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A literature review of lean manufacturing

Article · November 2013

DOI: 10.1080/17509653.2013.825074

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Shaman Gupta
Sanjiv Kumar Jain
Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Mullana
Ambala College of Engineering and Applied Research
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International Journal of Management Science and

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A literature review of lean manufacturing

Shaman Gupta a & Sanjiv Kumar Jain a
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering , Ambala College of Engineering and Applied
Research, Devsthali , Ambala , India , 133101
Published online: 27 Aug 2013.

To cite this article: Shaman Gupta & Sanjiv Kumar Jain (2013) A literature review of lean manufacturing, International
Journal of Management Science and Engineering Management, 8:4, 241-249, DOI: 10.1080/17509653.2013.825074

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 International Journal of Management Science and Engineering Management, 2013
Vol. 8, No. 4, 241–249, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17509653.2013.825074

A literature review of lean manufacturing

Shaman Gupta and Sanjiv Kumar Jain*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ambala College of Engineering and Applied Research, Devsthali, Ambala, India 133101

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.
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Keywords: lean manufacturing; wastes; continuous improvement; manufacturing industry

JEL Classification: D2; L21; L22; L23; M11

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
*Corresponding author. Email: sk.jain117@yahoo.com
q 2013 International Society of Management Science and Engineering Management
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
 242
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
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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, Automation Just-In-Time
with a Human Touch Elimination of All Waste
Pillar Pillar
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).
S. Gupta and S.K. Jain
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 philosphy. 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 plant to
lean production from mass production was 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.
 International Journal of Management Science and Engineering Management 243
(1990) explained how the movement of
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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 literature.
Focus area Chronological lists of publications
Lean philosophy Womack, Jones, and Roos (1990)
Womack and Jones (1996)
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 Hofer (2011)
Case studies Karlsson and Ahlstrom (1996)
Gunasekaran and Lyu (1997)
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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
Figure 3. Lean manufacturing publications.
difference lean manufacturing and manufacturing per-
formance. They found some factors to be performance
enhancing. These factors include internal management,
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 Requirement Detailed schedule of inputs from
planning final outputs
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
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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
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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,
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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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