(Klier, 1995).
Lean manufacturing is described as a philosophy which concentrates on the shortening the time between the customer's order and the shipment of the product through the elimination of waste. Waste, considered in the context of lean manufacturing or the khan bhan production system, refers to any activity that detracts from the creation of value. Examples of waste consider within this context are (1) holding materials in inventory, as opposed to having them delivered to the production floor "just-in-time" for use in the manufacturing process, and (2) organizational procedures, protocols, and policies that have the effect of lengthening the product manufacturing cycle. In global industries competitive advantages derive in large part from the integration and coordination on an international scale of the various activities of the value chain, while in the domestic markets the competitive advantages are specific to each country and different local strategies. In a global procurement strategy, it is important to reduce total costs as well as design, production, and distribution times (Mitchell, 1995).
The problem investigated through the conduct of this study involved the transition in manufacturing from a mass production approach to a lean manufacturing approach. The characteristics of this problem in the problem setting for this study were as follows:
1. Materials management. Included in this characteristic of the problem are all of the issues associated with acquiring, storing, delivering, and using materials and components in the production process. The application of JIT procedures is important in this context.
2. Engineering changes. Engineering modifications either to products or to production processes, more often than not, lead to increases in the length of the production cycle. The development of procedures that minimize the frequency of such changes is important.
3. Machine, equipment, and fac...