IMPLEMENTATION OF LEAN THINKING IN MANUFACTURING AND NON-MANUFACTURING SECTORS: A REVIEW

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1 International Journal of Lean Thinking Volume 8, Issue 2 (December 2017) IMPLEMENTATION OF LEAN THINKING IN MANUFACTURING AND NON-MANUFACTURING SECTORS: A REVIEW Surabhi Lata a*, Kshitij Mohan Sharma b a Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Faculty, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, Rohini, Delhi , India b Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Scholar, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, Rohini, Delhi , India A B S T R A C T Today s ever-growing market demands various organizations to have a plethora of choices when considering approaches to both their tactical and strategic pressures and challenges. Among all the approaches the Lean approach is increasingly becoming popular as it offers the firms sensible, proven, and accessible path to long-term success. Lean means less of many things less waste, shorter cycle times, fewer suppliers, less bureaucracy. But Lean also means more more employee knowledge and empowerment, more organizational agility and capability, more productivity, more satisfied customers, and more long-term success. The concept of lean manufacturing and the continuous improvement methodologies have been developed for enhancing the resource utilization along with elimination of waste. In this paper an exploratory study of various types of tools and techniques of the lean manufacturing has been elucidated, which are widely implicated throughout the world of business whether they are manufacturing sector, processing sector or the service sector. Lean manufacturing is a worldwide approach which is being implemented in the countless industries. Also it is one way to define Toyota's production system, as lean manufacturing was developed and implemented in Toyota first. Another definition that describes lean manufacturing is waste free production or the elimination of waste from the system. An attempt has been made to analyse the survey results and summarise the implementation of lean elements and their effectiveness in the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors. K E Y W O R D S Lean Manufacturing, KAIZEN, KANBAN, Wastes, Value Stream Mapping A R T I C L E I N F O Received 11 June 2017 Accepted 25 December 2017 Available online 31 December 2017 * Corresponding author: Surabhi Lata surabhilata.delhi@gmail.com, Tel.: + (91)

2 1. Introduction Today s global market demands new manufacturing strategies in order to improve the firm s efficiency and production. In order to overcome the modern day challenges manufacturing firms are taking in to account the management tools and techniques in different forms and names. The most widely accepted and adopted management tool is the lean manufacturing system. It is considered as the best manufacturing practice across countries and industries because of its global superiority in cost, quality, flexibility and quick response (M. Holweg, 2007). Lean manufacturing was coined in 1989 by the researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was defined by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones as doing more and more with less and less less human effort, less equipment, less time and less space while coming closer and closer to providing customers with exactly what they want (James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, 2003). Lean manufacturing evolved from Toyota Motors after World War II as a business strategy due to the limited resources available in Japan. It was a manufacturing strategy in contrast with the manufacturing in the United States of America. Its principles apply to nearly all business operations, from administration and product design to hardware productions. The ultimate aim of a lean organization is to create a smooth and high quality organization which is capable of delivering manufactured products concerning the customers demand in the quality lookedfor with no waste (Norani Nordin et al. (2010)). Lean manufacturing is a way of thinking, a culture of systematic elimination of waste and a technique of performing work without bottlenecks and delays (Roman Bednár, 2012). Hence, it is of utmost importance to carry out extensive research to identify the approaches and processes involved in the LM implementation so that primary goals of LM are achieved (Rasli Muslimen et al. (2011)). There are various methods, tools and techniques which are used by different firms to implement the lean production systems. The core lean methods frequently used for the LM implementation are Kaizen Rapid Improvement Process; 5S; Total Productive Maintenance (TPM); Cellular Manufacturing / Onepiece Flow Production Systems; Just-in-time Production / Kanban; Six Sigma; Pre-Production Planning (3P) and Lean Enterprise Supplier Networks (Ross and Associates Environmental Consulting, Ltd., 2003) The use of such tools leads to greater productivity, shorter delivery times, low cost, improved quality, and increased customer satisfaction. The LM system principally minimizes the waste along with complete value streams thereby creating more value for customers. The wastes coined by Ohno in 1988 during the lean manufacturing initiatives were (1) defects (activities involving repair or rework), (2) overproduction (activities that produce too much at a particular point in time), (3) transportation (activities involving unnecessary movement of materials), (4) waiting (lack of activity that occurs when an operator is ready for the next operation but must remain idle until someone else takes a previous step), (5) inventory (inventory that is not directly required to fulfill current customer orders), (6) motion (unnecessary steps taken by employees and equipment), and (7) processing (extra operation or activity in the manufacturing process) (Ohno, Taiichi. 1988). 50

3 As researched by Russel and Taylor in 1999 the need to use of LM was to increase productivity, improve product quality and manufacturing cycle time, reduce inventory, reduce lead time and eliminate manufacturing waste simultaneously. To attain these, the philosophy of LM used concepts like onepiece workflow, takt time, pull system, kaizen, cellular manufacturing, synchronous manufacturing, inventory management, poka-yoke, standardized work, work place organization, and scrap reduction to reduce manufacturing waste (Russell, R.S. and Taylor, B.W, 1999). Therefore, the lean manufacturing or lean thinking can be summarized into five principles as: (1) Precise specification of value by product. (2) Identification of value stream from each product. (3) Formation of value flow without interruption. (4) Letting the customer pull from the manufacturer/producer. (5) Striving for perfection. According to lean principles, any use of resources that does not deliver consumer value is a target for change or elimination. It identifies the bottlenecks in design and development processes that add unnecessary delays and cost. The examples of waste in manufacturing include overproduction, over processing, waiting, unnecessary part movement, excess inventory and defects, as applied to hardware production. Lean is primarily applied in the manufacturing sector but now-a-days, it is also applied in the process industries as well as in the service and hospitality sector, i.e. the non-manufacturing sector. The few of the above described tools and techniques of LM are briefly discussed below: (1) TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM): TQM philosophy is totally based on the satisfaction of the customer. It abides by the slogan SATISFYING CUSTOMER FIRST TIME EVERYTIME. (2) VALUE STREAM MAPPING (VSM): VSM is a graphical representation of all the steps involved in any process line up to produce a product or service, as well as the flow of information that triggers the process into action. (3) 7-QUALITY CONTROL (QC): These quality tools are used to solve the problems within the industry. They are functional in four stages as shown below: Figure 1. Stages of Quality Control 51

4 (4) JUST IN TIME (JIT): It is exclusively based on the pull system model. Production is restored when the demand is laid. (5) POKA-YOKE: It is a technique used for mistake proofing in the system through the innovations. (6) KAIZEN: Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning continuous improvement. It is used to decrease the risk in the processing. It is scheduled, planned and controlled keeping a check that it rigorously follows Dr. Deming s work cycle of PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act). (7) 5S: It is a philosophy of LM using five Japanese termed processes namely as SERI (sorting and elimination of unwanted item), SEITION (organizing), SEISO (cleaning), SEIKETSU (standardizing), and SHITSUKE (discipline). (8) KANBAN: It is the technique of cards and post-it notes which visualize leveled activity at the process. It is the practice to reveal all the misfits between today s ongoing activities and market behavior. It constantly challenges assumptions regarding market behavior and its own flexibility. 2. Review of Lean Management Lean manufacturing or lean thinking depicts one of the newer schools of thought in the sector of manufacturing (Annalisa L. Weigel, 2000). It is described as the comprehensive set of techniques which when combined reduces and eliminates the wastes. Hence, qualifying the company on the terms of being lean, more flexible and responsive. Lean is the systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste through continuous improvement by flowing the product or service at the pull of the customer in pursuit of their satisfaction and perfection (M. Shabeena Begam et al. 2013). Concluding lean in the words of Womack and Jones as: We are putting the entire value stream for specific products relentlessly in the foreground and rethinking every aspect of jobs, careers, functions, and firms in order to correctly specify value and make it flow continuously along the whole length of the stream as pulled by the customer in pursuit of perfection (Annalisa L. Weigel, 2000). This literature review discusses the use and implementation of LM tools and techniques in manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors. Norani Nordin et al. (2010) conducted an exploratory study of lean manufacturing which is implied in the Malaysian automotive industries. It is a questionnaire survey study which is done to explore the extent of the lean manufacturing as well as the barriers in the implementation of the LM concept. The database for the survey was obtained from the 2008 Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) and SME Corp Malaysia directories. This list of the manufacturing firms consists of electrical, electronic, metal, plastic, rubber and other automotive components. The industries were medium to large industries with more than 50 full time employees. The parts that constituted the questionnaire survey were: (1) The background information of the organization. (2) The lean manufacturing implementation. (3) The respondent information. 52

5 The questions were set up on a five-point Linker scale to measure the extent of implementation described by each of the items. The scale was read as: 1 = no implementation, 2 = little implementation, 3 = some implementation, 4 = extensive implementation and 5 = complete implementation. In the case of reliability test, Cronbach s alpha was employed to measure the internal consistency of the research instrument. Reliability measurement is an indication of the stability and consistency of the instrument. The generally agreed value of the lower limit for Cronbach s alpha is The more the value of the Cronbach s alpha, the more the reliability. The test results are tabulated in Table 1. The questionnaire specifically enquired about the LM tools and techniques used in their organization/firm or in their department. Among the various LM tools implemented, the KAIZEN system topped the chart with an average score of 3.97 while Supplier relationship had the lowest average score of The problems during the implementation of the lean manufacturing were also analyzed and it was concluded that there were two main barriers which are as follows: (1) Lack of lean understanding. (2) Lack of senior management and middle management attitudes. Table 1. Reliability Test Results for Lean Practices and Barriers Description No. of Items Alpha Value Items for deletion Alpha if item deleted Lean Practices 1. Process and equipment Manufacturing planning and control 3. Human Resources Supplier relationship Customer relationship Lean Barriers In conclusion, the respondents industries considered have already implied the concepts of lean manufacturing up to some extent. Because of having moderate mean values for each of the five variables majority of the respondent firms are classified as in-transition towards lean. The study also reveals the factors that hinder or delay the LM implementation process. Roman Bednar (2012) in his research work tries to imply the concepts of lean manufacturing to those industries which are exclusively dealing in the mass production. A questionnaire was created for the survey for approximately 600 respondents from which 161 organizations took part in answering it. 39% of them were large companies with a staff of more than 250, 35% were small companies employing up to 50, and 26% were medium-sized companies, where the number of employees ranged from 51 to 250. The utilization of fundamental 53

6 concepts of LM were evaluated. These concepts included Kaizen, teamwork, bottleneck management, Kanban, visual management, VSM (Value Stream Mapping), 5S, production cells, TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Die), and EPE (Every Part Every day). The results of the survey conducted in different mass producing industries is depicted in the Figure 2. Figure 2. Utilization of lean methods in mass production The blue region shows the methods useful for the mass production while on the other hand the red region displays the methods not useful for the mass production. It is concluded that the lean concept supports mass production and is greatly beneficial. It can further improve the efficiency and can save relatively higher cost but it may take up the significant time of a few years. Rasli Muslimen et al. (2011) presented a case study of lean manufacturing implementation in a Malaysian automotive industry which manufactures automotive parts. A semi-structured questionnaire was created and a series of open-ended interviews with the management of the industries were carried out. The interviews were tape recorded so to avoid any sort of miscommunication or the loss of data. The information collected was pertaining details of the industry such as the background of the company, efforts in past for the implementation of the lean manufacturing, etc. The observations and findings were further verified by the interviewees. The first attempt to implement lean was carried out in 1996 but couldn t implement it completely. In the re-implementation process, the concept was formulated for the industry as shown in the Figure 3 below. Figure 3. LM implementation approach The project based approached in the industry showed successful application of LM tools and techniques. Continuous improvement effort was continued until a saturated level of major improvement is made and the industry had reached the stable condition of the model line. The company has become a reference 54

7 and role model in implementing LM for other manufacturing companies in Malaysia. Nor Azian A Rahman et al. (2013) researched the working of the LM tool KANBAN. They tried to determine how the Kanban system works effectively in multinational organization and identified factors that are creating difficulty in application of Kanban in small and medium enterprises (SME). According to the authors Kanban system is one of the tools under lean manufacturing that can achieve minimum inventory at a time. The figure 4 above explains the Kanban flow based on the several observations at the manufacturing company. Figure 4. Kanban Flow at a manufacturing firm The Kanban system in the manufacturing company starts with the production worker. When inventory is being used in the production line, the Kanban card, attached at the inventory, is put in the child post, which is provided to locate the card. Hence, the production worker delivers the card to the mother post, a centre point located at the end of the production line. At the mother post, the Kanban boy is responsible for collecting the card and sending it to the Kanban sorter room for sorting the Kanban cards by using Kanban sorter machine. During the sorting process, all information required regarding the materials or inventory is stored in an electronic system which are easily identified by the production workers and the vendors in their production line. After completion of the sorting process, the Kanban card is placed in the shopping bag according to the serial number stated in the Kanban card and finally the bag is placed at the logistics rack. The firm provides different shopping bags for different suppliers which are put in the mini truck and driven to the loading bay outside the factory. In their findings they concluded that Kanban system is an apt system to achieve minimum inventory and also surfaced out the difficulties in implementation of the above system in SME s as ineffective inventory management, lack of supplier participation, lack of quality improvements and quality control, 55

8 lack of employee participation and top management commitment. Akhil Kumar (2014) investigated the barriers on lean manufacturing putting more emphasis on the Indian manufacturing industries. Surveys and studies were conducted in some of the Indian industries in order to identify the barriers on the LM techniques. These barriers were identified as (1) Lack of Planning, (2) Lack of top management commitment, (3) Lack of Methodology, (4) Unwillingness to learn and see, (5) Misunderstanding of lean Production, (6) Lack of Contingency, (7) Human Aspects, (8) Lack of Strategic Perspective, (9) Lack of organizational structure, (10) Lack of technological Infrastructure, (11) Widening Customer Requirements, (12) Personal Training, (13) High Cost of Advance Technology, (14) Reduced Manufacturing Lead time, (15) Social Factor, (16) Resistance to change, (17) Coping with variability, (18) Technological Advancements, (19) Integration And pro-activity and (20) Requirement of alteration in Process Methodology. The main aim of this questionnaire-based survey was to facilitate industry experts in developing a relationship matrix as a first step towards developing an ISM-based model. About 30 companies were surveyed on a five-point Linker scale for 20 above listed barriers. This five-point scale indicated 1 as very low importance and 5 as very high importance. On extensive analysis it was concluded that among all the 20 listed barriers Lack of Planning, Lack of top management commitment, Lack of Methodology, Unwillingness to learn and see and Human Aspects were the most important problems faced during implementation of lean manufacturing. The interpretive structural modeling (ISM) methodology is effectively used to evolve mutual relationship among the barriers. It distinguishes those barriers which support other barriers (driving barrier) and those barriers which are most influenced by other barriers (dependent barriers). In a nutshell, the paper elucidates about the problems and the barriers on the implementation of lean manufacturing in the Indian manufacturing system. B. Vijaya Ramnath et al. (2010) elucidated on the implementation of the lean concept in an industry where manufacturing of the engine valve machining cell is carried out. The tools used were the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to map the current state, Kanban system for the reduction of waste in pre machining and single piece flow in the machining process. The methodology consists of five steps depending on the study of the industry. These are as follows: (1) Choosing a product or product family and study of manufacturing methods and sequence of operations. (2) Study of layout and Construction of Current State Value Stream Map. (3) Identification of Wastes and looking out for the methods to eliminate these wastes. (4) Construction of Future State Value Stream Map and Implementation of the proposed concept. (5) Analysis of economic benefits associated with proposed concept. The process map was generated for the current state of the manufacturing firm. Following this the lean concepts described above were implemented which yielded the following result: 56

9 Table 2. Comparison between current and future state Benefits Current State After implementation of future state O/P per shift No. pf operators in machining 9 5 Productivity per operator Transportation of material b/w Manual Automatic Machining section layout Straight Layout U Layout Loading and unloading Manual Automatic Inventory at pre machining section (3 days of demand) 4000 (1 day demand) Inventory at machining section (3 days of demand) Single piece flow In conclusion, after the implementation of the future state value stream mapping the productivity was increased, waste was reduced, automation was installed, less labour was utilized and the inventory was reduced. Gundeep Singh et al. (2012) started their research to identify the bottlenecks in the assembly shop of the tractor manufacturing company as these were the main reason for low productivity of the industry. The problem was identified in terms of increased cycle time at different machines. During the auditing phase of sub-assemblies that are manufactured in the assembly shop, gear box assembly was discovered to be the major bottleneck station. Once bottleneck station was detected, initial process flow map was generated followed by analysis through possible causes (brainstorming) and possible cause and effect diagram and actions taken to eliminate each root cause with LM tool i.e. KAIZEN technique. The reasons for increased cycle time were found to be (1) Available time not utilized properly by the machine operators, (2) Number of operations involved, (3) Abnormal absenteeism by the machine operators, (4) Machine breakdown problem, (5) Late start of work by the machine operators, (6) Metallurgical problem in the material to be machined, (7) Programming not correct, (8) Multiple cutting tools being used for same type of operations, (9) Number the of quality parameters to be inspected and (10) Inspection stage far from work station. Figure 5. Initial Process Map 57

10 After the implementation of LM technique new process map was created which is shown below in the Figure 6. Figure 6. Modified Process Map Hence, it can be concluded that implementation of lean manufacturing increased productivity of gear box assembly, reduced cycle time of the machines along with negligible work-in-process inventory and reduction in all types of wastes. As the complexity of the manufacturing process increases the lean manufacturing concept, tools and techniques prove to be highly beneficial for any manufacturing firm. Ripon K Chakrabortty et al. (2010) implemented the concept of lean manufacturing in a garment manufacturing company of Bangladesh. As LM significantly eliminates the problems associated with poor production scheduling and line balancing, it becomes more important in Private companies of Bangladesh where companies are operating below their potential capacity, or experiencing a high level of late-deliveries. This research work provides a roadmap to overcome these existing problems. The lean practices used in the work were (1) Process focus, (2) Pull production, (3) Quality programs, (4) Increase in equipment efficiency, (5) Form of lean organization and (6) Continuous improvement. A process flow map was created for the current state which is shown below in Figure 7. Figure 7. Initial Process Flow Map 58

11 Lot of problems and limitations were encountered in the process flow map shown above. These problems are listed below and were taken care of through the tools and techniques of LM. (1) High level of in-process inventory. (2) The flow of garments from sewing is not uniform as a result the ratio of packaging is difficult to maintain. (3) Low level of coordination and integration. (4) Accessories are not available all the time, as a result sewed garments are stacked throughout the flow. (5) Ineffective record keeping procedure and daily Target is set based on experience. (6) Inefficient use of manpower which is not uniformly distributed. (7) Processed are not broken down properly. A plan was proposed for the implementation of the lean concepts which included Clusters for Different Buyers, Process Flow Diagram and Layouts. The successful implementation of LM techniques resulted in significant increase in through proposed layouts. The better utilization of manpower and factory floor space was also ensured through these new layouts. Improvement in productivity of PUMA, M&S and G-Star were recorded as 46%, 10.34% and 14.4% respectively. Preetinder Singh Gill (2012) proposed the implication of the LM tool value stream mapping into the service sector i.e., the hospitality sector defining it in an emergency room of a hospital. An extensive research was carried out along with the conduction of studies on U.S. healthcare system. The report Boston Globe, in 2008, reported that waste in health care was close to $760 billion a year. The waste among other factors has been attributed to: (1) Misuse, overuse, underuse, of services and equipment. (2) Errors and mistakes along with associated rework. (3) Lack of communication and coordination. (4) Other special cause variation. These all are accounted in the seven types of wastes described in the context of lean manufacturing. The work describes in detail the application of a VSM in an emergency room environment where emphasis is on: a) Identifying the target system families which needs to be improved, b) constructing current and future state VSMs by using standard set of symbols etc. or with a continuous Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle. During the review of literature various types of wastages were identified like the waiting time for the patient (usually the half of the 5 hours spent in the ER), etc. Once these wastes were identified the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) concept was adapted to reduce/eliminate them in the ER of a hospital. This adaptation includes construction of a process flow chart to properly understand the scope of their VSM related activities. Methods were elucidated to calculate cycle time, change over time, inventory time, etc. A list of suggestions were provided which are discussed below: (1) Entire organization should recognize that a problem exists and a solution is needed. (2) Lean approach should be human-centered. (3) Expertise in application of lean principles and work responsibilities is an absolute must. 59

12 (4) Top management should support the lean activities and should allocate any needed resources (5) Install lean champions who are well respected socially and who can motivate others to join in. (6) Adapt lean to local context and culture. (7) Learn from past experiences. (8) Focus on continuous improvement. (9) Lean requires a holistic systems approach. The conclusion drawn from this study is that Lean and VSM can be applied to the healthcare system successfully if the top management understands that lean is a continuous approach, it is not an event and should ratify that these changes are being followed by the staff. William M. Goriwondo et al. (2011) try to apply the value stream mapping LM technique in a bread manufacturing industry situated in Zimbabwe. This is a case study shows how the VSM tool was used to identify, quantify and minimize major wastes in a bread manufacturing industry. A series of interviews with managers was conducted which was followed by the generation of a value stream map which was further followed by a table. The table displays the overall structure of the seven wastes and the appropriate tools to be used for the analysis work. Table 3. Overall Structure of Seven Wastes Wastes/Structure Mapping Tools Process Activity Mapping Supply Chain Response Matrix Production Variety Funnel Quality Filter Mapping Demand Amplification Mapping Decision Point Analysis Physical Structure (a) Volume (b) Value Overproduction L M L M M Time Waiting H H L M M Transport H L Inappropriate Processing H M L L Unnecessary M H M H M L Inventory Unnecessary Motion H L Product Defects L H Overall L L M L H M H Structure Origin of Tool Industrial Engineering Notes: H High correlation and usefulness M Medium correlation and usefulness L Low correlation and usefulness Time compression/ Logistics Operations Management New Tool Systems Dynamics Efficient Consumer Response/ Logistics This table led to the development of the manufacturing process flow mapping shown in Figure 8. New Tool Figure 8. Process Flow Map 60

13 In the further processing through the LM tool the wastes described above were eradicated and a future state value stream map was created. The table below shows the comparative analysis of current and future state maps. It was concluded that the VSM tool identified and reduced defects by 20%, unnecessary inventory by 18% and motion by 37%. It also revealed that VSM tool is not limited to manufacturing organizations but can also be applied to service industries like banks, hospitals, and the transport sectors with necessary adjustments. Table 4. Comparison of State Maps Current State Map Future State Map Non Value Adding Time 43.2 min min Value Adding Time min min % of NVA/VA Time 18.7% 15.2% Increased Throughput - 16% Average Takt 9.90 min min Standard Deviation from Takt 3.79 min 0.97 min Table 5. Summary of Data Surveyed Title of Interviewee Driving Force Company 1 Company 2 Company 3 Company 4 Company 5 Quality System Coordinator Customer pressure, Control and Business Service Become Cost competitive reduce cost Lean Tools used JIT, TPM JIT, TQM, TPM Implementation % Expectation from lean Results obtained from lean Corp. Strg & Development Mgr. Internal Consultant Supt. Qual. And Process Tech Liquidity Losing Money Economics, Save Money JIT, TQM, TPM TPM, TQM, 5S, Cell Mfg. JIT, TPM, Setup reduction cost, TQM 0-25% 51-75% 26-50% 26-50% 0-25% Improve cost Reduced machine downtime Better customer service, lower cost, higher cash flow Improvement in cost Cost competitive Process improvement, cut cost significantly Clean & safe workplace, better planning Improved profit, clean & safer workplace Lower cost, reduce inventory Save some money Challenges faced N/A Changing historical rules Support of Top Management Neutral Very supportive Union issues, automation issues Very supportive Internal Consultant Very supportive Inflexibility of Union Neutral 61

14 Neha Sharma et al. (2013) conducted the survey in those industries which already have embraced the concepts of lean manufacturing and also the other operations management tools and techniques such as Kaizen, Minute exchange of dies (SMED), Six Sigma, Kanban, Value Stream Mapping (VSM), 5S, Total Quality Management (TQM), Theory of constraints (TOC), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Business Process Management (BPM), Visual Management, etc. The result of the survey for selected five companies was tabulated in Table 5. A level of lean implementation which is currently in use in the industries has been examined thoroughly. It was concluded from the surveyed research that major manufacturing industries have been trying to adopt manufacturing initiatives in order to stay alive in the new competitive market place, and lean manufacturing is one of the most efficient initiatives. 3. Conclusion Day by day changing technologies and upcoming challenges have forced the manufacturers to search new ways to deal with these problems. Few of the challenges to be dealt are reduction in production cost, mitigation of several types of wastes, high customer satisfaction, and increase in production rate, reduce cycle time, eliminate inventory, etc. The traditional method of manufacturing proved to be insufficient in overcoming the above said problems. Hence, a new method was introduced i.e. lean manufacturing comprising of number of tools and techniques. Continuous improvement is a management philosophy based on employees' suggestions developed by the US in nineteenth century. Though within the business environment, Japan has contributed significantly to the language of business with number of concepts and techniques that represent continuous improvement tools (kaizen tools) and with production philosophies such as just-in-time (lean manufacturing) (Javier Santos et al. 2006). Lean is a business strategy based on satisfying the customer by delivering quality products and services that are just what the customer needs, when the customer needs them, in the amount required, at the right price, while using the minimum of materials, equipment, space, labour, and time. Lean is a continuous, evolutionary process of change and adaptation, not a singular, idealized vision or technology-driven goal state (Natalie J. Sayer and Bruce Williams, 2007). In this paper the various concepts, tools and techniques of lean manufacturing have been studied thoroughly vide reference to the research papers discussed above. Though the progress of lean manufacturing is snail-paced but it has been successful and efficient in the manufacturing sector (M. Shabeena Begam et al. 2013). The investigation of status of LM was carried out in various manufacturing and non-manufacturing sector and also to check their applicability in the defined sector. It was shown that lean manufacturing is not only applicable in the manufacturing sector but also to the healthcare system and process industries. The reasons were identified for not transferring to the lean management so easily and few of them were anxiety in changing the attitude of workers, lack of awareness, and training about the LM concepts, cost and time involved in lean implementation. 62

15 Therefore, it can be concluded that the manufacturing industry needs to give more time to implement lean management in all the key areas in order to meet the modern day challenges. References Akhil Kumar. (2014). A Qualitative Study on the Barriers of Lean Manufacturing Implementation: An Indian Context (Delhi NCR region). International Journal of Engineering and Science. Vol. 3, Issue 4, pp Annalisa L. Weigel. A Book Review: Lean Thinking by Womack and Jones Assignment for ESD.83: Research Seminar in Engineering Systems; November B. Vijaya Ramnath, C. Elanchezhian and R. Kesavan. (2010). Application of Kanban System for Implementing Lean Manufacturing. Journal of Engineering Research and Studies. Gundeep Singh and R.M. Belokar. (2012). Lean Manufacturing Implementation in the Assembly Shop of Tractor Manufacturing Company. International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering, Vol 1, Issue-2. James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones. Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1996, Second Edition, Javier Santos, Richard Wysk and Jose Manuel Torres. Improving Production with Lean Thinking M. Holweg. (2007). The Genealogy of Lean Production. Journal of Operations Management. Vol. 25, pp M. Shabeena Begam, R. Swamynathan, J. Sekkizhar. (2013). Current Trends on Lean Management A Review. International Journal of Lean Thinking. Volume 4, Issue 2. Natalie J. Sayer and Bruce Williams. Lean for dummies Nor Azian Abdul Rahman, Sariwati Mohd Sharif and Mashitah Mohamed Esa. (2013). Lean Manufacturing Case Study with Kanban System Implementation. International Conference on Economics and Business Research. Norani Nordin, Baba Md Deros and Dzuraidah Abd Wahab. (2010). A Survey on Lean Manufacturing Implementation in Malaysian Automotive Industry. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology. Vol. 1, No. 4. Ohno, Taiichi. Toyota Production System. New York: Productivity Press; Preetinder Singh Gill. (2012). Application of Value Stream Mapping to Eliminate Waste in an Emergency Room. Global Journal of Medical Research. Vol 12, Issue 6. Rasli Muslimen, Sha ri Mohd yusof and Ana Sakura Zainal Abidin. (2011). Lean Manufacturing Implementation in Malaysian Automotive Components Manufacturer: A Case Study. Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering (WCE). Vol

16 Ripon K Chakrabortty and Sanjoy K Paul. (2010). Study and Implementation of Lean Manufacturing in a Garment Manufacturing Company: Bangladesh Perspective. Journal of Optimization in Industrial Engineering. Roman Bednár. (2012). Individualisation of Lean Concept in Companies dealing with Mass Production. Ross and Associates Environmental Consulting, Ltd. (2003). Lean Manufacturing and the Environment: Research on Advanced Manufacturing Systems and the Environment and Recommendations for Leveraging Better Environmental Performance. Russell, R.S. and Taylor, B.W. Operations management. 2nd edition, Uppre Saddle River. NJ: Prentice Hall, Sharma Neha, Matharou Gurpreet Singh, Kaur Simran and Gupta Pramod. (2013). Lean Manufacturing Tool and Techniques in Process Industry. International Journal of Scientific Research and Reviews. William M. Goriwondo, Samson Mhlanga and Alphonce Marecha. (2011). Use of the Value Stream Mapping Tool for Waste Reduction in Manufacturing: A Case Study for Bread Manufacturing in Zimbabwe. International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management. 64