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Q. Discuss the literature review related to lean manufacturing surveys in 1000 words. Support your answer with references.

Answer 1

Ans- Literature Review of Lean Manufacturing Surveys

Lean Manufacturing Concept was first introduced in Japan. Toyota was the one who has adopted the Lean Manufacturing firstly. Lean Manufacturing assists in improving the production process and increase the Employee Job Satisfaction. Lean Manufacturing is different from the Traditional Manufacturing. Traditional Manufacturing depends on the Inventory of the System while the Lean Manufacturing considers inventory as the waste. Knowing the Difference between the Lean and Traditional Manufacturing is very necessary for the Organization to apply the lean practices. As Market is becoming flexible everyday, to know the market dynamics is a very necessary factor. The Lean Manufacturing believes that the customers will pay for the services they receive, not for the mistakes.

Steps of the Lean Manufacturing

• Identification of Wastes in the System- Many Firms or Organizations need to identify the hidden and the unhidden costs in the system.
• Waste in the Organization can be of so many types- There is need to know the waste types and their causes. Lean Manufacturing believes in treating to those reasons or causes and solve the problem for forever.
• Find the Solution for the Root Causes- The Next Step is to learn the basics of the lean manufacturing and identify their root causes. There is a need to find the effects of those solutions for the entire organization.
• The Last Step is to find out the solutions and test the solutions first. After testing the solutions, those solutions are implemented in the organization.

Yan-jiang et al. did the survey in 2006 and found that there are so many internal motivation factors which are responsible for the continuous improvement activities. Malik et al. compares the continuous imorovement activities in so many leading Asian Countries. From the Survey Results, it's found that the both the countries shows the continuous improvement methodologies in the different proportions. There are so many factors that leads to the performance improvement. That factors are internal management, means of supplier chain management etc.

Various Tools of Lean Manufacturing

Lean Manufacturing is used as a Team Based Approach to know and eliminate the various waste types. There are so many Case Studies related to Lean Manufacturing. There are so many tools which are used for the elimination of wastes in the organization. Those tools are JIT, Kaizen, (MRP)Material Requirement Planning, Kanban etc.

(JIT) Just in Time- It is a tool of lean manufacturing that helps in successful planning and execution of the events necessary to poduce the finished product. Karlson and Ahlstorm have stated that all the process should be processed in the right form, right timing and at the right necessity. The purpose of JIT is to provide every material available at one time and very necessary when there is a need for that. Reducing the Order Lead Items, lot sizes, buffer sizes are the important components of JIT.

Kaizen- Kaizen is used for the continuous improvement of all whether there is Human Resource, Material etc. Finding, Removing and Targeting Wastes means the kaizen in manufacturing companies. According to Rawabdeh, there are three pillars for the Kaizen Appproach that are Housekeeping, Waste Elimination, Standardization. Kai means the Change and Zen means the better. So, Kaizen refers to the do the continuously change for the better involvement of every single person in the company.

(MRP) Material Requirement Planning- MRP is the powerful tool that converts the end products requirements into the detailed raw material schedule. The Problems in MRP creates so many problems comprising of decrease in the productivity, production of frustation and non-required inventories.

Kanban- It is a part movement system in which the movement of material is based on cards between the workstations. In this System, the supplier delivers only the production lines whenever required so that there is no storage of parts in the production area which is the need of kanban system.

Barriers to Lean Manufacturing

The Concept of Lean Manufacturing might be easy. But Implementation of Lean Manufacturing is the difficult task. The Lean Manufacturing is introduced in the organization to change the working culture. These Changes are the barriers in the Lean Manufacturing Process. Changes occur in the organization leads to change the workers. When the Workers observes the changes in the organization, it becomes difficult for them to respond and adopt. This Barrier can be solved by adopting the proper communication culture and the training for everyone. Communication and Training increase the understanding level and the motivation culture in the organization. There are three main barriers in implementation of Lean Manufacturing that are Lack of Commitment from Middle and Senior Management, not understanding of manufacturing concepts and the Employees Attitude.

Achanga et al. has identified the lack of financial resources as the barrier in implementing of lean manufacturing in small scale industries. Others have also supported this thesis and stated that the lack of financial resources is the reason of the deficiency in influencing the training and prevents the organizations from the lean practices. So Many Peoples have found the Lack of Skilled Resources as the Barrier in the Lean Implementation process. Lack of time ia also a barrier in the implementation process. Production schedules Inability is also an other barrier factor which is difficult to implement the Lean Manufacturing process. Big Product varieties also creates the difficulty for the organization to sustain the lean implementation process.

References-

Abdulmalek, A., & Rajgopal, J. (2007). Analyzing the benefits of lean manufacturing and value stream mapping via simulation: A process sector case study. International Journal of
Production Economics, 107, 223– 236.
Abdul-Nour, G., Lambert, S., & Drolet, J. (1998). Adaptation of
JIT philosophy and technique to small-sized manufacturing
firms: A project management approach. Computers and
Industrial Engineering, 35, 419– 422.
Achanga, P., Shehab, E., Roy, R., & Nelder, G. (2006). Critical
success factors for lean implementation within SMEs.
Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 17,
460– 471.
Alvarez, R., Calvo, R., Pena, M. M., & Domingo, R. (2009).
Redesigning an assembly line through lean manufacturing
tools. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing
Technology, 43, 949– 958.
Andrew, L. M. (2006). A lean route to manufacturing survival.
Assembly Automation, 26, 265– 272.
Barker, B. (1998). The identification of factors affecting change towards best practice in manufacturing organizations.
Management Decision, 36, 549– 556.
Bhasin, S., & Burcher, P. (2006). Lean viewed as a philosophy.
Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 17,
56 – 72.