding 1. LP is applied more widely in USA than Europe, and the result of implementation of LP is more acceptable,
closely to Japan.
2. LP does play an important role in high performance manufacturing, but it is not the unique one, there are
still other factors affect the result.
3. There are enormous variances in performance on a country-by-country basis in Europe. France displayed
industry structures and practices similarly to Japan.
4. National context and government policies provide an important backdrop to the efforts of individual firms
and the extent of implementation of LP in their countries.
5. Although not reported fully here, in this area the data provide partial, but by no means complete support for
the lean model. The measures which reflected process discipline and control (inventories, rework and repair
effect, on-time deliveries, etc.) consistently discriminated between high and low performing plants, in line
with lean production principles. However, for issues of work organization, problem solving and human
resource policy, the picture was much less clear.
Key Words Europe, Japan, Lean production, Manufacturing. Motor industry, Performance
Paper No. 6
Topic Quality issues in lean production implementation: a case study of a French automotive supplier.
Author(s) Klas Soderquist, Jaideep Motwani

Source Total Quality Management; Dec99, Vol. 10 Issue 8, p1107-1122, 16p, 2 charts, 2 diagrams
Published Year Dec 1999

Research

Country Name: France
Field of Research

Applied Area: An automotive expert supplier

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
Lean production is a system designed to compete on the assumption that sustained product advantage is
unlikely, and therefore rather than avoid competition, face it head-on.



Main Finding 1. It is concluded that if quality is managed in an integrated way where management support and customer
relationships condition the operations context, quality management can become a resource enabling
suppliers to create distinctive competitive advantage and thus achieve positive market outcomes.
2. The lean enterprise is in fact an extended part of the lean production model and it is presented as a new
model for industrial organization applicable once single firms have applied lean techniques to their
specific activities.
3. One of the cornerstones in the lean production model is a renewed approach towards quality
management compared to the practices within traditional mass production.
4. Propose some factors for quality management within framework of lean production:
Top management support, leadership and quality policy.
Customer relationships.
Product design process.
Process flow management.
Continuous improvement.
Market outcomes.
Key Words Quality, lean production, lean enterprise supplier company,

Paper No. 7
Topic Strategic human resource management of Japanese multinationals A case study of Japanese multinational
companies in the UK
Author(s) Dipak R. Basu, Victoria Miroshnik

Source Journal of Management Development
Published Year Dec 1999

Research

Country Name: Japan, UK
Field of Research

Applied Area: Automotive industry (Nissan and Toyota)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. The fundamental principles of lean production: multifunctional teams, vertical information system, no
buffers, no indirect resources, networks.
2. At all levels the fundamental idea is ``humanware''. ``Humanware'' is defined as the integration and
interdependence of machinery and human relations and a concept to differentiate between different types of
production systems.
3. Lean production system uses ``autonomous defect control'' which is an inexpensive means of conducting
inspection of all units to ensure zero defects.
4. Japanese management system: Continuous improvement, Zero defects, Just-in-time, Pull instead of push,
Multifunctional teams, Decentralized responsibilities, Vertical information system (More detailed information
in articles)



Main Finding 1. Japanese companies can significantly influence the way the host country will run their industries,
something of that nature has taken place in the UK.
2. We can see that Japanese companies in the UK have tried to maintain their own management styles
despite cultural differences and have succeeded in many ways not only in their own plants but have influenced
a number of UK companies associated with their operations.
3. Nissan and Toyota have successfully implemented this system internally in their plant management
system as far as the relationships between workers managers are concerned, which is extremely important in
a class dominated society like the UK.
Key Words Human resource management, Japanese management styles, Management, Multinationals, Strategic
management

Paper No. 8
Topic A comparative study of lean and agile manufacturing with a related survey of current practices in the UK
Author(s) Y.Y.Yusuf and E.O.Adeleye

Source International Journal of Production Research
Published Year Nov.2002.

Research

Country Name: UK
Field of Research

Applied Area:

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. The goal of implementing lean production is to drive the cost of production down and achieve process
flexibility and to produce high quality products in greater variety. It sought to remove non-value-added
activities and use fewer inputs to realize the same or higher amount of output. Some of the renowned lean
tools are the Just-In-Time (JIT) scheduling and inventory system, and Total Quality Management (TQM).
2. The high level of quality and low cost associated with lean production was achieved with the aid of
team-based organization structures and work process re-engineering and the overall company
performance impacts were significant.
3. Lean production lacks the robustness to absorb shocks in a dynamic and turbulent change environment.



Main Finding 1. Agile manufacturing aims to decouple cost and lot sizes, mass customize possibly in units of one at the
cost of mass production and convert change and uncertainty into growth. An agile company can excel
simultaneously on a wide range of competitive objectives including cost, quality, dependability, speed.,
flexibility and leading-edge technology products.
2. The decisive goal of agile manufacturing is to step out of mass production (Booth and Hammer 1995),
develop capabilities for managing continuous change in customer requirements as a routine, and be able
to produce 'anything, in any volume, at anytime, anywhere and anyhow".
3. This paper has two implications. The first is that because cost and quality have a limited relationship with
business performance measures, it is no longer enough for companies to compete mainly based on cost
and quality (lean production). Secondly, the question arises as to whether the goal of efficiency in lean
production and that of responsive adaptation in agile manufacturing are mutually exclusive.
4. Lean production will be compatible with agile manufacturing if it optimizes current processes and,
simultaneously, mobilizes and sheds marginal capacities at ease in response to sporadic changes in the
market, product and technology frontiers.
Key Words Lean production, Agile manufacturing, UK
Paper No. 9
Topic Applying lean assessment tools in Chinese hi-tech industries
Author(s) Shahram Taj

Source Management Decision
Published Year Apr 2005

Research

Country Name: China
Field of Research

Applied Area: Hi-tech industry: Electronics, Telecommunication and wireless, Computer.

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean manufacturing is much more than a technique; it is a way of thinking, and the whole system
approach that creates a culture in which everyone in the organization continuously improve operations.
2. Lean means manufacturing without waste. Waste (muda in Japanese) has seven types: waste from
overproduction, Waste of waiting time, transportation waste, inventory waste, processing waste, waste of
motion, and waste from product defects.
3. There are two important aspects in lean manufacturing, human and nonhuman. The nonhuman is the
design of the production process dealing with the layout, inventory, scheduling, supply chain, and others.
The human aspect which is also of equal importance is the organizational design. This aspect is somehow
evaluated in the team approach of the assessment that contains six questions about the organization
type, job security, personnel turnover, team activity and training..



Main Finding 1. Lean manufacturing improves material handling, inventory, quality, scheduling, personnel and customer
satisfaction. Electronics has the lead in maintenance and layout. Telecommunication and wireless
companies have higher scores in inventory and team approach. The computer sector leads in process,
suppliers, setup, quality, and scheduling. We can somehow conclude that the computer sector is
performing better than others in hi-tech industries.
2. There are some significant gaps between the current state of plants in hi-tech industry and the lean
target.
Key Words Lean production, China, Advanced manufacturing technologies, Lean assessment tool

Paper No. 10
Topic Lean-driven cultural change
Author(s) Andy Sandford

Source Metalworking Production
Published Year Mar 2005

Research

Country Name: Not mentioned
Field of Research

Applied Area: Dormer Tools Worksop factory (manufacturing and human organization)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Allison, the best description of lean is the elimination of waste and nonvalue- added time, thereby turning
the workplace into a highly organized area and focusing on fast effective throughput.
2. The first three lean tools out of the box have been value stream mapping, 5S and total preventive
maintenance (TPM), with an underlying message of Kaizen, or continuous improvement.
3. Lean isn't about investment in equipment, it is about focusing on where you want to make the investment
to become more productive.



Main Finding 1. The factory only implemented TPM on a trial basis because it was a change in culture for both our
production teams and our maintenance department aspect.
2. It was clear that if they wanted to bring about a cultural change in the organization they had to improve
communication - both upwards and downwards.
3. They don't use the word Kaizen (the English translation is continuous improvement), but they try and
communicate that culture with the work that they've been doing.
4. Before and after lean implementation-demonstrating streamlined material storage requirements, which
have produced a positive benefit for the bottom line.
Key Words Lean production, culture change

Paper No. 11
Topic Modern-day lean construction principles: some questions on their origin and similarities with Sun Tzu Art of
War
Author(s) Low Sui Pheng, Teo Hui Fang


Research

Country Name: Singapore
Field of Research

Applied Area: The construction industry

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. The ideas of lean thinking comprise a complex cocktail of ideas including continuous improvement,
flattened organization structures, teamwork, elimination of waste, efficient use of resources and
cooperative supply chain management
2. The principles of lean production:
(1) Reduce the share of non value-adding activities (waste).
(2) Increase output value through systematic consideration of customer requirements.
(3) Reduce variability.
(4) Reduce cycle times.
(5) Simplify by minimizing the number of steps, parts and linkages.
(6) Increase output flexibility.
(7) Increase process transparency.
(8) Focus control on the complete process.
(9) Build continuous improvement into the process.
(10) Balance flow improvement with conversion improvement.
(11) Benchmark.
3. The philosophy behind lean production is to reduce waste in production companies.



Main Finding (1) The level of awareness of Sun Tzus strategic principles is higher than LP. There are some agreements
between LP and Sun Tzus strategic principles when applied in construction in terms of management at
the organization and project levels. Every project manager has his own perception of what being lean is
because the cost implications can affect the economic performance of every project.
(2) Lean production is rarely viewed from a strategic perspective. It was felt that lean construction has now
matured to a stage whereby the next phase of its development could be centred on strategic issues.
Paper No. 12
Key Words Lean production, Military actions, Project management, Construction industry
Topic A case study: Characteristics of work organization in lean production and sociotechnical systems
Author(s) Willem Niepce and Eric Molleman

Published Year 1996

Research

Country Name: Netherlands
Field of Research

Applied Area: NedCar (Work organization and human resource)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
LP differs from classical mass production in minimizing buffers, as exemplified by JIT, which is characterized
by flow production and a large interdependence between consecutive activities.



Main Finding 1. The four principles:
(1). Minimal critical specification: In LP, control is exercised by the standardization of work processes,
whereas in STS the leading co-ordination principle is the standardization of skills. LP opts for fixed pace and
standardized working processes whereas STS tries to give workers autonomy over work pace and work
methods.
(2). Boundaries: LP groups are relatively more open than STS teams both in terms of intergroup contacts and
attitudes. While for LP the most significant boundary is the factory, in STS it is the group.
(3). Multifunctionality: To sum up, we may state that LP strives to maximize multifunctionality, while STS tries
to find an optimal level. However, in STS job enlargement results in an increase of cycle time, while in LP it
does not.
(4). Human values: LP leans heavily on social relationships in order to satisfy the needs of its workers. STS, on
the other hand, relies on the improvement of work content. motivation in LP tends to be rather externally
oriented, while in STS, with its emphasis on work content, motivation is relatively more internally oriented.
2. We are inclined to conclude that this future situation will be more in line with LP and that for the time
being, as well as in the future, the possibilities for self-managing work groups will be limited.
3. We are inclined to conclude that in future the possibilities for self-managing work groups are limited and
will still be more in line with LP.
4. We are inclined to conclude that in a mass assembly environment LP will outperform STS.
Key Words Lean production, Work organization, Netherlands, Sociotechnical systems (STS)

Paper No. 13
Topic Applying lean principles for high product variety and low volumes: some issues and propositions
Author(s) Jay Jina, Arindam K. Bhattacharya and Andrew D. Walton

Source Logistics Information Management
Published Year Feb 1997

Research

Country Name: Not mentioned
Field of Research

Applied Area: High variety, low volumes segments

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean principles are manifested by crucial measures such as:
faster throughput times for in-bound, work in progress (WIP) and out-bound material;
smaller manufacturing batch sizes;
shorter set-up and change-over times and greater up time;
greater schedule stability;
lower rework and rectification costs.
2. At its core, lean manufacturing is a means by which the overall business processes are organized so as to
deliver products with greater variety and superior quality using less resource and in a shorter time than
can be achieved by mass production methods.



Main Finding Lean manufacturing can be still used in high variety, low volumes segments, there are some principles can be
adapted to use for those companies:
Design logistics and manufacture
Communizing raw material
Communizing finished parts and use of modular design
Staged engineering change
Multifunctional teamwork
Organizing manufacture
Organizing for high level demand
Organizing for low level demand
Integrative supplier relationships
Process orientation and consistent performance measures
Key Words High variety production, Lean production, Logistics, Manufacturing

Paper No. 14
Topic Applying lean thinking: A case study of an Indian steel plant
Author(s) Vijay Dhandapani, Andrew Potter and Mohamed Naim

Source International Journal of Logistics: Research and Applications
Published Year Sep 2004

Research

Country Name: Indian
Field of Research

Applied Area: Steel plant

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean thinking aims at eliminating inventory by making each process produce only what the process needs
when it needs it.
2. There are five main principles of lean thinking: value, value stream, flow, pull and perfection. (there are
some detailed descriptions in the articles)



Main Finding 1. There is potential for the implementation of lean thinking within Indian to deliver process improvement
and cost benefits.
2. Through the application of some aspects of lean thinking, it is shown that per annum production costs can
be reduced by 8% of turnover, while capital equivalent to 3.5% of turnover can be released through the
removal of inventory. A lead time reduction of 50% is also achieved.
Key Words Lean thinking, Indian, Steel plant, Case study

Paper No. 15
Topic The role of communication and management support in a lean manufacturing implementation
Author(s) J.M Worley and T.L Doolen

Published Year 2006

Research

Country Name: The northwestern of USA
Field of Research

Applied Area: A printed circuit board electronics manufacturer

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean manufacturing was defined as the systematic removal of waste by all members of the organization
from all areas of the value stream.
2. Lean manufacturing is often associated with benefits such as reduced inventory, reduced manufacture
times, increased quality, increased flexibility, and increased customer satisfaction.
3. Some of the practices of lean manufacturing include Five S events, kaizen events, kanbans, pull
production, quick changeovers, and value stream mapping. (there are many detailed description in the
article.)



Main Finding 1. Management support plays both positive and negative roles in a lean manufacturing implementation:
Positive: The dedication of the executive management team was apparent to employees on the
manufacturing floor. This dedication created more positive feelings towards management. The direct role
of the executive team in leading the implementation of the new lean practices such as the kanban and the
Five S activity also reinforced the importance of the new initiative and aided in opening communication
lines with employees on the factory floor.
Negative: Problems occurred because the management team did not require participation in the lean
manufacturing initiative, creating a rift in one of the teams. Management also failed to provide a
consistent education effort accessible to all employees in the organization.
2. The evidence of the lean manufacturing implementation making a positive impact on communication
primarily involved communication lines with management. The majority of poor communication involved
communications between departments or communication necessary to facilitate material flow through
the factory. Moreover, some of poor communication could be attributed to failings in management
support, illustrating the interconnectedness of the sociocultural variables studied.
Key Words Lean production, Communication, Qualitative research, Manufacturing systems, Management roles, Electronics
industry, United States of America
Paper No. 16
Topic An exploratory analysis in applying lean manufacturing to a labor-intensive industry in China
Author(s) Clare L. Comm and Dennis F.X. Mathaisel

Source Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
Published Year 2005

Research

Country Name: China
Field of Research

Applied Area: A textile manufacturing plant

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean has several characteristics:
Lean is a dynamic process of change driven by a systematic set of principles and best practices aimed at
continuous improvement.
Lean refers to the total enterprise: from the shop floor to the executive suite, and from the supplier to
customer value chain.
Lean requires rooting out everything that is non-value-added.
Becoming Lean is a complex enterprise. There is no single principle or method that will make an
organization Lean.
2. Six Lean manufacturing indicators:
Elimination of zero-value adding activities
Continuous improvement
Multifunctional teams
Just-in-time production and delivery
Integration of suppliers
Flexible information system
3. In short, Lean thinking pro vides a way to do more with less - less human effort, less equipment, less time,
and less space - while coming closer and closer to providing customers with what they re ally want



Main Finding Lean can work well in labor-intensive manufacturing. It helps identify bottle necks, lead-time opportunities,
downtime, increases in through put, and quality checking. Through education, Lean concepts can be
introduced to other labor-intensive industries in developing countries. These industries need to become more
knowledge able about Lean.
Key Words China, Labor-intensive Industry, Lean manufacturing

Paper No. 17
Topic Change process towards lean production: the role of the remuneration system
Author(s) Christer Karlsson and Pr hlstrm


Research

Country Name: Sweden
Field of Research

Applied Area: An international manufacturing firm producing mechanical and electronic office equipment

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean production consists of five different parts: lean production development, procurement,
manufacturing, and distribution, as well as the lean enterprise.
2. The concept of lean production includes:
Elimination of waste
Continuous improvement
Zero defects/JIT
Pull instead of push
Multifunctional teams
Decentralized responsibilities/integrated functions
Horizontal and vertical information systems



Main Finding 1. The remuneration system has an important role in the implementation process when introducing lean
manufacturing.
The remuneration serves both as an obstructing and a facilitating force depending on its design. There is
a tendency for the remuneration system to be more obstructive at first, but with time it tends to facilitate
the implementation process. Therefore, congruence in time is advisable between change in the
organization and the remuneration system.
A need for congruence between the principles of the organization and remuneration. Converting the
complex goals of lean manufacturing into a correspondingly elaborate remuneration system is essential
in order for the employees to internalize the goals of lean, or similarly complex, manufacturing
strategies.
Effectiveness replaces efficiency in a remuneration system for lean manufacturing.
Key Words Implementation, Lean production, Remuneration

Paper No. 18
Topic Lean, Agile or leagile? Matching your supply chain to the marketplace
Author(s) Rachel Mason-jones, Ben Naylor and Denis R. Towill

Source International Journal of Production Research

Research

Country Name: UK, USA
Field of Research

Applied Area: UK (a mechanical factory and a electronics plant), USA (a carpet plant)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
Leanness means developing a value stream to eliminate all waste, including time, and to ensure a level
schedule. It can be used in a stable demand.



Main Finding 1. Agility means using market knowledge and a virtual corporation to exploit profittable opportunities in a
volatile marketplace. It can be used in a volatile demand.
2. Leagile is the combination of the lean and agile paradigms within a total supply chain strategy by
positioning the decoupling point so as to best suit the need for responding to a volatile demand
downstream yet providing level scheduling upstream from the marketplace.
3. We should apply lean principles, agile principles and leagile principles according to the real needs of the
specific supply chain.
4. For all three supply chain types it is essential to remove system-induced uncertainty, as typified by the
Bullwhip effect.
5. The decoupling point is the point in the material flow streams to which the customers order penetrates.
It is here where order-driven and the forecast-driven activities meet. As a rule, the decoupling point
coincides with an important stock point-in control terms a main stock point-from which the customer has
to be supplied.
Key Words Lean manufacturing, Agile manufacturing, Leagile, Case study

Paper No. 19
Topic Application of constrained management and lean manufacturing in developing best practices for productivity
improvement in an auto-assembly plant
Author(s) Shahram Taj and Lismar Berro

Source International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
Published Year 2006

Research

Country Name: USA
Field of Research

Applied Area: An auto-assembly plant

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean manufacturing is much more than a technique; it is a way of thinking, and the whole system
approach that creates a culture in which everyone in the organization continuously improve operations.
2. Lean means manufacturing without waster. The lean approach is focused on systematically reducing
waste (Muda) in the value stream. The waste concept includes all possible defective work/activities, not
only defective products. Waste can be classified in eight categories:
(1) Motion: movement of people that does not add value. (2) Waiting: idle time created when material,
information, people or equipment is not ready. (3) Correction: work that contains defects, errors, reworks
mistakes or lacks something necessary. (4) Over-processing: effort that adds no value from the customers
viewpoint. (5) Over-production: producing more than the customer needs right now. (6) Transportation:
movement of product that does not add value. (7) Inventory: more materials, parts or products on hand than
the customer needs. (8) Knowledge: people doing the work are not confident about the best way to perform
tasks.



Main Finding With the best practice guidelines being applied in other facilities of this company, the following benefits are
possible:
(1)Reducing production inventory and improve supplier performance: with pull-based tracking and
replenishment. (2) Increase yield and reduce scrap: by having operators use the most current work
instructions, and ensuring they are cross-trained and certified. (3) Enabling continuous process improvement:
with a structured approach to identifying, tracking, resolving, and measuring issues and incidents. (4)
Speeding decision making and problem resolution: with real-time process control, analytics and event
management. (5) Driving business change through metrics: to measure and eliminate non-value-add, and to
validate continuous process improvements.
Key Words Lean production, Manufacturing systems, Productivity rate, Robotics, Automotive industry
Paper No. 20
Topic Agile manufacturing: 21
st
century strategy for manufacturing on the periphery?
Author(s) Larry McCurry and Ronan Mclvor

Source Irish Journal of Management
Published Year 2002

Research

Country Name: Ireland, USA, Turkey, Mexico, Far East
Field of Research

Applied Area: Ireland and Turkey (Garment Manufacturer), USA and Mexico as well as Far East (Contract Cable
Assembly), Ireland (Custom Coach Builder/Converter)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean manufacturing is defined as having the following guiding attributes:
Integrated, single piece production flow, small batches, just-in-time giving low inventory
Defect prevention not fault rectification; Production pull not push with smoothed demand; Flexible,
team-based work organization with multi-skilled workforce and few indirect
Active involvement in root cause problem-solving to maximize added value
Close integration from raw material to customer through partnership
Reduced overhead burden through matrix teams, simplified information flow and processing, enabling
flatter organization structures.
2. The limitations of lean can be reduced to two primary elements: inability to deal with turbulent and
consistent change; and the pursuit of perfection to the extent that any scope for flexibility has been
eliminated. Lean depends on a stable environment in which to maximise efficiencies of scale.



Main Finding 1. The findings of the research demonstrate that the paradigm shift is a continuum from traditional
manufacturing towards the agile enterprise. In large companies, lean manufacturing is a stage towards
agility, while SMEs can bypass many of the elements of lean enterprises. Companies are positioned on the
continuum and develop along it as a result of contingency factors such as industry competitiveness,
technology, size and economic environment that impact on it.
2. Lean looks towards maximizing the efficiency of resources that are within the control of the organization
and works best in high-throughput and stable environments. Agile is concerned with preparing the
organization to take maximum business advantage in a turbulent environment of change and
unpredictability.
Key Words Lean manufacturing, Agile manufacturing, Ireland, USA, Europe, Mexico, Turkey, Far East

Paper No. 21
Topic Lean indicators and manufacturing strategies
Author(s) Angel Martinez Sanchez and Manuela Perez Perez

Source International Journal of Operation & Production Management

Research

Country Name: Spain
Field of Research

Applied Area: 41 automotive and industrial machinery manufacturing companies

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean production is a conceptual framework based on a few established principles and techniques.
2. There are six group of indicators: elimination of zero-value activities; continuous improvement; team
work; JIT production and delivery; suppliers integration; and flexibility information system. (There are
some detailed descriptions in the articles.)



Main Finding 1. The first objective is to evaluate the degree of use of lean production indicators: the average use and the
degree of importance of most indicators were significantly greater in the larger companies than in the
small and medium sized firms.
2. The second achieved objective was to test a positive relationship between the use of some lean
production indicators: the strongest pair of relationships were: the technical visits and assistance to and
from the suppliers; the percentages of employees in teamwork and the number or percentages of tasks
accomplished by the team; and the modularity and supplier involvement in component design.
3. The third objective was to analyze the influence of the companys manufacturing focus on the use of lean
production indicators: four manufacturing objectives were included in this analysis: quality, lead time,
flexibility and cost.
Key Words Lean production, Manufacturing strategy, Flexibility

Paper No. 22
Topic Lean production in an international supply chain
Author(s) David L.Levy

Source Sloan Management Review
Published Year Winter 1997

Research

Country Name: USA, Ireland, Singapore
Field of Research

Applied Area: The personal computer industry (distribution of printed circuit boards)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
Lean production can be conceptualized as a tightly coupled, flexible system; the high degree of coordination it
requires entails rapid, frequent flow of goods and information that likely to be expensive and difficult across
counties. It includes Just-in-Time delivery and low inventories; flexible manufacturing; close relationships
with supplier and customers



Main Finding 1. Lean production is indeed difficult and expensive to implement in an international supply chain. But two
key elements of lean production, DFM and low defect level, can facilitate globalization by stabilizing the
supply chain.
2. Managers must beware of underestimating the costs of operating an international supply chain. Managers
need to see an international supply chain as a complex dynamic system in which disruptions due to
quality problems, delayed deliveries, engineering change orders, and poor sales forecasts interact with
long lead times to create substantial costs.
3. To the extent that lean production is more expensive or less effective in an international context,
managers need to consider the trade-offs between the advantages of international production and
sourcing and the value of lean production.
Key Words Lean production, International supply chain

Paper No. 23
Topic Application of lean paradigm in red meat processing
Author(s) David Simons and Keivan Zokaei

Source British Food Journal

Research

Country Name: UK
Field of Research

Applied Area: The UK red meat industry (Cutting room)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
The first principle of lean production is identifying the value from the final customers point of view,
which means understanding the specific requirements of the specific end-consumer. The next principle
called value stream involves identification and mapping of products that follow similar path from raw
material to the point of consumption. The third principle is to get the single product flow continuously
through value-creating process steps, i.e. eliminating barriers to flow, of work-in-progress, such as
bottleneck and time-consuming work practices. The fourth principle is to let value flow only at the pull of
the customer. The last principle of lean production is pursuing perfection continuously.
2. Lean philosophies, policies and practices include:
Lean practices (tools and techniques). Standardized work, Takt-time, Just-in-Time, Heijunka (levelled
production), Kanban (visual signal), 5S, Jidoka (autonomation/stop system).
Lean policies. Total productive maintenance, long-term relationship with customer, co-operation and
transparency across the supply chain, Visual Control, Poka-Yoke (mistake proofing), enhanced
problem-solving ability of employees, enhanced employee participation.
Lean philosophies. Waste elimination, striving on perfection, Kaizen (continuous incremental
improvements).



Main Finding 1. Takt-time is used to communicate and synchronize the rate/pulse of the production process with the
customer demand in order to prevent the waste of over-production. Takt is the elapsed time between
units of production output, when the production rate is synchronized to customer demand. In essence,
producing to Takt-time is a type of standardization. Takt-time is about standardizing the production
cycle-times and work standardization is standardizing the procedure of tasks on the shop floor.
2. Lean production system (Takt-time and work standardization) will improve the productivity and quality
of red meat cutting lines.
Key Words Lean production, Meat, Food manufacturing processes, United Kingdom
Paper No. 24
Topic Quality of working life in the automobile industry: A Canada-UK comparative study
Author(s) Wayne Lewchuk, Paul Stewart and Charlotte Yates

Source New Technology, Work and Employment

Research

Country Name: Canada, UK
Field of Research

Applied Area: Canada (Chrysler, Ford, GM and CAMI), UK (GM)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
The lean production model advocating just-in-time, kaizen, teams, and elimination of waster, offers a model
of production dependant on a reconfiguration of methods of labor control,



Main Finding 1. The implementation of lean is uneven, varying between companies and countries. Furthermore, lean
production is not associated with increased empowerment or greater employee control over work. On the
contrary, employees report quite different experiences of work effort, health and safety and relations
with management, suggestive of differences that vary more between companies than across countries.
2. There are two explanations for these findings:
First, new production and organizational forms have to be understood as the outcome of contestation
between management and labor which in turn are played out on terrain established by the pre-existing
relations.
Secondly, union-management contests over lean production cannot explain the high degrees of variation
between companies in our survey responses. These variations in responses to the interpretation and
implementation of lean production arise out of each companys unique structural position in the
automotive industry, together with the historical legacy of labor management relations and systems of
labor control.
Key Words Lean production, Canada, UK, Automobile Industry, Comparative study

Paper No. 25
Topic Critical success factors for lean implementation within SMEs
Author(s) Pius Achanga, Esam Shehab, Rajkumar Roy and Geoff Nelder

Source Journal of Management Technology Management
Published Year 2006

Research

Country Name: UK
Field of Research

Applied Area: Ten SMEs

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
Lean manufacturing is a popular technique for productivity improvement.



Main Finding 1. There are four key main factors that are fundamental, hence critical for the implementation of lean
manufacturing within SMEs. They includes: leadership and management, finance, skills and expertise and
culture of the recipient organization.
2. There exists a correlation between the SMEs management styles and several outputs such as lead-time,
number of employees and the return on investments (ROIs).
3. The independently managed SMEs in the investigated sample have demonstrated a feasibility of
enormous increases in the level of ROI as compared to those of the owner-managed SMEs.
4. Continued scepticism within SMEs about the benefits of lean to their business is one of the fundamental
limitations this research faces. Effective application and utilization of lean manufacturing within SMEs
will be delayed or may not be achieved at all unless SMEs restructure their focus to become more
receptive and capable of absorbing new ideas.
Key Words Lean production, Small to medium-sized enterprises, Critical success factors

Paper No. 26
Topic Forget Japan: the very British response to lean production
Author(s) Harry Scarbrough and Mike Terry

Source Employee Relations
Published Year 1998

Research

Country Name: UK
Field of Research

Applied Area: UK car firms (Rover and Peugrot-Talbot)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. In the diffusion model: Lean production is a socio-technical innovation which offers significant
advantages over other methods.
2. In the bolt-on model: Lean production represents an addition to the technical fixes available to
organizations.
3. In the adaptation model: Lean production may act as a trigger to workplace change. The lean production
innovation is viewed as the trigger of workplace changes in the established producers, influencing the
timing, agenda, and vocabulary of the change process but with no determining influence on the direction,
scope and ultimate outcomes of such change.



Main Finding 1. The pattern of change in established British producers should be viewed neither as a diluted form of
Japanisation nor as a minor set of system modifications but as a creative process of adaptation.
2. In this process of adaptation, managements have been influenced by a number of factors; by the context
of British institutions certainly, but also by company and plant-level path dependencies, and by the
persistence of trade unionism as an active force amongst their workforces. These emergent approaches
cannot be seen as a direct consequence of either diffusion or the bolting on of new practices to old
traditions. Rather they reflect the working through of competitive and other pressures within a specific
context.
3. We can conclude with the simple observation that despite their differences the patterns of work practices
and employee relations at the established producers are still much closer to each other than they are to
the lean production model.
Key Words Lean production, British, The diffusion model, The bolt-on model, The adaptation model

Paper No. 27
Topic Developing a lean production organization: an Australian case study
Author(s) Amrik S. Sohal

Published Year 1996

Research

Country Name: Australia
Field of Research

Applied Area: Trico (A manufacturer of windscreen wiper systems for the automotive industry)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
The lean production system has been described as one which seeks to eliminate unnecessary processes, to
align processes in a continuous flow and to use resources in order to solve problems in a never ending process.



Main Finding The implementation of lean production changed the structure of the company dramatically over the past ten
years, but makes the company more profitable, more competitive and more successful. Its experience can be
applied by other organizations on becoming a lean production company. The key lessons can be summarized
as follows:
Accepting the need to change existing attitudes, behaviors and practices. A serious commitment by every
person in the organization to achieve this is necessary.
Full and ongoing support from top management in implementing change.
Need for a champion to drive the change initiatives and maintain the momentum of the overall
programme.
Realization by everyone that it will take a long time. There are few short-term benefits but substantial
results are possible in the long term.
Involving employees as much as possible in the planning, implementation and evaluation of changes.
Developing superior capabilities will ensure survival of the firm in the long term as well as job security.
Developing an environment of openness and trust through communication and sharing of information
which is valid and timely.
Key Words Lean production, organization change, Australian, Trico

Paper No. 28
Topic Application of lean production and agile manufacturing concepts in a telecommunications environment
Author(s) Michael Roberton and Carole Jounes

Source International Journal of Agile Management Systems

Research

Country Name: UK
Field of Research

Applied Area: British Telecommunications PLC

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
Lean systems are characterized by five key principles:
Value: ``Precisely specify value by specific product'' - redefine the whole product through the eyes of the
customer.
Value stream: ``Identify the value stream for each product'' -this is the entire set of actions required to
bring a product from its raw materials to the customer.
Flow: ``Make value flow without interruptions''-eliminate departmentalization and batch processing so
that the process can flow, leading to a short lead-time, high quality and low cost.
Pull: ``Let the customer pull value from the producer'' if lead-times are reduced, then a producer can
design, schedule and make exactly what the customer wants, when he wants it, rather than relying on a
sales forecast. In practice, pull is usually achieved using the system known as ``just-in- time'' (JIT). (JIT is
a system whereby an upstream process does not produce parts until requested to do so by a downstream
process.)
Perfection: ``Pursue perfection'' do not attempt to be slightly better than your competitors, but rather
strive for perfection through the use of continuous improvement.



Main Finding There are a number of significant differences between manufacturing industries and telecommunication. A
telecommunications production can be considered to consist of two parts, a physical network connection and
a service over that connection. The network connection is expensive and does not need customization for
different services, so it is more suitable for lean production approach. By contrast, over the network
connection can be customized for the individual customer requirement; it is more suitable for agile
manufacturing approach.
Key Words Agile production, Lean production, Strategy, Telecommunications industry, United Kingdom

Paper No. 29

Topic Creating lean industrial relations: General Motors in Silao, Mexico
Author(s) Jeffrey S. Rothstein

Source Competition & Change

Research

Country Name: Mexico, (USA)
Field of Research

Applied Area: General Motors (GM)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean production is now more commonly considered as a broad production paradigm including an array of
manufacturing systems containing some variety of lean practices, such as just-in-time inventory systems,
teamwork, multi-tasking, employee involvement schemes, and policies for ensuring product quality
throughout the production process.
2. Lean production is not simply as a process of compromise and retreat, but also as an important dynamic
of innovation and learning. Understood in this manner, firms not only adapt to local restrictions and
conditions, but harness the opportunities of specific cultural, industrial and labor relations environments
to enhance their lean production systems in particular locations in a conscious effort to reconstruct labor
markets, work relations and union structures to improve productivity.



Main Finding 1. Labor and production processes associated with lean production spread across industries and regions,
the exact nature of these systems varies enormously from place to place.
2. Lean production has proved to be a malleable concept.
3. Implementing standard components of lean production in new regions, and the challenge of introducing
lean production to different environments is to harness the new opportunities these contexts present to
advance lean production as a system that has, at its heart, the dynamic of self-reform to raise productivity
and efficiency and become leaner.
4. In Silao, GM grasped the opportunity to define industrialization in an agricultural area to further lean
production in two ways; First, GM achieved the labor stability necessary to implement lean production by
meticulously selecting workers and by embracing a local labor union eager to work with the firm.
Secondly, GM and its local suppliers co-ordinated a single industrial relations regime, dividing the local
labor force between them and maintaining a pay hierarchy among the plants.
Key Words Lean production, Industrial relations, Auto industry, Auto parts, General Motors, Mexico
Paper No. 30

Topic Measuring lean initiatives in health care services: issues and findings
Author(s) Beata Kollberg, Jens J. Dahlgaard and Per-Olaf Brehmer

Source International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
Published Year Jan 2007

Research

Field of Research

Applied Area: Health care services

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. The lean production management design included among other things Just-in-Time (JIT), kanban method,
and a high level of employee problem-solving. The focus was on eliminating waste and represented an
alternative to the traditional mass production system.
2. Lean production is described in five elements: lean manufacturing, lean product development, supply
chain coordination, customer distribution, and lean enterprise management.
3. The authors describe lean thinking as based upon five principles. These comprise: (1) Identification of
customer value. (2) Management of the value stream. (3) Developing a flow production. (4) Using pull
techniques. (5) Striving to perfection. (Six Sigma and TQM)



Main Finding 1. Lean thinking is applicable in health care settings, and that the flow model is a suitable tool for following
up these initiatives. However, it is argued that the flow model needs to be balanced with other
measurements in order to receive a complete picture of lean performance.
2. In adopting lean thinking principles, and actually in any new management implementation, it is important
to design a measurement system that reflects the initiatives taken. The author has suggested such a
measurement framework indicating changes in lean initiatives in health care, which reflect both efficiency
and effectiveness of health care performance.
3. A comparison shows that the flow model, which is a rather simple, process model measuring time
parameters is a suitable model for indicating changes towards lean thinking.
Key Words Health services, Sweden, Lean production

Paper No. 31

Topic Production model discourse and experiences from the Swedish automotive industry
Author(s) Tomas Engstrm, Dan Jonsson and Lars Medbo

Published Year 1996

Research

Field of Research

Applied Area: Automotive industry (Some experiences from Volvo Uddevalla plant)

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
The expression lean production, coined by frequently used to refer to a production model incorporating such
improvements on traditional mass production.



Main Finding 1. The conclusion is that the invention and adoption of lean production as a manufacturing model does not
suffice to explain the market success enjoyed by Japanese companies. First, in terms of profit margins, return
on investments, dividends paid and similar measures of economic success, Japanese automotive
manufacturers have not been equally successful as in terms of growth of market share. Second, the emphasis
on long-term growth goals rather than short-term profitability is related to the pattern of corporate
ownership and control in Japan. Third, industrial production in Japan is very much shaped by the core worker
system. Finally, it is important to consider the structure and functioning of Japanese supplier networks.
2. The basic difference between the lean production manufacturing model and the emerging Swedish model
consists of different ways to deal with variation. The serial flow manufacturing model (LP), striving to reduce
variation in products and work; the parallel flow manufacturing model (the emerging Swedish model), striving
to accommodate variation in products and work.
3. It is justifiable to speak about an emerging Swedish parallel flow manufacturing model in the automotive
industry, although this manufacturing model is not yet fully crystallized and recognized.
4. The market success enjoyed by Japanese manufacturers is probably due mainly to the industrial model
applied as well as a favorable and congenial socio-economic and socio-cultural context.
5.Toyotism or Japanese lean production may have succeeded in combining high productivity and high
product quality, but in the parallel flow manufacturing model there is also no conflict between humanization
of work and productivity, or between productivity and flexibility.
6. We believe that the advantages of the parallel flow manufacturing model create entirely new business
opportunities as well as opportunities for improving working life and industrial relations.
Paper No. 32
Key Words Lean production, Parallel flow manufacturing model, The emerging Swedish manufacturing model, Volvo
Topic Lean production and disability
Author(s) A.H.G.M. Spithoven

Source International Journal of Social Economics

Research

Country Name: Netherlands
Field of Research

Applied Area: Manufacturing section, services section

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean production (Toyotism, just-in-time, or stockless production)is a combination of mass production
(low prices) with craft production (variety), in other words a combination of realizing economies of scale
in combination with decentralization of the responsibility of production, brought about by organizing the
whole value change (producers, contractors and subcontractors) in a system of establishing prices ( or
budgets) and jointly analyzing costs.
2. Lean production is also called half the amount: it is compared with mass production-half the human
effort in the factory, half the manufacturing space, half the investment in tools, half the engineering hours
to develop a new product. Also, it requires keeping far lea produces a greater and ever growing variety of
product.



Main Finding 1. In the Netherlands only some elements of lean production were adopted; elements such as life-time
employment were sidestepped.
2. The change to lean production was an effect of the urge to reduce labor costs because profits were
squeezed because of the economic downturn in the early 1970s.
3. The shady side of the development toward lean production was a growing number of workers becoming
disabled by mental disorders.
4. A side-effect of the accelerated work pace was that lean production contributed to the rise of the number
of disabled. Low productivity rates and the rise of disability due to mental disorders suggest that the
introduction of lean production was not an attractive strategy for employees.
Key Words Disabled, Lean production, Productivity, The Netherlands, Unemployment

Paper No. 33
Topic Lean production: a study of application in a traditional manufacturing environment
Author(s) L. Bamber and B.G. Dale

Source Production Planning & Control

Research

Country Name: UK???
Field of Research

Applied Area: Aerospace company

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. One of the key tenets of lean production that is its tools and technique must be tailored to the individual
organization. Lean production requires a change in attitudes and behavior not only for managers but also
by employees.
2. Under lean production the emphasis is to encourage workers to make improvements to meet targets
which may not be directly related to output and are less immediate, a typical key performance indicator
for supervisors being the number of suggestions generated in their area.
3. As part of the lean production development, a design to manufacture initiative on all new products was
launched with the intention to involve the manufacturing function as early as possible at the initial design
stage.
4. The elimination of waster through continual stressing of the manufacturing system demands
organizational change, in particular shorter feedback loops. The cross-functional teams are a key enabler
of lean production.



Main Finding 1. The single biggest stumbling block to adoption of lean production methods is the organizational
structures (the redundancy programme) and the second on is the lack of employee education.
2. A number of the methods of lean production were found not to be as effective as in the motor
manufacturing environment; the reasons for this included the dominant position of the company and the
customer demand characteristics.
3. In addition, both management and the industrial workers found the transition from traditional
manufacture to lean production was not easy to make.
Key Words Lean production, Aerospace manufacturing, Manufacturing methods

Paper No. 34
Topic The use of a lean production index in explaining the transition to global competitiveness: the auto components
sector in South Africa
Author(s) Sakkura Kojima and Raphael Kaplinsky

Source Technovation
Published Year May 2004

Research

Country Name: South Africa
Field of Research

Applied Area: Auto components sector

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
Lean production Index can be constructed by focusing on three related poles of change: (1) the promotion of
flexibility, pioneered in the Toyota Production System with emphasis placed upon changes in logistics and the
introduction of JIT manufacture designed to reduce the cost of flexibility; (2) Changes in quality procedures;
(3) Greater employee involvement participation by a more educated and trained labor force, including through
the use of Continuous Improvement practices. (More descriptions of aspects of each dimension in the article)



Main Finding 1. Six hypotheses to the (successful) competitive improvement of the South African auto components: (1)
the influence of firm ownership; (2) Influence of the major buyer; (3) Access to foreign technology; (4)
Learning from exporting; (5) Human resource development; (6) Size of the company. In general, the
hypotheses are confirmed, although with some modifications. For example, the influence of ownership on
lean production capabilities is significant only when wholly-owned foreign firms are compared with the
remaining firms. Similarly, with regard to the role of customers, the only significant difference to emerge
was the role played by Toyota, when compared to all other assemblers. With regard to education, the only
significant result was when we compared the number of years of schooling of new entrants with the
ownership variable. In other words, the greater the degree of foreign ownership, the more likely that they
were to demand education of new employees. Moreover, South African owner firms which were part of
large groups were more likely to demand education than were independently owned South African firms.
2. Less clear is the role played by demanding customers in foreign countries in forcing LPI upgrading as a
consequence of exporting.
3. We find some factors which have little or no influence, notably firm-size or the particular practices of
domestic buyers (other than Toyota). It is also worth noting the insignificance of the degree of education
of the workforce, although this is probably very specific to South African operating conditions.
Key Words Lean production, Automobile components, South Africa
Paper No. 35
Topic Lean engineering in the aerospace industry
Author(s) B Haque

Source Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers -- Part B -- Engineering Manufacture
Published Year Oct 2003

Research

Country Name: UK
Field of Research

Applied Area: Aerospace

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
There are some principles of lean thinking:
(1) Specify the values. (2) Indentify the value stream and eliminate waste. (3) Make the value flow. (4) Let the
customer pull. (5) Pursue perfection (continuously improve). (There are detailed descriptions for each
aspect in the article.)



Main Finding 1. The application of lean principles in aerospace sector engineering or new product introduction (NPI)
processes is feasible, delivering real benefits for both large and small companies.
2. The application of lean at different levels of the engineering / NPI organization, a detailed design activity
level (Kaizen), a project management level (single piece value flow) and a design strategy level ( off-line
development to speed time to market)
3. However, the presence of a coherent and sustainable enterprise-wide common methodology, such as a
route map, and a formal assessment matrix were missing.
Key Words Lean engineering, Lean product introduction, aerospace industry, Case study

Paper No. 36
Topic Internationalization and localization of the Kyoryoku Kai: the spread of best practice supplier development
Author(s) Peter Hines

Source The International Journal of Logistics Management
Published Year 1994

Research

Country Name: UK, France, USA, Japan
Field of Research

Applied Area: Canon

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
A lean supplier networks are characterized as follows:
1. A many tiered system with high bought in content at each level
2. A close and flexible long-term relationship between buyer and seller
3. A small number of direct suppliers
4. A reliance on small subcontractors
5. Price determination through target costing
6. A high degree of strategic and operational assistance given to suppliers
7. A high degree of devolved design and supplier driven innovation



Main Finding 1. The Kyoryoku Kai is in essence a collection of a companies most important suppliers of their own and
their customers mutual continual improvement.
2. These Kyoryoku Kai have been utilized to spread the type of innovative strategies, work practices and
manufacturing techniques synonymous with large Japanese final assemblers throughout the extended
supplier network.
3. However, there are only a handful of examples of Kyoryoku Kai outside Japan: one in France, one in the
USA and three in Wales.
4. It is the authors belief that this tool has played a significant part in the competitive positioning of final
assemblers in Japan particularly as the discrete industries in which it is used demonstrate very high
subcontracting level, and hence the abilities of the supplier network are of paramount importance.
Key Words International cooperation, Japan, Lean production, Suppliers, World class manufacturing

Paper No. 37
Topic Applying the lessons learned from 27 lean manufacturers: the relevance of relationships management
Author(s) Roberto Panizzolo

Source International Journal of Production Economics
Published Year Aug 1998

Research

Country Name: Italy
Field of Research

Applied Area: 27 firms

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
From a general point of view, the lean production model can be interpreted at three different levels:
1. The first level is that of the individual firm: the relationships between the interventions in the different
functional areas, the way in which actions are taken, the links between adoption of best practices and the
firms performance all have to be studied in depth.
2. The second level concerns the impact of the lean production model on the relationships between firms
and between firms and their customers: lean production system are particularly vulnerable not only to
internal sources of variability, but also to external sources.
3. At a third level, the role played by external country-specific factors (political, legislative, cultural, social,
economic and industrial) regarding the diffusion and the characteristics of the lean production model
should also be examined.



Main Finding 1. 27 firms can be divided into three groups. (1) The first one (12 firms) is flexible enterprise. These are lean
firms who have developed a high level of operational integration both with suppliers and with
customers. (2) The second group (8 firms) is network enterprises. Those have developed a high level of
logistic integration with customers and suppliers but who have also developed a partnership relation
with their supplier. The main feature of this partnership relation is the changeover from logic of product
to logic of co-operation which goes beyond the logistic aspects and extends to the technological/strategic
level. (3) The third group (7 firms) is customer-driven enterprise. They have set up a partnership relation
not only with their suppliers but also with their customer. These companies are characterized by a radical
change in the way they relate to the market. They have realized the importance of attaining zero customer
defection rather than zero product defects.
2. To implement lean production principles, the most critical factor appears to be the management of
external relationships rather than internal operations.
Key Words Lean production, Relationships management, Operations management, Empirical research
Paper No. 38
Topic Japanese management methods and western investment in Eastern Europe: the case of automotive industry
Author(s) Eric Harwit

Source Columbia journal of World Business
Published Year Fall 1993

Research

Country Name: Eastern Europe (Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland and Hungary)
Field of Research

Applied Area: Automotive sector

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
The main elements of lean production in the automobile industry include:
Assembly-line workers grouped in teams leader (rather than a foreman) often taking part in assembly
Set time for teams to suggest quality-improving changes, a process called Kaizen (improvement)
Suppliers delivered Just In Time and producers have minimum inventories
Close cooperation between designers, engineering, and dealers, and reliance on detailed consumer
surveys in tailoring products to the public need.



Main Finding 1. With sustained effort, the application of Japanese production methods may play a major role in creating
or restoring competitiveness to companies losing market sharing to the originators of lean production,
the Japanese manufacturing themselves.
2. If European and U.S manufacturers do, over the coming decades, implement lean reforms in their home
factories in Detroit and across Western Europe, there is a chance they will be able to successfully compete
with Japanese not only in Eastern and Western Europe, but in markets at all corners of the globe.
Key Words Lean production, Eastern Europe, Automotive industry

Paper No. 39
Topic Lean service: in defense of a production-line approach
Author(s) David E. Bowen and William E. Youngdahl

Source International Journal of Service Industry Management
Published Year Aug 1998

Research

Country Name: USA
Field of Research

Applied Area: Taco Bell (a fast-food restaurant chain), Southwest Airlines (SWA), Shouldice Hosptial

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
Lean service characteristics:
Reducing setup or changeover time, and using general tool produce multiple products by flexible
employees. Customers can benefit from expanded production variety, and companies can benefit from
expanded products without loss of efficiency.
Totally pulled by customers and implement Just-in-time. All products or service are made only when
receive orders from customers. Implement JIT and economy scale batch to reduce waste and inventory and
increase the visibility of process and products quality problems.
Identify value-adding activities and eliminate waste from value flow, including raw materials, time,
inventory etc.
Tie customers and supplier closely, and get information about raw materials, delivery, products etc to
plan or modify production schedules.
Empower employees and teams; give them more possibility to solve problems, make decisions and
working themselves.



Main Finding 1. Lean manufacturing pays more attention to customer product preferences through increased flexibility
and employee wants through higher involvement management practices. At the same time, it performs
well on efficiency, quality, and speed.
2. Lean service demonstrates that the practical imagination exercised so effectively in manufacturing can,
given the effort, still be applied with similarly munificent results for service industries.
Key Words Empowerment, Lean production, Production, Service

Topic Lean production and the Internet
Author(s) Peter Bruun and Rpbert N. Mefford
Paper No. 40

Source International Journal of Production Economics
Published Year Jun 2004

Research

Country Name: USA, Denmark
Field of Research

Applied Area: Dell Computer (direct seller of PCs), Cisco Systems (manufacturer of network routers), ODAM
( an import and distributor of auto spare parts), General Electric, Stelton ( a Danish company specializing in
high quality design products in stainless steel and ABS plastics), Harley-Davidson (a motorcycle
manufacturer), The Chrysler division of Daimler-Chrysler, The clothing industry, Logistics in the global food
industry

Main Method in
Description

Definition of "Lean
Production"
1. Lean production is lean because it uses less of everything compared to mass productionhalf the
human effort in the factory, half the manufacturing space, half the investment in tools, half the
engineering hours to develop a new product in half the time. Also, it requires keeping far less than half the
needed inventory on site, results in many fewer defects, and produces a greater and ever growing variety
of products.
2. JIT includes: Pull approach and kanban production control; Inventory reduction; Quick setups and orders;
Quality at the source (jidoka); Supplier networks; Teamwork and participation; Continuous improvement
(Kaizen).



Main Finding 1. The Internet can facilitate the movement to lean production systems, specifically the supply chain.
2. The Internet is a perfect tool for accomplishing the lean supply chain with its open, easy and cheap access.
There is huge potential to benefit from being e-lean in global supply chain.
3. There are some constraints and obstacles to e-leanness:
One common problem in linking to supply chain partners is the incompatibility of internal computer
systems with other firms systems and the Internet. Most ERP systems are not linked to shop floor
production scheduling inventory, and quality control data.
Another potential problem is the sharing of information that has been considered proprietary with
supply chain members. Many companies are still struggling with the transition from seeing their
suppliers as opportunistic opponents to partners.
Key Words Lean production, JIT, Internet, Supply chain management

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The Mobility of Lean Production:

A Study of How the Concept of Lean Production has been

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