Critical success of lean implementation: philosophy, people, culture and continuous improvement

Originating from the Toyota Production System (TPS), lean manufacturing or lean thinking is defined as a philosophy which strives to deliver more values for the business and its customers by reducing the non-value added activities by balancing the process flow. In an attempt to stay in the competitive market, many organisations worldwide are seeking to implement lean philosophy through the adaptation of various improvement initiatives and lean tools in their products and processes. In spite of several benefits that lean offers, there are many reports highlighting the failure of lean practices. The successful implementation of lean depends on several factors such as careful implementation of organisational change initiatives, analysing lean readiness level before implementation, understanding of cultural issues and top management’s commitment. This keynote talk aims at highlighting the critical issues for successful implementation of lean philosophy in both service and manufacturing sectors. Full paper published in - Bleach, J. (ed.), 2016, OR58 Annual Conference - Keynote Papers and Extended Abstracts. Operational Research Society Limited. ISBN: 9780903440608.