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Lean meeting buyer's expectations, enhanced supplier productivity and compliance capabilities in garment industry

Imranul Hoque (Department of Business and Management, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark) (Department of Marketing, Jagannath University, Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Peter Hasle (Department of Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark)
Miguel Malek Maalouf (Department of Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark)

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management

ISSN: 1741-0401

Article publication date: 3 March 2020

Issue publication date: 6 August 2020

713

Abstract

Purpose

Investigate the potential of using “lean” in garment supplier factories to enhance productivity and compliance capability, so as to fulfill a buyer's expectation of lower price, shorter lead time, and higher occupational health and safety (OHS) standards.

Design/methodology/approach

By means of an intervention, lean tools integrated with OHS elements were introduced in four Bangladeshi key garment suppliers of a Danish buyer. By employing a qualitative approach, both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to collect data on productivity, OHS, and buyer–supplier efforts.

Findings

This study demonstrates that lean tools, integrated with OHS elements, can be used to improve the productivity and compliance capabilities of supplier firms, which meet a buyers' changing demands for lower prices, shorter lead times, and higher compliance standards. This study suggests that the improvement of productivity and OHS in supplier firms through lean implementation could be a better choice for buyers than switching to new suppliers with uncertainties in productivity and delivery, as well as OHS compliance problems.

Practical implications

The findings of this study suggest that garment suppliers can benefit from implementing lean, thereby improving their capacity to meet buyers' expectations. Therefore, both suppliers and buyers have a mutual interest in the application of lean in suppliers' production facilities.

Originality/value

By considering both buyer and supplier perspectives, this research is a unique attempt to investigate the possibilities of lean implementation at the shop-floor level to meet the market challenges in the context of a developing country.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This study is a part of the larger research project called “Health, Safety and Productivity in garment in Bangladesh” funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and implemented by the Aalborg University (AAU), Denmark and the Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST), Bangladesh.

Citation

Hoque, I., Hasle, P. and Maalouf, M.M. (2020), "Lean meeting buyer's expectations, enhanced supplier productivity and compliance capabilities in garment industry", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 69 No. 7, pp. 1475-1494. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-08-2019-0410

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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