To read this content please select one of the options below:

Lean monitoring: action research in manufacturing

Bassel Kassem (College of Business Administration, American University in the Emirates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
Matteo Rossini (Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy)
Federica Costa (Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy)
Alberto Portioli-Staudacher (Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy)

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma

ISSN: 2040-4166

Article publication date: 4 September 2023

Issue publication date: 3 November 2023

232

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to study the implementation of lean thinking at the strategic level of an Italian manufacturing company. Companies implementing continuous improvement (CI) projects in their production processes often take the monitoring phase for granted. This research deploys an A3 lean thinking project in the monitoring phase of strategic KPIs upon completion of several ongoing improvement projects.

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology is action research aiming at disseminating the problems that the company is facing. The study relies on the lean action plan developed by Womack and Jones (2003): Planning for lean and Lean action. Lean planning consists of the following steps: find a change agent; get the knowledge; find a lever. Lean action uses the A3 lean approach.

Findings

The company reached high-performance improvements due to the proposed lean action plan.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes by presenting a lean action plan in the monitoring phase, highlighting the importance of the lean thinking-monitoring continuum in reducing time waste for faster diagnosis and using action research to analyze and instill reflective learning.

Originality/value

The research relies on the A3 methodology to showcase the benefits that a mature paradigm, often coined to production, still has unexplored potentials.

Keywords

Citation

Kassem, B., Rossini, M., Costa, F. and Portioli-Staudacher, A. (2023), "Lean monitoring: action research in manufacturing", International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 1280-1296. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLSS-06-2022-0124

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles