Identifying and Structuring Objectives for the Design of Lean Processes in Manufacturing Companies Approach and Results of an Empirical Survey among Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

Abstract

Abstract-This research presents a value-focused thinking approach to identifying and structuring of objectives for the design of value-added production systems for manufacturing companies. The approach combines manufacturing, logistics and lean principles and emphasizes the importance of the decisionmaker during the design of a value-added production system. Additionally the importance of the decision-maker is demonstrated through the presentation of the results of a conducted survey among small and medium-sized enterprises.Keywords-value-added production system, lean production, logistics, production logistics, decision-making, objectives, valuefocused thinking, SMEs I. Integration of Manufacturing, Logistics and Lean ProductionThe importance of logistics increases across all industry sectors and sizes of companies. Especially for manufacturing companies it has evolved from its origin role as a functional support, towards a holistic and value-added long-term success factor.[1] Due to the increasing share of logistic activities, involved in the overall value-added production process, an optimization potential of improving efficiency and reducing costs arises especially from the continuous and holistic integration of logistics and manufacturing processes. Research studies show that the continuous integration and optimization of such value-added oriented production systems, also known as production logistics, can reduce the costs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) up to 25%. [2] The general importance and the overall advantages of the integration of manufacturing and logistic processes are further reflected by recent surveys among German manufacturing companies. Therefore, 94% of the manufacturing companies recognize the integration of manufacturing and logistics as an efficiency advantage for their production system.