Key Practice Areas of Lean Manufacturing

Today, many organizations are enthusiastic to adopt lean manufacturing strategy that would enable them to compete in this competitive globalization market. In this respect, it is necessary to assess the implementation of lean manufacturing in different organizations so that the important best practices can be identified. This paper describes the development of key areas which will be used to assess the adoption and implementation of lean manufacturing practices. Specifically, a set of 14 key areas is developed based on a thorough analysis and synthesis of previous studies. These areas are work processes, scheduling, inventory, equipment, layout, material handling, employees, quality, product design, suppliers, tools and techniques, customers, ergonomics and safety, and management and culture.