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Many people treat supply chain management as being synonymous with logistics, which is the management of the flow of goods from the origin to the consumers (Lambert, 2008, p. 1). However, supply chain management encompasses much more than the purchasing or management of goods to the consumer. Supply chain management (SCM), as defined by Lambert (2008), is the “management of relationships across the supply chain, which includes a network of interconnected businesses involved in providing a product or service to the consumer.” A supply chain is defined as a system of organizations, as well as people and information, which are directly involved with the manufacture and delivery of a product (Phelps, Smith, Hoenes, 2004; “Supply Chain,” 2008). The supply chain includes the transformation of raw materials at the site of the supplier to finished goods that can be used by the consumer.
This paper reviews some of the advantages and potential disadvantages of lean production in the Japanese automotive industry. According to the experts, 2006 saw Toyota become the world's largest automobile manufacturer in the world, knocking General Motors (GM) off the top spot. It is a big leap from the situation in 1950, when Toyota produced 11,706 units per annum compared to GE's 8,000 units per …show more content…
Lean manufacturing and the linkages and the relationships that it involves are complex in many respects and there is a lot of emphasize on communication and information flows in order for lean manufacturing to …show more content…
For example, the key questions asked in the semi-structured questionnaires were as follow: Is this company independently managed or it is owner-managed? What are the major drivers of your business? What is your dentition of lean manufacturing? What has motivated the company to implement lean manufacturing? Where has lean been implemented in your organization (piecemeal or whole)? What were the criteria for choosing that specific area? How many people were involved in the exercise? What training if any, did the staff undertake? What were the difficulties encountered in training and how were they overcome? What were the direct and indirect costs involved in the implementation lean manufacturing? (E.g. labor costs and consultancy fees.) The above questions were significant for enabling the retrieval of the relevant and accurate information on lean manufacturing utilization within these companies. For instance, by asking questions about a company’s major business drivers, how such a company views and perceives the concept of lean manufacturing and where lean has been implemented, and at whatever cost; the study was able to deduce a number of things. First and foremost, it could be verified instantly based on information provided as to whether such a firm understood and was actually practicing lean or not. This
This paper reviews some of the advantages and potential disadvantages of lean production in the Japanese automotive industry. According to the experts, 2006 saw Toyota become the world's largest automobile manufacturer in the world, knocking General Motors (GM) off the top spot. It is a big leap from the situation in 1950, when Toyota produced 11,706 units per annum compared to GE's 8,000 units per …show more content…
Lean manufacturing and the linkages and the relationships that it involves are complex in many respects and there is a lot of emphasize on communication and information flows in order for lean manufacturing to …show more content…
For example, the key questions asked in the semi-structured questionnaires were as follow: Is this company independently managed or it is owner-managed? What are the major drivers of your business? What is your dentition of lean manufacturing? What has motivated the company to implement lean manufacturing? Where has lean been implemented in your organization (piecemeal or whole)? What were the criteria for choosing that specific area? How many people were involved in the exercise? What training if any, did the staff undertake? What were the difficulties encountered in training and how were they overcome? What were the direct and indirect costs involved in the implementation lean manufacturing? (E.g. labor costs and consultancy fees.) The above questions were significant for enabling the retrieval of the relevant and accurate information on lean manufacturing utilization within these companies. For instance, by asking questions about a company’s major business drivers, how such a company views and perceives the concept of lean manufacturing and where lean has been implemented, and at whatever cost; the study was able to deduce a number of things. First and foremost, it could be verified instantly based on information provided as to whether such a firm understood and was actually practicing lean or not. This