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1.2 Objective
The overall obj ective of this st udy is to evaluate the degree of leanness and com m unicative process em ployed in the im plem entation of leanness. The specific
obj ectives of this study are: To determ ine the degree of adoption of lean production principles in the
organization. To determ ine the level of com m unication process that supports
m anufacturing infrastructure to becom e lean.
1.3 Significant of the study
The result s of t his st udy will show t he degree of leanness im plem ent ed in t he com pany and the roles played by com m unication process in lean im plem entation.
This will help t he com pany t o ident ify t he problem s in t he im plem ent at ion of an effective lean m anufact uring system . I t can provide answers to questions such as:
“ How com m unication process can support leanness?” , “ Where should we pay m ore attention to im prove better com m unication of leanness im plem entation?” and
“ What should be done for a better com m unication in the im plem entation of lean process?” Consequent ly, t he com pany is able t o im prove and sustain t heir lean
m anufacturing perform ance through a system atic com m unicative approach. Thus, it will increase and m aint ain com pany’s com pet it iveness in the indust ry. Besides
that, a successful lean im plem entation by the com pany, supported by a system atic com m unicative approach will prom ot e t he lean m anufact uring t o ot her indust ries in
Malaysia.
1.4 Scope of the study
This study was conducted at an aerospace m anufact uring com pany in Malaysia due to its two years experience of lean m anufacturing im plem entation. Researchers
only focus in the m anufacturing division of the com pany, and specifically the kitting area was selected. This is because the questionnaires developed are based on the
factors in m anufacturing division. Profile of t he com pany is confidential; therefore the com pany is nam ed as Com pany ABC.
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1.5 Hypotheses
The data generated will enable the test ing of a num ber of hypotheses for this study. However the st udy will concentrate on these hypotheses:
H1: The claim that the com pany has adopted lean m anufacturing principles by m aking actual changes in the direction of the lean m anufacturing
principles. H2: Com m unication process plays im portant roles in lean production
program s together with the support of m anufacturing infrastructure.
2 Literature review
According to case studies conducted by Boyer, 1996 and Soriano- Meier et al. 2002 , there are two m aj or issues that will influence the im plem entation of lean
m anufacturing in a com pany. They are m anagem ent com m itm ent to lean m anufacturing and supporting in m anufacturing infrastructure SMI . I n their
research, they focus on four infrastructural invest m ent s: Qualit y Leadership QLEAD , Group Problem Solving GROUP , Training TRAI N , and Worker
Em powerm ent WEMP . Boyer 1996 m entioned that the support and em phasis which places on t hese infrast ructural investm ents is considered to be a crit ical
com ponent which contributes to the success of lean product ion. Figure 1 illust rat es the concept of lean producers who truly invest in the lean im plem entation.
Figure 1. “ Model of com m itm ent to lean production” . Source: Boyer 1996
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According to Boyer 1996 , m anagem ent that fails to em brace the im plem entation m ay interrupt the effort. Top m anagem ent should not only dem onstrate
com m it m ent and leadership, but it m ust also work to create interest in the im plem entation and com m unicate the change to everyone within the organization.
Managem ent m ust be connected to the proj ect and involved in the lean m anufacturing events. I f em ployees feel that the m anagem ent team does not
respect their efforts, discouragem ent m ay exist and t he lean m anufact uring effort will fail. Though it is often desirable to drive change from the factory floor, it is
im portant that a conversion to lean m anufacturing be driven by the executive m anagem ent team . On the other hand Gatchalian 1997 stat ed that the principles
in TQM could only succeed if t here is well- inform ed qualit y leadership that sust ains the continuous im provem ent process.
Boyer, 1996 stated the successful im plem entation of lean production relies on well- t rained em ployees. I n a lean product ion environm ent , t raining is pivot al in
order to develop a workforce, which is capable of shouldering the increased responsibilit ies, t o develop m ult i- skilled workers, and t o creat e an environm ent in
which workers have t he skills and abilit y t o push for cont inuous im provem ent . I n reference to Wom ack, et al. 1990 , Boyer concluded that plants which allocat e
greater resources for the training of the workforce have been shown to have increased productivity.
Forrester, 1995 stated that lean m anufacturing is usually accom panied by a shift t owards exposure and problem solving. This changes calls for a new approach in
problem solving. Boyer, 1996 m entioned that team work and group problem solving is a crit ical com ponent of TQM and JI T.I n t andem , t eam work and group
problem solving serve to crash barriers and t o im prove t he flow of inform at ion through a com pany, thus leading to im proved productivity. Working as groups,
while ut ilizing appropriat e problem solving t echniques, will also increase efficiency and pride in work im provem ent outputs Gatchalian, 1997 .
Another key to successful lean production is workers’ em powerm ent, defined as giving workers m ore responsibility and control of the m anufacturing process
Boyer, 1996 . This is because only em ployees can ident ify ways of im proving the existing process of product Forrester, 1995. One of the causes of failure of TQM
im plem ent at ion is inadequat e worker em powerm ent at all levels wit hin an organization Gatchalian, 1997 .
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There are three sim ilar researches conducted by Karlsson et al. 1996 , Boyer 1996 and Soriano- Meier et al. 2002 in different industries. Those researches
will serve as apt guidelines for this proj ect. Karlsson et al. 1996 developed an operationalized m odel, which can be used to
assess the changes taking place in an effort to introduce lean production. Authors have lim it ed the factors that concern the work organization in the m anufacturing
part of a com pany. This m odel has been developed using available theory, and has also benefited from an em pirical t est. By referring to the book “ The Machine that
Changed the World” , authors had developed an operationalized m odel, which sum m arizes the im portant principles contained within lean production. The purpose
is to find m easurable determ inants of what constitutes such a system in m anufacturing com pany.
The testing of the m odel has been conducted in an int ernat ional m anufact uring firm producing m echanical and electronic office equipm ent. The com pany
restructures the operations by using lean production as the m odel in late 1991.they spent first year on planning and preparation. I n 1993, the physical and
organizational changes started. The final m odel has im plications both for research and practice. For research, it can be used as a m odel for operat ionalzing lean
production in order to be able to study change processes properly. I n practice, the m odel can be used as a checklist t o assess the developm ent taking place in an
effort to becom e lean. The research done by Boyer 1996 was focus on investigation of the relationship
between an organization’s com m itm ent to lean production and the strategies taken by m anagem ent to develop the skills, knowledge, and training of its workforce.
That ’s m ean t his paper is focus on program s of investm ent in t he t raining and developm ent of the workforce. An exam ination was presented in this research
regarding to the relationship between a com pany’s com m itm ent to lean production eit her TQM or JI T , and it s com m it m ent t o support ing invest m ent in infrast ructure.
Four infrastruct ural invest m ent s had been exam ined: qualit y leadership, group problem solving, training and worker em powerm ent. Each of these investm ents is
considered t o be im port ant for support ing a j ust - in- t im e and t ot al qualit y m anagem ent program and contributing to increased productivity.
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The research sam ple consists of 491 m etalworking industries. The instrum ent was pre- tested and then sent by m ail to the m anufacturing plants. The survey yielded
202 usable responses. Scale used which have been shown to be reliable and valid in previous research, and also evaluat ed t wo t ypes of reliabilit y, int er- it em and
inter- rater. The result of research shows that the correlat ions between each of the infrast ructural invest m ent variables and m anagem ent com m itm ent to JI T and TQM
are significant. Regression used to determ ine the strength of the relat ionship bet ween invest m ent in infrast ructure and com m itm ent to lean production. Both of
the results support research hypothesis t hat lean producers invest in t he infrastructure of the firm in order to support their com m it m ent to JI T and TQM.
On the other hand, Soriano- Meier et al., with the obj ective to develop the survey to exam ine the relationship between the m ain com ponents of the Karlsson et al.
1996 conceptual fram ework, which are the adoption of lean production principles and m anagerial com m itm ent to lean production. Beside that, the author also used
the m easurem ent of m anagerial com m itm ent as based on a m odel developed by Boyer 1996 .
The survey was com pleted by over 30 firm s in the UK ceram ics tableware industry and so represents a com prehensive overview of the state of play in that sector. The
population was firm s with at least 35 em ployees. 33 out of 36 of target firm s agreed t o part icipat e and all com plet ed t he quest ionnaires. The sources of
inform at ion were at t wo levels of the organization: top m anagem ent and production and operation m anagers. Two different questionnaires were directed to
each level. One set of questionnaire is for latter level, used to gauge the extent of adoption of lean production principles. Another set is for m anaging director, used
to m easure the level of com m itm ent of m anagem ent to lean production. The two groups of questionnaires m easured different variables and, therefore, were
analyzed independently. Cronbach’s coefficient Alpha was used t o assess int er- it em reliabilit y. All Alpha
indicate acceptable reliabilities for established scales. Regression analyses were used to determ ine the strength of the relationship between the infrastructure
variables and each of the com m itm ent. The results have support to all three hypotheses. The findings show that there is a strong relat ionship bet ween
m anagerial com m itm ent to JI T or TQM and investm ent in the supporting m anufacturing infrastructure SMI . Beside that, there is a correlation between
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firm s’ claim s to the adoption of lean production and actual changes m ade in this direct ion. Finally, t here is a posit ive relat ionship bet ween invest m ent in SMI and
actual changes towards lean principles, and perform ance. Meanwhile, the inform ation related to the im plem entation of leanness m ust be
clearly spelled out to everyone from top to bot t om in the organizat ion. This is very im portant as the com m unication process will pave way for people to accept the
new concept and able to overcom e resistance towards new changes in their work. Com m unicat ion is very im port ant and is inseparable from the business
environm ent. Little 1977 , highlighted that “ A substantial am ount of the day to day com m unication that goes on in any business is spoken com m unication between
individuals face- to- face com m unication or between individual and a sm all group com m ittee work, oral reporting to a board, instruction given to a group of
subordinates etc.” Warten L.Thom as 1985 pointed out that to achieve real success at workplace,
one m ust be able to com m unicate what one knows. Even, Le Vassan 1994 has stressed that effective com m unication is certainly an added asset for the business
sector to function in the econom ic network. I t is im port ant to use the technical knowledge to explore a problem and suggest ways of solving it . One m ust be able
to assem ble inform ation, analyze it and report the findings in a m anner that will lead it t o m ore efficient procedures, bet t er ways of doing things.”
3 Methodology
3.1 Questionnaire development
