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Implementation of lean production practices and manufacturing performance: The role of lean duration

G.L.D. Wickramasinghe (Department of Textile and Clothing Technology, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka)
Vathsala Wickramasinghe (Department of Management of Technology, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka)

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management

ISSN: 1741-038X

Article publication date: 2 May 2017

10172

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of lean production practices and lean duration (the duration for which lean production is in operation) on manufacturing performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey was used as the main method of data collection. In addition to survey data collected from 1,189 respondents from export-based textile and apparel firms operating in Sri Lanka, longitudinal data were collected over a period of seven months from a firm in the study sample to corroborate the survey findings.

Findings

The findings revealed that lean production practices significantly enhance manufacturing performance. Further findings revealed the importance of the duration of lean production in operation in achieving higher levels of manufacturing performance. This provides empirical support for the contention that the adoption of lean production can only be achieved through time.

Practical implications

Findings have implications for practices of export-based textile and apparel producing countries from Asia, Latin and Central America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and North Africa, which are competing intensively with each other for their market share in the global export-based textile and apparel production.

Originality/value

Manufacturing firms are adopting production methods and management practices to become leaner and fitter to create a new labour intensive production model that generate distinctive internal capabilities for survival and growth in international markets. Academics and practitioners in the field of manufacturing technologies will be interested in better understanding how lean production practices would enhance manufacturing performance from a non-western developing country context.

Keywords

Citation

Wickramasinghe, G.L.D. and Wickramasinghe, V. (2017), "Implementation of lean production practices and manufacturing performance: The role of lean duration", Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 531-550. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-08-2016-0112

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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