...AARHUS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS University of Aarhus MASTER THESIS Challenges in Lean implementation Successful transformation towards Lean enterprise Ana Valentinova Kovacheva Supervisor: Ana Luiza Lara De Araújo MSc in Strategy, Organization and Leadership January 2010, Aarhus 2 Abstract The paper is based on a systematic literature review that examines how the implementation of Lean could bring value to the organization processes and contribute for achieving an operational excellence. Different organizational factors which have importance in the implementation process, are thoroughly examined. Key success factors that enhance the implementation process are identified - human resource practices, management style, organizational strategic vision, organizational culture, external partnerships. The research outlines the challenges that companies experience when they change their business model towards implementing a new to the company management system – Lean concept. For better understanding of the term the paper suggests definitions from the authors acknowledged in the field. Part of the research considers some critical points that impede the implementation of Lean. The conclusions are drawn upon considering lean as a complete business system, which change the way organization thinks in striving for a competitive advantage. Keywords: lean implementation, lean enterprise, Lean, challenges, process improvement 3 Table of Contents: Introduction...
Words: 19306 - Pages: 78
...HR role for organizational effectiveness in Lean Management Practices” - Manjunath N Covering Letter for submission: The Editor Subject: Submission of Manuscript. Dear Sir/Madam, Please find my submission of research paper/article for possible publications in your journal. I hereby affirm that the content of this manuscript are original. Furthermore it has been neither published elsewhere fully or partially or any language nor submitted for publication (fully or partially) elsewhere simultaneously. All correspondence henceforth may please be addressed to me. Yours sincerely, Mr.Manjunath N Name of the Author: MANJUNATH N Designation: Asst. Professor, Department of MBA Affiliation: RNS Institute of Technology Mobile Number: +919844985959 Email: nmanjunath1986@gmail.com ABSTRACT Organizations, the world over are facing stiff and diverse challenges with regard to enriching customer value at the appropriate time and appropriate cost. Thus the essence of customer value entails the organizations to structure their activities in such a way that leverages their cost and time potential. An increasing number of organizations are resorting, thus to a more simplified organization design that embodies built in mechanisms to cater to the core activities and embrace a methodology that abhors waste and with a fierce dedication to excellence. This has seen the emergence of “Lean” management practices as a cornerstone of organizational effectiveness...
Words: 4733 - Pages: 19
...Many of these problems may be linked, for example, to the lack of interest from management to improve and regulate such important areas as occupational safety and environmental hygiene. While past studies on occupational safety, environmental control, and quality control have been conducted in different areas of the construction industry, the truss industry and the owner’s impact on construction safety have not been previously investigated. This paper presents the results of a study within a truss manufacturing company, which was evaluated and studied in the areas of occupational safety, environmental control, and quality control. Data were obtained by conducting interviews, surveys, and direct observations. The relationship between organizational structure, occupational safety, environmental control, quality control and the management influence was examined. By identifying practices of management and employees that are associated with good occupational safety performances, successful environmental programs, and efficient...
Words: 16750 - Pages: 67
...LEAN MANUFACTURING Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy focusing on reduction of the seven wastes to improve overall customer value: • Over-production • Transportation • Inventory • Motion • Waiting time • Processing Itself • Defective Product (Scrap in manufactured products or any type of business.) By eliminating waste (muda), quality is improved, production time and costs are reduced. To solve the problem of waste, Lean Manufacturing has several "tools" at its disposal. These include constant process analysis (kaizen), "pull" production (by means of kanban) and mistake- proofing (poka-yoke). Key lean manufacturing principles include: • Pull processing: products are pulled from the consumer end (demand), not pushed from the production end (Supply) • Perfect first-time quality - quest for zero defects, revealing & solving problems at the source • Waste minimization – eliminating all activities that do not add value & safety nets, maximize use of scarce resources (capital, people and land) • Continuous improvement – reducing costs, improving quality, increasing productivity and information sharing • Flexibility – producing different mixes or greater diversity of products quickly, without sacrificing efficiency at lower volumes of production • Building and maintaining a long term relationship with suppliers through collaborative risk sharing, cost sharing and information sharing arrangements. Lean is...
Words: 420 - Pages: 2
...United States Environmental Protection Agency Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5302W) Policy, Economics & Innovation (1807T) EPA100-R-03-005 October 2003 www.epa.gov/ innovation/lean.htm Lean Manufacturing and the Environment: Research on Advanced Manufacturing Systems and the Environment and Recommendations for Leveraging Better Environmental Performance ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report was prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) and Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation (OPEI). Ross & Associates Environmental Consulting, Ltd. prepared this report for U.S. EPA under contract to Industrial Economics, Inc. (U.S. EPA Contract # 68-D9-9018). DISCLAIMER The observations articulated in this report and its appendices represent Ross & Associates’ interpretation of the research, case study information, and interviews with lean experts and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the organizations or lean experts interviewed or researched as part of this effort. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representatives have reviewed and approved this report, but this does not necessarily constitute EPA endorsement of the observations or recommendations presented in this report. Lean Manufacturing and the Environment: Research on Advanced Manufacturing Systems and the Environment and Recommendations for Leveraging Better Environmental Performance Table of Contents Executive Summary...
Words: 33834 - Pages: 136
...challenging their competitive advantage. Furthermore, the inexperienced production manager (owner’s son, Blaine) is using his unearned power as an authoritarian leader to drive change. However, due to poor leader-follower relations, his management style is negatively influencing the synergies ultimately causing a decrease in group productivity and member satisfaction. In addition to causing turbulence between management and the employees, the cost reduction plan resulted in increasing waste and costs while putting productivity behind schedule. In order for L. J. Summers Company to increase efficiencies and reduce production costs, management should develop a plan that will lead to a re-organization of the company’s culture and create a new competitive advantage over their competition. L. J. Summers Company has remained in existence primarily due to one major customer driving 90% of their revenue. Although the informal standards and norms the company is founded on seemed to work, it had many deficiencies that were either not recognized by management or simply overlooked. The perception owned by the employees indicates that it is acceptable to assume a lax work ethic, which includes stealing company property in lieu of below standard wage earnings and causing a hostile work environment. The deficiencies were exposed once management attempted to drive cultural change to increase efficiency and cut production costs. The inexperienced manager’s (Blaine) methodology of driving change...
Words: 1039 - Pages: 5
...goods just in time as promised when the order is placed by the customer. The opposite of the JIT production is known as JIC (Just in case) system where it produces goods for inventory with the intention of having goods just in case a customer places an immediate order. JIT production system identifies the hidden problems in the value chain and reduces the production waste of the system while increasing the throughout (Sales- Raw Material Cost). Even though the JIT system seems to be interesting and less complicated it requires lot of coordination with supply chain to avoid delays in the production schedule. The whole concept of the JIT is differentiated from traditional productions systems using push vs. pull systems ofproduction. The push system of production pushes materials to the next stage of the production irrespective of whether time and resources are needed at the next level of production creating lot of inventories at each level of the production flow. The traditional manufacturing organizations adopt push system where they produce for inventory and work in progress. The pull system of production is where the materials are pulled by next level of the production only when is signaled or required by the next stage of production. This drastically reduces the inventory held as it does not keep any work in progress. JIT concept is built based on the concept of pull production which eliminates the total inventory. Definition of Just-In-Time (JIT) Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing...
Words: 16690 - Pages: 67
...is achieved. In some cases, JIT is less of a conscious design and more of a default position. This paper will examine the role of a company’s resource configuration in leading to the use of JIT manufacturing. The research paper reports on a single case study of a small manufacturer that altered its resource configuration from a producer – consumer relationship separated by a buffer, to a simultaneity constraint. The results of the case study show that the removal of the buffer system increased the manufacturing system’s need for mix flexibility, and the final implementation required unplanned structural and infrastructural changes to adequately meet marketing requirements. 1. INTRODUCTION Just-In-Time (JIT) is a system that focuses on waste reduction and continuous improvement to achieve operational excellence (Moreira & Alves, 2006). In a manufacturing context, JIT involves a manufacturing system where the parts needed to complete finished products are produced or delivered at the assembly site as required (Wafa & Yasin, 1998). JIT manufacturing is closely related to lean manufacturing: so much so, that researchers such as Womack et al (1991) appear to use the two terms interchangeably...
Words: 2969 - Pages: 12
...Solid waste management is an emerging issue as the world’s municipalities become increasingly affected by the huge generation of waste. According to the UNEP (2010), Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated worldwide an estimated 1.7 – 1.9 billion metric tons of waste. Rapid urbanization, industrialization and economic development are responsible for increased volumes of municipal solid waste. As a result, municipalities - typically the level of government responsible for waste management in cities - must provide effective and efficient solid waste services to their inhabitants. They often face problems beyond the ability of municipal authorities to tackle the problem (Sujauddin et al, 2008). This has been attributed to a lack of organization,...
Words: 932 - Pages: 4
...Daniel York May 5 2012 Business Management Management Exam 4 1. Why do you think that today’s manager’s would want to use the “Balanced Scorecard” method to measure and control organizational performance? Manager’s use the Balanced Scorecard method to measure and control organizational performance because it gives you 4 areas of your performance instead of just looking at the financial numbers of the organization. Just because financially your company is succeeding it does not mean improvements can not be made. If customer service is low, employee are trained improperly or processes are out of date this could cost you present and future business. Addressing these now can lead to increase profit margins from increased business and cut costs by eliminating the seven deadly wastes. 2. What is the “grapevine”? Should it be eliminated from a company? Why or Why not? The Grapevine is an internal communication source based of rumors and gossip in a given organization. “80% of the topics are business related, and 70%-90% of the details are typically accurate.”(Daft 13) You should not try to eliminate it the grapevine because it will always exist, so merely ignoring it or pretending like it is not there will not be beneficial. Keeping your employees well informed of what is going on with the company will eliminate possible hazards from misinformation that comes from the grapevine. You can also use the Grapevine as an information source to find out concerns your...
Words: 1137 - Pages: 5
...Application Exercise Name of Student Name of Institute Date Contents Voice of customer 3 Wiskia Restaurant 3 About Waskia Resturant 3 Identification of customers of Waskia Restaurant 4 1. Expectation of services receive 4 Summary 5 Reducing Waste 7 Process of Pharmaceutical Organization 7 Types of Waste 9 Waste Adverse Effect on Organization Performance 9 Waste Management 10 Constraint Management 11 Step of Production Process 11 Constraints 12 Ways for performing Throughput 13 Improving system throughput and productivity 14 Voice of customer Waskia Restaurant Customer satisfaction is essential topic related towards companies’ profits. In order to gain competitive advantage, companies have to determine the customer’s satisfaction factors. When a customer gets experiences higher than the expectation, at this moment it is said that the customer is satisfied. Many businesses that do not focus over customer satisfaction factor faces resistance in achieving success. If company focus on customer satisfaction, it may result in having loyal customers, the company does not have to spend too much expense for gaining new customer because the word of mouth the satisfied customer tend to advertize This topic is related to developing and measuring the customer service of Waskia Restaurant. The customer perception of Waskia? What have they perception about it? Another way, its food quality, menu pricing and its value, menu selection, service promptness...
Words: 1944 - Pages: 8
...Social Responsibility JJT Task 1 Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy Chris Dennison Introduction In today’s global economy of socially conscious shoppers, it is not enough to simply create and sell a high quality good or service. A recent study shows that corporate social responsibility is critical to establishing and maintaining a positive reputation as evident by the more than 90 percent of polled shoppers that would switch to a brand that demonstrates support for a good cause if competing products were of similar price and quality. Additionally, the same amount of consumers was more likely to establish a deeper trust and loyalty to a socially responsible organization in comparison to one that doesn’t show these things. Most importantly, businesses that are not socially responsible are at severe risk of alienating their customer base, thereby impacting their longevity and profitability. Consumers hold the power as they have shown and will continue to boycott corporations that are found to engage in irresponsible practices. With this in mind, it is no longer a question of if a corporation should consider integrating social responsibility aspects to their operations, but rather a question of to what extent leadership wishes to go and how they will develop and communicate this in terms of having a meaningful impact on local community and the environment. In the past, a corporation’s primary responsibility was to turn a profit. The concepts of being socially responsible...
Words: 4067 - Pages: 17
...Industry. Management accounting refers to the processes and techniques that focus on the effective and efficient use of organizational resources, to support managers in their tasks of enhancing both customer value and shareholder value. (Langfield Smith & Kim, 2009:6). Conversely, Green tourism describes basic tourism focused on visiting wildlife sites, historical heritage and sustainable tourism which does not damage the sites and communities being visited and a travel which is environmentally friendly. The undesirable state of the natural environment contaminated with harmful substances as consequences of human activities in regards to air, land and water is called Pollution. It is vital the tourism industry thrives being Fiji’s main income earner. To maximize the customer and shareholder value, it is imperative for Fiji to promote Green tourism which can be achieved by reducing pollution. Business firms need relevant and timely information regarding their level of waste disposal. Therefore, the management accounting techniques assist the managers develop strategies to curtail the impact of their business operations on the environment namely, pollution, which would in turn contribute to green tourism attracting more visitor arrivals whilst adding value to Fiji’s tourism. The tourism sector is vital for Fiji’s economy as it provides employment, earned over $850 million in 2008 in foreign exchange and is Fiji’s main income earner. Sadly, the tourism sector in Fiji faces a...
Words: 1875 - Pages: 8
...------------------------------------------------- Contents 1. Background of the Study 1 2. Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility 3 2.1. Introduction 3 2.2. Composition of BOD’s 4 2.3. Corporate Social Responsibility programs 4 3. Environment Scanning and Industry Analysis 6 3.1. Current trends of external environment 6 3.2. Industry analysis through Porter’s 5 Forces Model 9 4. Internal Environment Scanning and Organizational Analysis 10 5. SWOT Analysis 15 6. Design strategic purpose 19 6.1. Vision Statement of StretchLine 19 6.2. Mission Statement of Strechline 19 6.3. Objectives of Stretchline 19 6.4. Gap Analysis of Stretchline 20 7. Strategy development 21 7.1. BCG Matrix 21 7.2. Growth Strategies 22 8. Strategy in Action 26 9. Strategic Control 29 9.1. Procedure of controlling 29 9.2. Strategic controlling tools 29 Background of the Study It is fact that every country has 3 sections contribution to make the GDP like agriculture, industry and services. Industry has been invented to the Sri Lanakan market since 1977 with the industrialization policy adaption. Then apparel industry has great contribution to the Sri Lankan economy tremendously. It provides not only the massive export income but also novel technology with opportunities to unemployment. Sri Lankan economy gained GSP+ due because of perfectiveness in apparel industry. Apparently when illustrating factors in apparel industry the trade...
Words: 9233 - Pages: 37
...man or the operators. The methods engineer decides where humans, depending on certain factors such as personality, ability and knowledge, should be allocated to different works in the industrial processes and analyzing and determining how the workers could work most effectively to perform the tasks assigned to them. In the field of information system methods engineering is the discipline to construct new methods from existing methods. It focus on the design, construction and evaluation of methods, techniques and support tools for information system development. Furthermore methods engineering want to improve the usefulness of system development methods by creating an adaptation framework whereby methods are created to match specific organizational situations. Methods engineering are also known as work study, work simplification, methods study, process re-engineering, business process re-engineering. All of the organizations, companies and even small businesses are following a certain methods or pattern of their works. It is really hard to...
Words: 791 - Pages: 4
