Operations Management: Processes and Supply Chains, 12th Edition

Operational Benefits and Implementation Issues

To gain competitive advantage and to make dramatic improvements, a lean system can be the solution. Lean systems can be an integral part of a corporate strategy based on speed because they cut cycle times, improve inventory turnover, and increase labor productivity. Recent studies also show that practices representing different components of lean systems such as JIT, TQM, Six Sigma, total productive maintenance (TPM), and human resource management (HRM), individually as well as cumulatively, improve the performance of manufacturing plants as well as service facilities. Lean systems also involve a considerable amount of employee participation through small-group interaction sessions, which have resulted ...