THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LEAN MANUFACTURING AUDITS IN MEASURING OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS

Authors

  • P Taggart School of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
  • F Kienhofer School of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7166/24-2-749

Abstract

The hypothesis that lean manufacturing audits are an effective way to measure improvements in operational performance was tested using 64 manufacturing sites owned by a FTSE 100 company. Commonly-used lean characteristics were evaluated: policy deployment, standardised work, visual management and housekeeping, quick changeover techniques, total productive maintenance, continuous improvement (kaizen), error proofing, cultural awareness, material control, and levelling (heijunka). Operational performance was assessed employing commonly-used operational performance measures: on-time-delivery, inventory turns, and direct labour utilisation. The findings are that lean manufacturing audits are effective in measuring improvements in operational performance provided that the audit scope and the lean characteristics are aligned up front.

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Published

2013-09-06

How to Cite

Taggart, P., & Kienhofer, F. (2013). THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LEAN MANUFACTURING AUDITS IN MEASURING OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS. The South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 24(2), 140–154. https://doi.org/10.7166/24-2-749

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 2 (2013)

Section

Case Studies

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