A Critical Analysis of the Implementation of Lean Principles in the Service Industry Essay Example
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LEAN PRINCIPLES IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY
The operational systems of organizations can be viewed as open systems, which interact with their respective environments on a continuous basis. In this context, these systems comprise synergetic and interdependent subsystems of input, process and output with the main objective of these systems being to efficiently and effectively deliver goods and/or services to their demanding customers (Yasin and Wafa, 2002). Confronting the challenges of global competition, companies have to reduce costs, improve quality, and meet their customers’ ever-changing needs (Canel et al., 2000). Even though lean techniques were developed for the manufacturing firms and research journals have been slow to consider moving these techniques from the factory floor to nonmanufacturing environments, they are now being applied to service operations in manufacturing firms and pure service firms (Duclos et al., 1995; Swank, 2003). This report introduces the concept of lean and its similarity to the ‘just-in-time’ (JIT) philosophy. It further analyses a ’service’ by evaluating its characteristics while stating the lean principles and relating its applicability and how it can be used effectively in service sector firms. It concludes based on journal evidences that lean principles actually works and can work for service organisations.
The lean concept started in the manufacturing industry with Toyota Motor Company being given the credit of developing the approach (Duclos et al., 1995) and it is often also referred to as lean production, lean manufacturing, Toyota manufacturing systems etc. The term Lean as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership’s Lean Network is “a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste through continuous improvement, flowing the product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection” (Kilpatrick, 2003). The term
The operational systems of organizations can be viewed as open systems, which interact with their respective environments on a continuous basis. In this context, these systems comprise synergetic and interdependent subsystems of input, process and output with the main objective of these systems being to efficiently and effectively deliver goods and/or services to their demanding customers (Yasin and Wafa, 2002). Confronting the challenges of global competition, companies have to reduce costs, improve quality, and meet their customers’ ever-changing needs (Canel et al., 2000). Even though lean techniques were developed for the manufacturing firms and research journals have been slow to consider moving these techniques from the factory floor to nonmanufacturing environments, they are now being applied to service operations in manufacturing firms and pure service firms (Duclos et al., 1995; Swank, 2003). This report introduces the concept of lean and its similarity to the ‘just-in-time’ (JIT) philosophy. It further analyses a ’service’ by evaluating its characteristics while stating the lean principles and relating its applicability and how it can be used effectively in service sector firms. It concludes based on journal evidences that lean principles actually works and can work for service organisations.
The lean concept started in the manufacturing industry with Toyota Motor Company being given the credit of developing the approach (Duclos et al., 1995) and it is often also referred to as lean production, lean manufacturing, Toyota manufacturing systems etc. The term Lean as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership’s Lean Network is “a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste through continuous improvement, flowing the product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection” (Kilpatrick, 2003). The term