STUDY ON LEAN MANUFACTURING- AN IMPORTANT

TOOL FOR INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY

JAY PARTE
DEPARTMENT OF PRODUCTION ENGINEERING
D. J. SANGHVI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
MUMBAI UNIVERSITY
MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA
jay.parte1010@gmail.com

Objective: The objective of this article is to understand the concept of lean manufacturing, its philosophy,
various tools and techniques, lean implementation benefits and barrier towards lean implementation. Main
concepts: Lean manufacturing by now is a widely discussed and applied manufacturing philosophy, in a
variety of industries across the globe. The fundamental concept of lean manufacturing is to provide a
quality product while also ensuring that the product does not cost too much to the customer. Most
organizations today are going through a stage where there is a necessity to respond the rapidly changing
customer needs. To sustain their place in the market, many organizations have started following the lean
manufacturing concept. Methodology of the research: This article presents a review of the literature and
attempts to identify the important and useful contributions to this subject. Results: Lean manufacturing
utilizes a wide range of tools and techniques; the choice of tools is situation specific. Many factors
contribute to lean success; not only is it mandatory to implement most of the lean tools, but an
organization’s culture needs transforming too. Companies following lean manufacturing have better
flexibility and a good market share. Moreover, lean manufacturing produces an operational and cultural
environment that is highly conducive to waste minimization.
Keywords: lean manufacturing; wastes; continuous improvement; manufacturing industry

1. Introduction eliminating wastes within the organization (Upadhye,

The concept of lean manufacturing was introduced in
Japan, and the Toyota production system was the first to
use lean practices. Lean manufacturing helps in
enhancing production processes and boosting up the
employees job satisfaction (Singh, Garg, Sharma, &
Grewal, 2010c). Lean manufacturing is different from
traditional manufacturing. The traditional
manufacturing concept focuses on the inventory of the
system, whereas lean manufacturing opposes this
concept. The ‘Lean’ concept considers inventory as
a waste in the organization. Understanding the
differences between traditional manufacturing and lean
manufacturing is very important for organizations if
they want to follow lean practices (Andrew, 2006). The
market is becoming more volatile day by day, so
understanding market dynamics is a crucial factor if one
wants to design manufacturing systems better (Gadalla,
2010). Lean manufacturing believes the simple fact that
customers will pay for the value of services they receive,
but will not pay for mistakes (Rawabdeh, 2005).
Introducing lean manufacturing in any type of
industry
has a straightforward impact on manufacturing
processes. Today people have a different perspective on
manufactur- ing processes. They understand that the
value of a product is defined from the customer’s point
of view, not from an internal manufacturing point of
view. Lean manufacturing focuses on the elimination of
wastes from the organization. A waste is defined as
anything that does not add value to the product. Lean tool
techniques when combined with SWOT (strength,
weakness, opportunity, threats) analysis help in
Deshmukh, & Garg, 2010). Lean manufacturing when
implemented successfully results in an increase in
production output per person and a reduction in the
finished goods inventory and work in process (Seth &
Gupta, 2005). The ultimate goal of a lean manufacturing
system is to eliminate all wastes from the organization. A
lean system is represented as two pillars: the first is
‘jidoka’ and the second is ‘just-in-time’. The main goal of
a lean manufacturing system is to produce products of
higher quality at the lowest possible cost and in the least
time by
eliminating wastes (Dennis, 2007).
Steps of lean manufacturing implementation
. Identification of wastes in the system. Many
organizations need to know that they have many
hidden and unhidden wastes in their systems.
. Wastes present in the organization can be of
different types. There is a need to recognize the
types of waste and their causes. Lean
manufacturing believes in treating the causes and
curing the problems permanently. There are
various tools and techniques that are quite helpful
in reducing or eliminating these types of waste.
. The next step is to find the solution for the root
causes. One must stick to basic lean concepts and
identify the root causes. Looking at causes might
not help properly, so there is a need to identify the
effects of the solution on the entire system.
. The final step in the lean implementation process is
to find the solutions and test the solutions first. Once
 solutions are tested then they should be
implemented. Training and following up are
important in each and every step explained above.
One needs to be patient because the
implementation process might take a long time.
(Figure 1)
Industries in many developing countries are working
on old and obsolete techniques of manufacturing.
Mahapatra and Mohanty (2007) in their study found that
Indian companies were using workers only physically
but not intellectually. There had been no suggestion
system in the organizations. Singh, Garg, and Sharma
(2010a) conducted a survey in the Indian automobile,
machine tools and manufacturing industries. They
created five groups as a parameter of evaluation. These
groups were called organizational, supplier, customer,
market focus and top management. They found that, for
companies to implement lean, they have to focus on
management and market issues. Sharma, Gupta, Kumar,
and Singh (2011) found that supplier issues are crucial
for the successful implementation of lean. Many big
companies like Tata motors, HCL and Wipro have
successfully implemented lean manufacturing
principles. Thara Engineering and Gold Seal
Engineering Products Ltd are some small scale
industries that have improved their processes by the
implementation of lean manufacturing. More
companies, like Bharat Forge, Bajaj, L&T and Boyce,
have become more globally competitive. Sundaram-
Clayton Ltd cut down their costs by using lean
manufacturing concepts.
Why is this article relevant? This article is
relevant
because it focuses and describes the meaning of lean, its
principles and benefits, and also the barriers to
implementing lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing
techniques have become necessary for today’s
manufac-
Goal
Highest quality at the lowest cost
in the least time by eliminating waste
Jidoka, Just-In-Time
Automation Elimination of All
with a Human Waste
Touch
Pillar Pilla
r plant to lean production from mass production was
Foundation for Continuous
Improvement is Stability through
Standardization
The Seven Wastes
Delay Motion, Over processing, Conveyance, Inventory,
Correction and Overproduction
Figure 1. Basic lean concepts and methods. [Source:
Dennis (2007).
turer as lean can be a survival strategy for them. Lean
also provides organizations with a competitive edge
against companies not using lean. So this article will be
useful to practioners but also it will be helpful to
academics who want to learn and implement lean
manufacturing concepts.
2. Methodology
This research article is based on a systematic literature
review. The source of the literature is the Web of
knowledge, identified as providing access to the leading
citation databases covering thousands of journals
worldwide, as well as conference proceedings. As a
starting point, some books also proved helpful in the
research process. A set of key findings has been
identified from this review. This article would help in
establishing a better understanding of lean
manufacturing practices and the challenges that
companies face during the implementation of lean
manufacturing.
In the initial search, there appeared a list of over
20,000 research papers associated with the topic of lean.
This list was then narrowed by using different keywords
that were related only to the main research topic.
According to different combinations of keywords, this
step reduced the resulting list to about 180 papers for ‘lean
implementation’, about 120 papers for the search
combining ‘lean implementation’ and ‘lean surveys’,
about 83 for ‘lean concept’ and approximately 48
papers for ‘lean and challenges’. The target articles
considered for this review were those published after the
year 2000, but apart from these some important articles
published before 2000 were also taken into
consideration. Papers selected from various journals and
conferences have been scanned thoroughly and key
findings and issues are summarized.
3. Literature review
The literature on lean manufacturing is divided into
three sections, namely lean philosophy, lean surveys
and lean case studies (Figure 2, Table 1).
3.1. Lean philosophy
The definition of lean, its principles and main concepts,
come under lean philosophy. According to Womack and
Jones (1996), lean is defined as a process that includes
five steps: the first step is defining customer value, then
defining value stream, making it ‘flow’, establish pull,
and the last step is striving for excellence. According to
Wong et al. (2009), lean manufacturing can be
characterized by a collective set of key factors or key
areas. These key factors are believed to be very
important for its implementation. In the 1980s, changing
considered to be very difficult. Workers did not take
responsibility for the quality of the product. They
responded only when they knew that management
actually valued their skills. The quote ‘do it right the first
time’, encourages workers to feel accountable for the
products. Womack et al. (1990) explained how the
movement of
Figure 2. Methodology flowchart.
automobile manufacturing took place from craft
production to mass production and then to lean
production. The standardization of automobile parts and
assembly tech- niques was done by Henry Ford. It takes a
revolution, and as a result low skilled workers and
specialized machines made the cars cheap for the people.
(Figure 3)
From the point of view of Bhasin and Burcher
(2006), lean is viewed more as a philosophy than a
strategy. Supplier involvement is a must if an
organization is to reap the rewards of lean practices.
Moreover, lean manufactur- ing should be considered as
a continuous improvement process for better results.
Bhuiyan and Baghel (2005) overviewed the continuous
improvement process from the past to the present
scenario. Continuous Improvement (CI) uses different
methodologies to get better results in an organization.
These methodologies include lean manufac- turing, six-
sigma, lean six-sigma and the balance score card. Hopp
and Spearman (2004) found that continuous
improvement efforts are means to achieve high levels of
pull production (production is based on actual daily
demand) through eliminating variability in the system
and thereby reducing defects in the organization.
Clarity of the term waste must be understood. There
are
two types of waste, the first type is obvious waste and
the second type is less obvious waste. Obvious wastes
result from overproduction, waiting, transportation,
inappropriate
processing, excessive inventory, excess motion and
defects. Less obvious wastes result from variability.
Dhamija et al. (2011), in his publication stated lean
organizations are those which utilize less material to
create their work, less human efforts to perform the
work, less time to design and develop less energy and
space. Lean organizations focus on customer demand
and thereby producing high quality products and
services in most the effective and economical manner.
Rose et al. (2011) purposed 17 lean practices which are
considered to be best feasible and relevant to small and
medium scale characteristics. They suggested that
implementation of lean practices should be done in a
consistent way. Inconsistency in the efforts may not lead
any organization to avail full benefits from lean
practices.
3.2. Lean surveys
Yan-jiang et al. (2006) did a survey and found that there
had been certain interna motivation factors which were
responsible for popularization of continuous
improvement activities. Malik et al. (2007), compare
continuous improvement activities in two leading Asian
countries. Results found from surveying were that both
countries showed good continuous improvement
methodologies but with different proportions.
Mahapatra and Mohanty
 Table 1. Classification of the difference lean manufacturing and manufacturing per-
literature. formance. They found some factors to be performance

Focus area Chronological lists of publications enhancing. These factors include internal management,
Lean philosophy Womack, Jones, and Roos (1990)
Womack and Jones (1996) Figure 3. Lean manufacturing publications.
Bhasin and Burcher (2006)
Hopp and Spearman
(2004) Bhuiyan and
Baghel (2005) Wong,
Wong, and Ali (2009)
Dhamija, Srivastava, Khanduja, and
Agarwal (2011)
Rose, Deros, Rahman, and Nordin
(2011) Lean surveys Yan-jiang, Dan, and Lang
(2006)
Malik, Lu, Tian, and Sun
(2007) Mahapatra and
Mohanty (2007) Kuo, Shen,
and Chen (2008) Ferdousi
and Ahmed (2009) Wong et
al. (2009)
Lyonnet, Pillet, and Pralus
(2010) Nordin, Deros, and
Wahab (2010) Eroglu and
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Hofer (2011)
Case studies Karlsson and Ahlstrom (1996)
Gunasekaran and Lyu
(1997) Rother and Shook
(1999) Petroni (2002)
Shah and Ward (2003)
Rawabdeh (2005)
Abdulmalek and Rajgopal (2007)
Chandrasekaran, Kannan, and
Pandiaraj (2008)
Ramesh, Prasad, and Srinivas
(2008) Rajeev (2008)
Alvarez, Calvo, Pena, and Domingo
(2009) Pattanaik and Sharma (2009)
Singh and Singh
(2009) Singh et al.
(2010c)
Simmons, Holt, Dennis, and Walden
(2010) Upadhye et al. (2010)
Wijngaard, Pool, and van der Zee
(2011) Gupta, Garg, and Gupta
(2011) Goriwondo, Mhlanga, and
Marecha (2011) Paranitharan,
Begam, Abuthakeer, and
Subha (2011)
Rajenthirakumar,
Mohanram, and
Harikaarthik (2011)

(2007), survey the adoption of concepts of lean

manufacturing in some small and medium sized
organizations of India. Kuo et al. (2008), listed the
supplies involvement, customer relationship, aspect and
means of supplier chain management. Ferdousi and
Ahmed (2009), advance their research in
Bangladesh garment industry for performance
improvement through lean manufacturing
techniques.
Wong et al. (2009) through their research found
that waste education and continuous improvement
tools of lean manufacturing are most versatile tools
and these tools are easily understood by all the
manufacturers. The top most benefit achieved from
it was found to be cost reduction. They also found
that 5S and kaizen had been other lean tools for
achieving many other benefits in the organization.
They compared large scale and small scale industry
and found that lean manufacturing practices were
better done by large scale industries. Lyonnet et al.
(2010), developed a set of methodologies and
calculated the maturity level in different companies
regarding their understanding lean manufacturing
concept and its main applications. They found
some tools like pull system, value stream mapping
and single piece flow which were least used by the
organizations. Nordin et al. (2010), did their
research in Malaysian automotive industries. They
found 5S and kaizen had been two lean tools which
were driving force in getting results from lean
manufacturing implementation. Eroglu and Hofer
(2011), in their research concentrated in effect of
inventory in the performance of the organization.
They found that there were 33% of industries
which exhibit no significant effect of inventory
leanness in organization performance.

3.3. Case studies

Lean manufacturing is the name given to a team-
based systematic approach for discovering and
eliminating various types of waste (Upadhye et al.,
2010).This section composed of various case
studies of lean manufacturing. There are various
tools which are effectively used for elimination of
wastes in the organization. These tools include
just-in-time, value stream mapping (VSM), kaizen,
material requirement planning, kanban, 5s, etc.
(Table 2)

(a) Just-In-Time (JIT)

It is a tool of lean manufacturing that stands on the
pillars of successful planning and the execution of
events necessary to produce a final product.
Karlsson and Ahlstrom (1996) have stated that
each event and process should be processed in the
right form, in the right necessity to produce goods
and with the right timing. The ultimate objective is
to provide every process with one part at a time,
exactly when there is a need for that part, which is
the principle of JIT. Reducing lot sizes, reducing
buffer sizes, and reducing order lead times are
indicated as the important components of JIT by
these authors. Size of the plant, age of plant and
status inside the unions are three important factors
that have been discussed by Shah and
Table 2. Function of the various lean
tools. Lean tools Function
JIT Products are pulled through
the production process by
demand.
Kaizen Continuous change
towards
improvement
VSM Waste reduction from Value
Stream Mapping (lead time
reduction)
Material Detailed schedule of inputs
Requirement from
plannin final outputs
g
Kanban Movement of parts based on
cards
5S Sorting, Set in order, Shine,
Stan- dardize and Sustain
Waste elimination Elimination of what does not
add
value to the end product
Ward (2003). JIT and common infrastructural practices
have been found by them to have a positive effect on
efficiency, whereas TQM has had no considerable effect.
The implementation of JIT in a small scale industry in
Taiwan had been carried out by Gunasekaran and Lyu
(1997). They started their journey by training the
workers, and then the 5S tool (Seiri (Sorting), Seito (Set
in Order), Seize (Shine), Seiketsu (Standardize) and
Shitsuke (Sustain)) was implemented to improve security
in the workplace, the quality of products and the
production of the company. Worker training was given
in the preventive maintenance of their equipment and
machines. The traditionally adopted ‘push’ (based on
forecast demand) system was replaced with a ‘pull’ (based
on actual demand) system for obtaining a smooth and
synchronized system, so that products were to be
produced with the right timing and in the right quantity.
Barriers faced by the Small and Medium Enterprises to
implementing JIT had been analysed by Gupta et al.
(2011). The largest barrier to implementing JIT was the
lack of bargaining power of the
SME with the outside world.
(b) Kaizen
Kaizen is a Japanese term which is used for continuous
improvement; the continuing involvment of everyone –
whether managers or employees. Finding, targeting and
removing waste (muda) in machinery, labor or
production methods refers to kaizen in manufacturing
companies. The JIT approach can be further molded in
an approach that is called the continuous improvement
or kaizen approach. According to Rawabdeh (2005),
housekeeping, standardiz- ation and waste elimination
are the three pillars on which the kaizen approach is
based. Kai stands for change and Zen stands for the
better, so kaizen means ‘to change continuously for
the better involving every single person in the company’
(Singh & Singh, 2009). Chandrasekaran et al. (2008)
have implemented the kaizen approach to find a solution
to the problem of ‘part mismatching’ in the assembly
line of an automobile company. The kaizen approach
has been utilized to eliminate problems step by step by the
collection of data, the analysis of root causes, the
discovery and selection of one best solution from
various possible solutions, implementation and proper
documen-
tation. The various benefits experienced by them after
implementing kaizen were the complete elimination of
wastes such as lack of quality, rejects, reworking of
products and a considerable amount of expenditure was
saved.
(c) Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
VSM is a world-famous graphical tool which helps to
enlighten and analyse the work-flow and to find the
value-
added and non-value-added activities contributing to the
final product. Lean concepts and techniques are used
collectively in VSM. Rother and Shook (1999) have
discussed VSM in which analyses of the current state of
the value stream of a product are carried out. After this
redesign, an improved future state of the value stream of
the product is developed which is mainly focused on the
reduction of wastes, the decrease in lead times, and
improvement in the material-flow. Only one map is
required to show the flow of both material and
information, which are found to be important
characteristics of VSM when comparison is made with
other such types of technique. Pattanaik and Sharma
(2009) stated that processes should be analysed in order
to reduce non-value-added activities, which will
contribute in reducing waiting time, queuing time,
moving time, and other similar wastes.
Goriwondo et al. (2011) have implemented VSM
and brought benefit to a bread making manufacturing
company successfully. Defects have been reduced by
20%, unnecess- ary inventory by 18% and unnecessary
motions by 37%. Ramesh et al. (2008) have drawn a
current state value stream map, and found that some
processes are unnecessary and can be eliminated. Singh
et al. (2010c) demonstrated the outcomes in a
production company after the successful
implementation of VSM benefited the firm. In process
inventory reduction, work was found to be decreased by
89.47%, the finished goods inventory was reduced by
17.65%, the product lead time was deceased by 83.14%
and the output per operator was found to be increased by
42.86%. Rajenthirakumar et al. (2011) implemented
lean on the assembly line of a paint shop in a
manufacturing company. During the study, various
processes were found that were not adding value to the
activities of the paint shop. Current mapping showed
that 72.85% non-value-adding activities were present.
The drying process was found to cause a bottleneck that
had been contributing a cycle time increment. Further, it
was found that an improvement could be made if warm
water was used for the drying process.
Paranitharan et al. (2011) have analysed and
reformatted an assembly line in the automobile industry.
Bottleneck times of 155 seconds in machining and 78
seconds in the assembly process were found by
analysing the current state map. The current layout
showed that there was a separate station for ram
assembly and the cylinder greasing operation. The
layout was modified and the idea of a single modular
trolley was introduced for the elimination of this
problem.
(d) Material Requirement Planning (MRP)
MRP is a powerful tool that converts the requirements for
end products into a detailed schedule of raw materials.
Inaccuracies in material planning create many
problems, including a decrease in productivity, the
production of non-required inventories and frustration.
MRP helps to estimate correctly the requirements for
inventories and raw materials and to decrease the
chances of making unattainable manufacturing plans
(Rajeev, 2008). Petroni (2002) found that there are
many problems involved in the proper execution of
MRP systems. Wijngaard et al. (2011) found that lean
manufacturing has a great effect in the field of operation
management.
(e) Kanban
Kanban is a simple parts-movement system in which
material movement between workstations in a
production line is based on cards. A supplier should only
deliver parts to the production line as and when they are
required, so that there is no storage of parts in the
production area, which is the basic need of the kanban
system. VSM along with the kanban system was used
by Alvarez et al. (2009) to implement lean
manufacturing on an assembly line. A current state map
was prepared and analysed in order to note down the
cycle time of various activities involved in the
production of the component. It had been clearly
highlighted that a push system was usually adopted on
manufacturing lines, which was a big problem for the
assembly line process. A kanban system was generated
to replace the push system with a pull system.
Abdulmalek and Rajgopal (2007) developed a
simulation model to show conditions before and after
implementing a kanban system. Large amount of the
work in process inventories, lower value added time
were major weaknesses which had been visualized
during analysis. The kanban system played a vital role
in making a better product flow.
(f) 5S
5S is a methodology for sorting, organizing, cleaning,
standardizing and sustaining a productive work environ-
ment. Increase in safety levels, cleaning of workspace,
enhanced productivity and preventive maintenance are
some of the results of a 5S program. 5S has been
implemented by Gunasekaran and Lyu (1997) in a small
Taiwan company that produces a variety of automobile
lamps. Simmons et al. (2010) have found large lead
times, low quality and low efficiency to be big problems
in scale industries. 5S is the basic starting tool used to
make companies neat and standardized. Bottlenecks can
be found by the line balancing tool.
(g) Waste elimination
A target of lean manufacturing is the total elimination of
waste. From a customer’s point of view, anything that
does not add any value to the final product is termed a
waste. These wastes can be identified and
reduced/eliminated by using lean tools and methods.
Upadhye et al. (2010) have successfully implemented
the lean philosophy in a north Indian company. In its
earlier stages, the lean manufactur- ing approach was
considered appropriate only in medium size industries.
Flow process charts were used to analyse product flows.
This study provides information on
different forms of wastages that are supposed to show
their presence in manufacturing systems. Lean tools like
kaizen, JIT, VSM, 5S, preventive maintenance
schedules and Single-Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)
have been found successful in finding and eliminating
wastes in medium-sized industries.
4. Barriers to lean implementation
The concept of lean manufacturing might look easy but
its implementation is not an easy task. The introduction
of lean manufacturing into an organization tends to
change its working culture. Such changes are considered
to be barriers to the implementation process of lean
manufacturing. Changes occurring in the organization
tend to change the workers in the organization. Much
hard work has to be done to recognise these changes in
the organization (Barker, 1998; Stanleigh, 2008).
Responding and adapting become difficult when a
worker sees a change in the environment of the
organization. This barrier can be overcome by adopting
a culture of proper communication and training for
everyone in the organization. Communication and
training will raise the level of understanding and thereby
there will be a motivation culture in the organization
(Puvanasvaran, Megat, Hong, & Muhamad, 2009).
According to Crute, Ward, Brown, and Graves (2003)
and James (2006), there are three main barriers to
implementing lean manufactur- ing. These barriers are
lack of commitment from senior and middle
management, and poor understanding of lean
manufacturing concepts. Employees’ attitudes are the
main obstacle for companies who are in a state of
transition implementing lean manufacturing. Achanga,
Shehab, Roy, and Nelder (2006) and Salaheldin (2005)
also considered when top management support is not
adequate it becomes a barrier to the implementation of
lean.
Achanga et al. (2006) have identified a lack of financial
resources as a barrier to implementing lean in small
scale industries. Inman and Mehra (1990) also
supported this thesis and stated that lack of financial
resources causes deficiency in influence training and
prevents organizations from setting lean practices.
Abdul-Nour, Lambert, and Drolet (1998) and Salaheldin
(2005) found a lack of skilled resources to be a barrier to
the lean implementation process. Chong (2007) stated
that lack of time is also a barrier factor in the
implementation process. Production schedule (Most of
the customer do not commit to long- term production
schedules) inability is another barrier factor that makes
it hard to carry out lean practices (Golhar, Stamm, &
Smith, 1990; Golhar & Stamm, 1991). Large product
variety also creates difficulty for the organization to
sustain a lean implementation process (Cusumano,
1994).
5. Competitive benefits of lean manufacturing
The implementation of lean manufacturing tries to make
value flow at the pull of customer demand (JIT) and
eliminates waste in processes. Waste is categorized into
the seven component wastes: Transport, Inventory,
Motion, Waiting, Overprocessing, Overproduction, and
Defects. All of these wastes have a direct impact on
performance, quality and costs, and these are all non-
value-adding operations for which customers do not
want to pay. Many studies and research show that we
only add value around 5% of the time during operations;
the remaining 95% is waste. Lean manufacturing
implementation tries to remove that 95% wasted time
and effort.
Many authors have contended that lean aids
compe-
tiveness (Billesbach, 1994; Nystuen, 2002; Oliver,
1996;
Parker, 2003; Siekman, 2000; Taylor & Brunt, 2001;
Vasilash, 2001). According to Sohal and Eggleston
(1994), two-thirds of companies believed strategic
advantages had been generated with bigger
improvements coming from customer relationships,
quality constraints and market competitive positioning.
Lathin (2001) stated that traditional mass producers
could expect a reduction of 90% in inventory, 90% in
cost of quality, 90% in lead time and a 50% increase in
labor productivity. Claudius Consulting (2004) insisted
that lean manufacturing can help organizations to cut
costs by between 15 and 70%, reduce waste by 40%,
push productivity up by between 15 and 40%, and
decrease space and inventory requirements by 60%.
Nystuen (2002) stated that product travel time can be
reduced by 90%, inventory by 82% and product lead
time by 11% by applying lean manufacturing concepts
in the organization. Bicheno (1999), Hines (1999), Liker
(2004) and Womack and Jones (2003) in their published
research found that lean manufacturing concepts are
quite popular and followed in the automobile sector as
compared to other sectors.
If lean manufacturing is implemented in a proper
way
it can lead to various positive improvements in the
organization. Besides these benefits, lean
manufacturing also has many hidden benefits that play
a vital role in industrial success stories. These benefits
have no direct role in the success stories of lean
manufacturing techniques but have the following very
significant indirect roles that cannot be neglected.
. Improvements in quality and safety. Lean manu-
facturing techniques improve the quality of
production. They also improve working area
safety for everyone. They even eliminate minor
chances of mistakes in the processes and
methodology adopted for working.
. Time reduction for traceability. By applying 5S
techniques and store management, each and every
item, such as tools, raw materials, etc., is easily
traceable in the industry. There is visual control of
each and every thing in the factory.
. Culture change. A change in work culture is
started in the industry with lean. Communication
increases with the workforce and they have a
feeling of responsibility in the industry.
. Reduction of fatigue and stress. With work motion
study, we can reduce workers’ effort and stress.
6. Conclusion
There is a vast literature available on lean manufactur-
ing, which gives a wide view of previous practices and
research across the world. But, as lean manufacturing is
a broadly accepted philosophy in manufacturing
industries, more research is required. Success stories
demonstrate that it requires team spirit involving each
and every employee in an organization to implement
lean in the system. However, awareness among
employees about different strategies of lean philosophy,
various principles behind these strategies and the use of
these strategies in different circumstances play an
important role. Lean tools and techniques represented
through case studies show benefits that are categorized
as typical and hidden benefits. The reduction of fatigue
and stress, culture change and reduced time for
traceability are some of the hidden benefits, whereas
waste elimination, financial benefits, reduction in
reworking, lower inventory levels and lead time
reduction are typical benefits. Lean surveys have been
performed to discover the level of understanding of lean
tools and techniques in organizations. In spite of the fact
that lean offers many benefits, there are still some
barriers making it possible to oppose its
implementation. Poor psychology, lack of
responsibility, financial problems, lack of education
and training, and demand volatility are some of the
major drawbacks which fall as barriers to implementing
lean. It has been established beyond doubt that to remain
in business it has now become a necessity for all
industries to adopt the tools of lean principles. Now
every industry has to shed conservative attitudes and
reform their working practices with lean tools. The
attitudes of the work-force in industry also require much
cultural change in order to save their livelihoods.
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