Does Lean Manufacturing Fit in an International Supply Chain?

Abstract

Lean manufacturing is a production system built with the ultimate goal of increasing productivity, enhancing quality, shortening lead times, reducing cost etc. It has been very successfully applied in the automotive industry. Lean Enterprise concept is the application of lean systems to all the members of the value chain in order to reap the full benefits from it. However, firms are increasingly extending their supply chains outside their home country in search of low cost. Complexity arises when firms that have members outside their countries want to adopt lean practices and geographical distance, transportation irregularities, management vision, etc become barrier. This paper aims at analyzing how firms manage a lean and an international supply chain at the same time. It's a conceptual study based on literature review. Secondary material specifically journal articles are the sources of knowledge for literature survey in this study.