Measuring the level of lean readiness of the Hong Kong's manufacturing industry

Increasingly competitive business environments have forced manufacturing organisations to continuously seek improvements in their production processes as an alternative to achieve operational excellence. Lean manufacturing principles and techniques based on the elimination waste have been widely used by manufacturing organisations around the world to drive such improvements. The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical study that evaluates the readiness level of the Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry to provide a foundation for the successful implementation and/or sustainment of lean practices. To conduct this study, the paper adapts an assessment framework developed by Al-Najem et al. [16]. Thus, the lean readiness assessment is based on six quality practices (i.e. planning & control; processes; human resources; customer relations; supplier relations; and top management & leadership) related to lean manufacturing. One research question and three hypotheses were formulated and tested using a combination of inferential statics (i.e. Levene’s test and t-test) and descriptive statistics. Data were collected through a survey questionnaire responded by 9 manufacturing organisations with operations in Hong Kong. The findings suggest that the Hong Kong’s manufacturing organisations surveyed do not currently have a well-developed foundation to implement or sustain lean manufacturing. In particular, these organisations present important opportunities to further develop some quality practices such as processes, planning & control, customer relations, supplier relations, human resources, and top management & leadership. The improvement of these quality practices will ensure, according to Al-Najem et al.’s [16] framework, a more effective implementation and sustainment of lean manufacturing in their operations

Penerapan Lean Manufacturing pada Industri Proses dengan Fokus pada Pengolahan Tepung Ikan

Opportunities of local fishmeal raw material derived from fish waste is enormous. Besides will not reduce the quality of fish meal, fish waste utilization will reduce the impact of fish waste which is currently not managed properly. In CV Pendawa Kencana Multi Farm, low production of fish meal is caused there are a variety of waste in the production of fish meal. In an effort to increase productivity, activities that could increase the value-added of products (goods and / services) and eliminating waste is need to know. The appropriate method to analyze the activities efficiency and waste and also optimize productivity of fishmeal processing is Lean Manufacturing.Lean Manufacturing approach is done by analyzing the waste with value stream mapping, determine the wastes and cause of wastes that have the greatest influence on the productivity of the fishbone diagram and suggest proposals to overcome such wastes.Results from this study show that the fishmeal processing efficiency of 11.63%. From these results was found waste in the form of waiting waste, excessive inventory waste, inappropriate process waste and defect waste. The proposed recommendations to reduce waste is by applying 5S, production level, and developing of standardized work

Product Costing in Lean Manufacturing Organizations

Lean manufacturing has been widely adopted by many organizations since the early 1990s. At the same time, the traditional accounting methods are almost obsolete with respect to Lean Manufacturing system. It fails to properly assess the operational improvements and therefore new cost management methods are needed to support the newly implemented lean manufacturing system. This paper discusses the drawbacks of traditional accounting methods used in companies that adopt Lean Manufacturing and presents two costing methods compatible with lean manufacturing organizations, Value Stream Costing (VSC) and features & characteristics costing which intended to cast light on the operational improvements achieved in organizations adopting lean manufacturing. Value Stream Costing appears to provide a bridge between operational views and financial views of lean, which enhances the transfer of information from shop level to management level. Keywords: lean manufacturing, lean accounting, Activity-Based Costing, Value Stream Costin

Variation Modeling of Lean Manufacturing Performance Using Fuzzy Logic Based Quantitative Lean Index

The lean index is the sum of weighted scores of performance variables that describe the lean manufacturing characteristics of a system. Various quantitative lean index models have been advanced for assessing lean manufacturing performance. These models are represented by deterministic variables and do not consider variation in manufacturing systems. In this article variation is modeled in a quantitative fuzzy logic based lean index and compared with traditional deterministic modeling. By simulating the lean index model for a manufacturing case it is found that the latter tend to under or overestimate performance and the former provides a more robust lean assessment

Enablers and Constraints in Implementing Lean Manufacturing: evidence from Brazilian SMEs

Lean Manufacturing has revolutionized the global manufacturing environment at an unprecedented rate. In scholarly and managerial literature, many works have reported that Lean Manufacturing is a very efficient approach and a straightforward way towards process improvements, in terms of productivity and value adding activities ratio. However, many studies on Lean Manufacturing have highlighted many problems in its implementation. The analysis carried out within the research project is aimed to the factors enabling or constraining the Lean Transformation of a firm’s production system, along with the most relevant tools or practices to be applied. The research methodology used is the so-called “Normative Delphi” with a panel formed by 32 experts coming from 16 Brazilian SMEs. Our results are partially consistent with what has already been discussed in the literature and we found that the most relevant tools/practices are: value stream mapping, 5S methodology, and Kaizen (Gemba walks); the top three enabling factors are: knowledge and sponsorship of senior management, focus on continuous improvement, and employee development fostered by the company; finally, the main critical constraints are: little support from the top management, resistance to change by middle management, and poor or non-qualified Lean training activities

Validation of lean manufacturing measurement instrument

This study is intended to provide a valid and reliable measurement instrument for lean manufacturing practices.It is important as lack of consensus regarding the valid and comprehensive measure of lean manufacturing implementation was observed in lean manufacturing literature. 182 large and discrete process manufacturers in Indonesia were involved in this study.A structural equation modeling approach was applied to validate the instrument.The study led to the conclusion that the measurement instrument is valid and reliable.In addition, the study suggested that lean manufacturing practices should be implemented holistically and simultaneously because they are interdependent

Wood furniture components: Implementation of flow-line technology based on lean manufacturing concepts

This case study is #3 in a series of studies that relate specifically to the development and application of lean manufacturing techniques for the furniture and wood component supplying industries. Case study #3 is an example of how productivity can be increased in a furniture manufacturing organization by using flow-line technology. This case study provides information about lean manufacturing and how a lean manufacturing system can be implemented, followed by a detailed case study of a wood component manufacturing company’s adoption of a new flow-line technology based on lean manufacturing concepts

Implementing Lean Manufacturing in Flextronics Brazil, Sorocaba Using Consultants

Today, numerous companies have a major opportunity to reduce their costs and customer lead time and cycle time through the application of Lean Manufacturing processes. Its roots lie in the manufacturing industry and are strongly influenced by the production system principles originally developed by the lead automotive company called Toyota in Japan. These Lean Manufacturing technologies have been widely utilized and applied by numerous manufacturing companies worldwide. However, not many organizations talk about how the Lean Manufacturing process has a large and long lasting impact on their performance and profits. This research paper focused on behaviours that organizations must exhibit to correctly implement and sustain lean manufacturing practices. The purpose of this case study was to determine how the consultants are implementing the Lean Manufacturing process based on the company, Flextronics which was located in Sorocaba Brazil. This paper also focused on how the business consultants execute organizational change such as “Lean Manufacturing Implementation Process” in the real business world from a corporate training standpoint. Lean Manufacturing fundamentally seeks to remove non-value-added processes from production in order to improve efficiency. Upon completion of this case study, the researcher will be able to define how the manufacturing industry can learn more about the Lean Manufacturing process and not be concerned with the size of a company

Organisational Change Framework for Lean Manufacturing Implementation

Lean manufacturing system is a proven approach for success in manufacturing companies worldwide. However, several companies have failed in their attempt to implement this system. The transition to lean manufacturing system requires a radical change which involves a total reshaping of purpose, system, and work culture. This paper develops a framework that may assist manufacturing companies to implement lean manufacturing system. This study has employed explanatory mixed method approach, which begins with survey distribution and is followed by in-depth interviews at Malaysian automotive companies to further refine the general picture attained from the survey. Both quantitative and qualitative results show that the key factors to managing a smooth transition to lean manufacturing are: change readiness, leadership and management, the change-agent system, team development and empowerment, communication, and the review system. The results also serve as the basis for developing organizational change that aids the framework implementation for lean manufacturing system. This framework has strong theoretical significance because of its explicit focus on the relationship between lean manufacturing and the management of its implementation. This framework may also provide practitioners with a better understanding of the transition process to lean manufacturing, which will minimize potential resistance and conflicts and thus improve the systems chances of success. Failure to recognize the organizational changes towards lean manufacturing system may hinder the systems long-term benefits to organization

Penerapan Lean Manufacturing untuk Meminimize Waste pada Proses Perakitan Plastic Box 260 Menggunakan Metode Vsm

PT. X merupakan salah satu Perusahaan industri manufaktur yang bergerak dalam pembuatan produk militer dengan produk yang dihasilkan adalah plastic box 260. Pada proses perakitan masih ditemukan beberapa waste yang terjadi. Untuk meminimize waste yang terjadi digunakan pendekatan lean manufacturing dengan dibantu oleh salah satu alat dalam konsep lean yaitu value stream mapping (VSM) yang bertujuan menggambarkan keseluruhan informasi dari aliran produk bahan baku sampai produk jadi. Identifikasi waste yang diawali dengan waste relationship matrix (WRM) dan waste assessment questionnaire (WAQ) untuk mengetahui presentase waste dengan peringkat 3 terbesar. Rekomendasi perbaikan yang diberikan berdasarkan analisa waste dengan 3 terbesar dan perhitungan takt time adalah menerapkan 5S, menerapkan forecasting, penambahan fasilitas kerja berupa pendingin ruangan, kegiatan maintenance berupa preventive maintenance, penambahan alat dan mesin, desain rancangan checklist setting mesin laser, dan desain layout tata letak lantai produksi. Kata Kunci : Lean Manufacturing, Value Stream Mapping , WRM, WA