A case study of lean manufacturing implementation approach in Malaysian automotive components manufacturer

Abstract

Lean manufacturing is one of the proven productivity and quality improvement initiatives in the automotive industry. Initiated, created, and implemented from actual practices in the factory make it acceptable and adoptable best manufacturing practice across countries and industries. This research presents a case study of lean manufacturing implementation in Malaysian automotive components manufacturer. Semistructured interview and open-ended questionnaire were used to investigate on how to successfully implement lean manufacturing in Malaysia manufacturing industry. The interview was conducted at a case study company with two managers who have very wide experience in conducting lean manufacturing implementation in the automotive industry. The finding shows that this case study company used the project approach in their early stage of implementing lean manufacturing projects. The project is based on a small-scale project where the focus of lean manufacturing implementation is to solve the problems at a small area. Through their efforts and achievements in implementing lean manufacturing, this case study company has become a reference and role model for the other manufacturing companies in Malaysia. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.