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Implementing Lean in a small organization : is it worth it? / Keith A. Johnson.

by Johnson, Keith A.

Costs, Industrial

Total quality management

Manufacturing industries -- Management

Organizational change

ix, 164 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.

Advisor: Michael Ostrenga.

Committee members: Jospeh Papp, Gene Wright.

Introduction -- Overview of Lean -- Overview summary -- Challenges of implementing Lean in a small organization -- Primary research -- Implementing Lean in a small organization -- Conclusion.

Lean and other organizational improvement initiatives such as Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints are the hot topic among organizations looking to improve their competitive advantage. This is especially true among organizations that are facing stiff competition from low wage countries such as China and India. The books and articles that document this trend, the methodologies of implementation and the success stories mostly focus on large organizations. This leaves the small organization wondering if Lean is also for them or is it just a theory that applies to larger organizations? The focus of this thesis is therefore to prove that Lean is advantageous for small organizations and its implementation is worth the effort.

Lean, simply stated, is a methodology for eliminating waste from an organization’s processes and operation. Waste is often defined as any activity that does not change the shape or function of the product or an activity that, if listed separately on the customer invoice, the customer would not be willing to pay for. Lean seeks out this waste and works to eliminate it using several different tools. These tools include 5S, set up reduction, total productive maintenance, error proofing or Poke Yoke, work cells, and of course, value stream mapping. Each of these tools can provide significant benefit to the organization by streamlining processes, improving the flow of work through the organization, and eliminating waste from the processes. All of these tools have been documented as having significant impact in large organizations. Their impact on small organizations can be just as profound.

Implementing Lean is not without its challenges. The most significant of these is changing the organizational culture. This typically does not happen without top management support. Top management support is especially critical in small organizations due to the likely involvement of the ownership in the day to day operations of the organization. Failure to gain this support will result in certain failure for the implementation.

In the end, it will be proven that Lean can be implemented in small organizations and that the efforts required are worth it. This proof will be offered through the primary research conducted for this thesis in which the concepts of Lean were put to the test in small organizations with satisfying results.

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