A survey on lean practices in Indian machine tool industries

Abstract

Every manufacturing industry has put in continuous efforts for its survival in the current volatile economy. In order to face the situation, industries are trying to implement new and efficient techniques in their manufacturing operations. Some of the established tools in this context are lean practices, and its realization has been growing among the industries, particularly in automobile sector. To look beyond the auto-industry, a survey has been conducted to identify the status of lean practices in the machine tool manufacturing, which is one of the constituents of automobile value chain. A questionnaire tool applicable to machine tool environment has been designed and validated. The data recorded through the survey across the core machine tool manufacturers have been analyzed, and the results are presented. The results show that the status of lean implementation in the machine tool sector is still in infant stage. The reasons for low priority towards lean practices among the industries have been identified, and suitable measures have been suggested to address the problems. This will further assist the machine tool industries to gauge their level of leanness and will serve as a foundation for future research. © 2010 Springer-Verlag London Limited.