Lean monitoring: action research in manufacturing

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.

Guest editorial: Lean and learning in the age of digitalization

“…Despite the importance of digitization to improve efficiency in an organization, the authors also discovered the importance of writing manually on the Kata storyboard as an enabler of the learning process. Finally, Kassem et al (2023) adopt action research to investigate the adoption of a lean action plan during the monitoring phase of continuous improvement projects. The work showcases the importance of dedicating time and effort to a CI cycle in the monitoring phase and demonstrates how the adoption of a simple digitalized KPI dashboard simplified the process and made project follow-up more streamlined and efficient.…”

Trimming the fat

“…Those that chose to remain stagnant saw the detrimental impacts that inertia can have within the business climate. The research by Kassem et al (2023) looked at the ways that lean management can contribute to positive business performance.…”