Lean production: a study of application in a traditional manufacturing environment

This paper reports the findings of a research study into the application of lean production methods to a traditional aerospace manufacturing organizat ion. The approach taken to lean production is described, along with what wo rked and what did not. Two main stumbling blocks to the application were id entified-the redundancy programme and a lack of employee education in the c oncept and principles of lean production. A number of the methods of lean p roduction were found not to be as effective as in the motor manufacturing e nvironment, the reasons for this included the dominant position of the comp any and the customer demand characteristics. In addition, both management a nd the industrial workers found the transition from traditional manufacture to lean production was not easy to make.