Lean practices in SMEs towards improvement in production performance: A research

Abstract

Practicing Lean manufacturing in organizations of any type brings various advantages for example, reduced waste, improved operating efficiency, desired performance evaluation etc. Meanwhile, implementing the Lean strategies is a stimulating task. In literature, numerous frameworks and policies are developed and proposed, suitable for a specific organization and for any kind of SMEs, still the implementation exercise remains burdensome. SMEs are nowadays in the zone of highly practiced Lean implementation as they form one of topmost strength of economies. Here, in this article an effort is made to gather and highlight the recent Lean practices adopted/developed with several modifications to suit the working environment in SMEs. For a quick glance at the Lean methods proposed in different production/manufacturing industries even with some amount of success, information is provided in Tabular form. One highlighting outcome from this review is that, currently, in developing countries implementing Lean methods in SMEs is a biggest opportunity while in underdeveloped countries, the adaptation is very rarely reported. Use of machine learning techniques like artificial neural networks has just begun in this field of interest, hence exploring at a larger scale is required. Simulation methods are a few to name and its practice may or may not be worth requiring different levels of strain.