Lean Enterprise
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Lean manufacturing techniques combine just-in-time processes with total quality management and cross functional teams in order to create an environment where inventory costs are reduced, production processes are made more efficient, individual employees have greater control over their tasks, and the company as a whole is able to deliver greater value to its customers. Companies which are just starting out are increasingly turning to lean manufacturing to provide them with a competitive edge in the market, but implementing a lean manufacturing environment in an existing organization can be challenging and require significant changes in the corporate culture. In spite of the challenges associated with implementing lean manufacturing, a large number of companies, including General Motors and Boeing, have turned to this technique. This research explores the salient features of lean manufacturing and the role of cross functional teams in the lean manufacturing environment.The so-called lean enterprise is characterized by a "push" production philosophy. In traditional environments, companies manufacture their product based on their production capacity, and may well have unused product sitting in a warehouse waiting for customers to order the items. This can result in unnecessary costs as the company must support warehousing products and pay tax on the inventory in storage. The inventory in question might never be shipped if cust
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ufacturing, which depends on just-in-time processes, this is a critical success factor (Jusko, 1999, p. 88).
Many companies encounter difficulties not in deciding to implement a lean manufacturing process, but in bringing about the cultural changes needed to support that process. For some companies, employees must overcome a resistance to change that is significant because management has attempted to implement numerous other programs in the past. Quality circles, and even cross functional teams, might have been tried at companies and failed, and employees can be resistant to trying "yet another" management technique which they believe will be supplanted in a few months or even a few years by a newer approach to management and productivity (Wheat, 1999, p. 105).
In order for management to indicate to the company that this change is different, and that the company is truly committed to organizational change, it needs to shift the culture away from assigning blame, and toward achieving its goal (What, 1999, p. 106). This can be difficult for managers who are intent on maintaining whatever control they have within the organization, and companies which do not have good working relationships with suppliers may find this the most
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Approximate Word count = 1822
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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