Case Study on quantifying lean manufacturing and its effectiveness in automobile industry

Abstract

Case studies were carried out on various automobile industries pertaining to Indian scenario, application of lean production and labour controls in the Chinese industry context, the Japanese approach to the Supply chain management, Brazilian industry and an overview of Toyota production system the case studies were carried out by adopting the various research methodologies as described below. The first step of our research was to conduct comprehensive literature review in order to collect information on fundamental lean principles. After a comprehensive literature review, a questionnaire survey combined with interviews were considered to be the most appropriate method for investigating implementation status of fundamental lean concepts in the USA, UK and Indian automotive companies. We, therefore, decided to carry out a postal survey in view of its efficiency for this kind of research with regard to the resources needed. The study was mainly restricted to automotive industry. The target population for this study was large auto manufacturing companies including both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and tier one (and few tier two) suppliers.