Measuring the lean readiness of Kuwaiti manufacturing industries

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to measure the readiness of the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries to implement the lean system through an evaluation of their existing quality practices, and compare such readiness among different product sectors and ownership types. This study adopts the measurement framework developed by Al-Najem et al. (2013), which establishes six constructs related to lean quality practices, namely: process, planning and control, customer relations, suppliers relations, HR, and top management and leadership. Data were collected from a survey of 50 Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries operating in different industrial sectors. One research question and two hypotheses were developed and tested using t-test and Levene's test, descriptive analysis, and one-way ANOVA. The results demonstrate that the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries are far from being ready to implement lean. In addition, the study found that product sector and ownership type have no significant impact on the lean readiness in the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries. This research provides insight into preparing Kuwaiti, and other small and medium sized manufacturing industries, to implement the lean system by creating an assessment of their existing lean practices and lean readiness. This research is among a limited number of studies that have addressed lean within the Arab region, and only the second to examine the level of lean readiness of the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries. It expands the literature on lean in developing countries, particularly in the Arab region, and can provide guidance to research within other countries in the region.

Prospects and Challenges of Lean Manufacturing Deployment within Manufacturing SMEs in Nigeria: A Literature Review

“…Most SMEs, by nature, have fewer customers compared to their larger counterparts, which gives them the upper hand to have direct contact and interaction with customers daily and understand their preferences (Alkhoraif et al, 2019). Impliedly, SMEs can take that advantage and build better customer relationships, enabling success in Lean readiness and deployment (Al-Najem et al, 2018). Also, fewer customers can allow customers to meet JIT more efficiently because they can easily predict their daily sales target and produce what is needed by the customer, thereby curtailing the wastage of resources (Antonelli & Stadnicka, 2018).…”

“…Management commitment is a crucial ingredient for the success of any new initiative (Pearce et al, 2018). Lack of management commitment leads to a swarm of other problems, like restricted access to resources, delays in decision-making processes, and improper communication (Achanga et al, 2006;Al-Najem et al, 2018). Lean readiness strictly requires consistent involvement, encouragement, and supervision of the top management (Alkhoraif et al, 2019;Panizzolo, Garengo, Sharma, & Gore, 2012).…”

“…It is believed that poor knowledge of Lean concepts of SMEs, owner-managers, and employees is one of the significant factors that cause resistance to change from the operational level and lack of commitment from the top management (Alhuraish & Robledo, 2014). Organization members' prior knowledge of Lean practices, tools, and techniques can serve as an essential readiness factor for the successful deployment of Lean in manufacturing SMEs (Al-Najem et al, 2018;Al-Najem et al, 2013). It will mitigate the issue of resistance and lack of commitment to change in the overall organization, thereby paving the way for successful Lean deployment.…”

Measuring Lean Culture: Designing a Research Instrument

“…For instance, some studies classified Problem Solving, Continuous Improvement, Employees Training and Employee Suggestion as separate dimensions (Antomarioni et al, 2019;Beraldin et al, 2019;Bortolotti et al, 2015;Welo & Ringen, 2015). On the other hand, some other studies included problem solving, continuous improvement, employees training and employee suggestion as correlated items for measuring Employee Involvement (Costa et al, 2019;Hernandez-Matias et al, 2020) or Human Resource Management (Al Najem et al, 2019;Ghobakhloo et al, 2018;Iranmanesh et al, 2019) dimensions. According to Carpenter (2018), it is common to find conceptual redundancy even though dimensions vary in labels (names) within and across disciplines.…”

Assessment of quality performance in the Egyptian manufacturing industry

“…Additionally, Al-Najem (2014) stated that Kuwaiti firms adopted ISO 9000 only to be able to bid on governmental projects and concluded that Arab countries lacked the monitoring and measuring capabilities necessary for successful implementation of quality initiatives. In addition, several studies demonstrated that Arab companies used TQM just to keep up with competition and to stay in business (Alofi and Younes, 2019; Al-Najem et al , 2013; Al-Najem, 2014), and that Arab companies lacked the long-term vision and commitment to develop a culture of excellence to support TQM initiatives (Aladwan and Forrester, 2016; Al-Najem et al , 2019). Several studies have explored the implementation of TQM initiatives and practices such as JIT, TQM, six sigma, lean and kaizen in Arab countries including Saudi Arabia (Karim et al , 2011; Alofi and Younes, 2019), Yemen (Al-Zamany et al , 2002), Kuwait (Al-Najem, 2014; Al-Nofal et al , 2004; Garza-Reyes et al , 2011; Jaeger and Adair, 2016; Alnajem, 2021), Palestine (Baidoun, 2004), Qatar (Salaheldin, 2009) and Libya (Ab Rahman et al , 2011).…”