Lean Implementation As A Quality Management Program

Lean manufacturing is the production of goods using less of everything than in mass production: less human effort, less manufacturing space, less investment tools and less engineering time to develop a new product. A company becomes lean by continuously increasing its capacity to produce high-quality goods while simultaneously decreasing

The lean philosophy centers on the elimination of waste in all forms in an organisation (Shpak, 2016). Lean is usually implemented by initially conducting training, initiating pilot projects and implementing changes (Poksinska, 2010). Some of the benefits of lean implementation includes: improves quality and safety; improves staff moral; improves throughput; improves delivery and helps in cost reduction (Jones and Mitchel, 2006; NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement 2007). The challenges of lean implementation include: resistance to change and lack of team work; limited communication and leadership and staff having less knowledge of the lean concept (Grove et al., 2010; Halling and Wijk, 2013 and Poksinska, 2010). This research is to explore some challenges of

Production practices have had an important role in satisfying the dynamic market. Many approaches have being developed in order to respond effectively to specific business requirements. In fact, some areas of management have focused its study on the overseeing, designing, and controlling the process of production in an effort to find the best methodology that ensures the business success and performance. However, complexities arise in this field because many variables such as costs, inventory, scheduling, suppliers, etc have to be considered in any business. Lean approach and the traditional approach are two points of view that aim to address this complexities, and those will be examined in this essay.

“Lean is a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-value-added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the **product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection.” Lockwood [24].

The implementation of lean operations is one the most popular ways to improve efficiency and productivity in operations. This strategy has afforded many businesses the opportunities to streamline processes that resulted in improved systems and efficiency. However, many businesses face obstacles with implementing lean practices for various reasons such as unclear directions, employees that are resistant to change, and poor planning. Businesses that encounter issues with lean implementation must identify performance metrics to improve operational strategies. This paper will examine the obstacles businesses experience with lean implementation.

“Lean means creating more value for customers with less” (Krejewski, L., Ritzman, L.P., & Malhotra, M.K., 2013). Implementing this into a project can make the project very successful at a lower rate of cost and time. There are five steps in allowing the lean process to work successfully. This process is easy to remember but not always easy to achieve. Specifying the value from the customer’s point of view of the product that the customer is interested in purchasing is the first step. Identifying all the steps of value for the product the customer wants to purchase and eliminating the steps that are unnecessary is the second step. Creating a sequence of steps that flow in a consistent fashion and will flow smoothly toward the customer is the third step. Introducing the flow of the product that the customer is interested in purchasing and allowing the customer to pull value from the product is the fourth step. The fifth and final step in the lean technique process is “as value is specified, value streams are identified, wasted steps are removed, and flow and pull are introduced, begin the process again and continue it until a state of perfection is reached in which perfect value is created with no waste” (Lean Enterprises Institute, 2015).

Employs 4000 people, with 11 sales offices, 23 representatives, 300 dealers, 5 factories and e offices.

Lean is defines the manufacturing philosophy that reduces the time between the shipping and customer demand, which based on the systematic method by eliminating waste, that means giving the customer what they want when they want it, and don 't waste whatever. Rahmana, Sharif and Esa (2013) suggested lean production is mentioned to improve the company 's performance from the philosophy in reducing waste in order. That means, lean system destination is the decrease cost by removing the non-value activities, which they are applying a category of tools and techniques for checking and eliminating defective in the production process. In the Evenort Company should emulate the five overriding principles of lean thinking in terms of implementing lean that there is guarantee the company has been driving correctly in the lean manufacturing (Cardiff 2015) as can show in table 1.

Lean principles or policies reflect key management strategies which an organization might decide to adopt in order to effect dramatic transformation to crucial metrics within the structure. Implementation of the lean concepts should occur in the presence of enhancement of the velocity, minimization of the wasteful practices, and balancing of the flow process. Application of lean in the improvement of the Candix's condition should consider meeting the needs of the consumers, increment in

It aims to identify areas of inefficiency and generate ways of cost saving. Post World War II in the 1950’s in Japan, Toyota was able to use Lean as an improvement approach to improve flow and eliminate waste. It occurred that a series of simple innovations might make it more possible to provide both continuity in process flow and a wide variety in product offerings.

Lean management looks for different ways to eliminate factors that waste time, effort or money. This is achieved by analyzing a business process and then revising it or cropping out any steps that do not create value for consumers. Lean Management philosophy is based on the idea that organizations should set their strategies according to what the consumers really value, systematically eliminating waste both within the firm and along the process of supply chain. Many companies when implementing the Lean Management ideology complains that traditional Management Accounting Systems are unable to support their projects. At best, they are perceived as bureaucratic tasks, and at worst, they are considered a key constraint to both the acceptance and success of lean projects implemented in their organizations. The failure of these traditional Management Accounting tools and techniques has led to management consultancies in coming up with and developing a few range of Lean Accounting

138) The small improvements in different steps of the production process, when summed together, should lead to a higher level of efficiency and improved quality of products. Lean approach has been applied successfully in the private sector, particularly in production, but the approach is less frequently used in the public, and scant research has been done to establish whether it confers the same benefits and what effects it has on the productivity and the quality of the services delivered (Brady & Allen 2006, P 335).

When relating lean production to a process, there are three key principles that are considered. First, manufacturing performance adheres to the improving flow of material and information across business functions. Second, lean emphasizes customer pull rather than organization push. Last of all, lean develops the individuals of an organization to practice and pursue a commitment to continuous improvement (Lewis, 2000). Many researchers cite lean as constantly evolving, arguing that any definition of the concept would only be a snapshot of a moving target. Because of this, it is hard to give a consistent definition to the subject of lean. Researchers also argue that lean principles can be applied to any industry, regardless of the concept’s origin to the automobile industry. They encourage organizations to acknowledge the different perspectives that the concept comprises when embracing a lean approach within their processes (Pettersen, 2009).

Lean Six Sigma processes are used by many businesses without it being realized. Many companies today are adopting the Lean Six Sigma processes to aid in cost reduction and waste management. The Six Sigma program aids in eliminating the negative effects caused by variations within the supply chain. The Lean process is all about the speed, flow and elimination of waste concerning inventory. Although Lean and Six Sigma are separate programs, they complement each other. Together these two programs provide supply chains with a tool that eliminates, “unnecessary inventories through disciplined efforts to understand and reduce variation, while increasing speed and flow in the supply chain.”(Lean Logistics Understanding) Lean and Six Sigma

The purpose of supply chain management is to manage the flow of goods and services from the procurement of raw material to the point of consumption. Furthermore, it deals with the storing of material, production, and distribution of a product that will maximize customer value and give a company a competitive advantage of the competition. Applying lean gives a company the ability to focus on constraints in the system that inhibit efficient product flow, eliminate waste and improve productivity and quality. For this to be successful its imperative companies seek to include suppliers, distributors and logistics into the process because lean requires integration, coordination and collaboration across the organization and throughout the supply chain (Agus & Hajinoor, 2012). As a result of increased transparency, companies will be more focused on performance and this will create a collective effort to reduce cost by eliminating waste and increasing productivity. Beyond the efforts to eliminate waste lean looks to incorporate customer value from the customers perspective. Simply, everything that is being done that ensures customer satisfaction is a value added step and any activity that fails to achieve customer satisfaction, which is something their willing to pay for, is a non-value added step and should be eliminated from the process. By simply knowing the process and eliminating