Barriers to lean implementation in engineer-to-order manufacturing with subsequent assembly on-site: state of the art and future directions

Abstract

Engineer-to-Order (ETO) companies with subsequent assembly on-site develop and manufacture highly customised goods that must be finally installed at the customer’s site under time and budget constraints. Traditional losses are caused by external factors (e.g. frequent changes by the customer) as well as within the supply chain (e.g. assembly errors on-site). Generally, Lean methods can be applied to mitigate these losses, but considering the ETO industry, various implementation barriers exist. Through a systematic literature review, we propose a framework that lists and categorises Lean implementation barriers in: organisation, management, knowledge, culture, finances, customer, and non-context specific ones. Further research should focus on validating the framework with empirical data and investigating if and how new technologies could help overcome these barriers.