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Comparison of Lean Management in Japanese and Belgian Manufacturing Smes UNIVERSITEIT GENT GHENT UNIVERSITY FACULTEIT ECONOMIE EN BEDRIJFSKUNDE FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ACADEMIC YEAR 2015 – 2016 Comparison of Lean Management in Japanese and Belgian Manufacturing SMEs Masterproef voorgedragen tot het bekomen van de graad van Master’s Dissertation submitted to obtain the degree of Master of Science in Business Engineering Jasmien Dierickx Under the guidance of Prof. Veronique Limère UNIVERSITEIT GENT GHENT UNIVERSITY FACULTEIT ECONOMIE EN BEDRIJFSKUNDE FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ACADEMIC YEAR 2015 – 2016 Comparison of Lean Management in Japanese and Belgian Manufacturing SMEs Masterproef voorgedragen tot het bekomen van de graad van Master’s Dissertation submitted to obtain the degree of Master of Science in Business Engineering Jasmien Dierickx Under the guidance of Prof. Veronique Limère PERMISSION I declare that the content of this Master’s Dissertation can be consulted and/or reproduced if the sources are mentioned. Name student: Jasmien Dierickx Signature: Samenvatting CONTEXT - Sterkere concurrentie en de toenemende veeleisendheid van klanten zetten bedrijven steeds meer onder druk om beter en sneller te doen. Kmo’s in het bijzonder zijn gevoelig voor deze toenemende druk. In deze context richten veel bedrijven zich tot nieuwe manieren van bedrijfsvoeren, zoals lean management, dat bijgevolg dan ook steeds meer aan populariteit wint. Lean implementeren is echter niet gemakkelijk en veel kmo’s blijken hierbij nog heel wat moeilijkheden te ondervinden. ONDERZOEK - Het doel van deze masterproef is om op basis van een vergelijking van Japanse en Belgische kmo’s meer inzicht te krijgen in de factoren voor succes en faling van lean implementatie in kmo’s. Doorheen het onderzoek wordt gefocust op het beantwoorden van drie onderzoeksvragen. Ten eerste wordt onderzocht of er verschillen zijn tussen beide landen op vlak van lean implementatie. Ten tweede wordt nagegaan of lean bewustheid al dan niet een invloed heeft op de lean implementatie. Met de derde onderzoeksvraag wordt ten slotte de invloed van nationale cultuur op lean implementatie bestudeerd. METHODE - Door middel van een vragenlijstonderzoek, gecombineerd met persoonlijke interviews en bedrijfsbezoeken, werden vijf Japanse en vijf Vlaamse kmo’s bestudeerd, allemaal actief in de verwerkende industrie. Alle bedrijven werden gescoord en geanalyseerd op basis van de 3 M’en – muda (afval), muri (overbelasting) en mura (variatie) – en lean bewustheid. RESULTATEN - Uit deze meervoudige casestudie kwamen volgende bevindingen naar voor. De meerderheid van de kmo’s geeft blijk van een gebrek aan middelen (tijd, geld en kennis) om veel te investeren in lean management. Daarom wordt continue verbetering niet toegepast in de letterlijke zin van het woord, maar probeert men de processen te verbeteren op basis van gezond verstand en het oplossen van problemen. Verder zijn er tussen de Japanse en Belgische kmo’s geen grote verschillen merkbaar. Belgische bedrijven lijken iets beter te scoren op vlak van efficiëntie, maar zowel de Japanse als Belgische kmo’s hadden veel aandacht voor de kwaliteit van de producten en respect voor de werknemers. Wat betreft lean bewustheid werd er geen sterke link vastgesteld met lean implementatie. Bedrijven die zich heel erg bewust zijn van lean, blijken wel beter te scoren, maar onder de andere bedrijven is geen algemene trend merkbaar en lean bewustheid blijkt geen noodzakelijke voorwaarde te zijn voor efficiëntie. Vooral het menselijke aspect en de manier van denken blijken doorslaggevend voor een goede of minder goede implementatie. Tot slot blijkt de nationale cultuur wel degelijk een invloed te hebben op de lean implementatie, maar vele andere factoren zoals de organisatiecultuur kunnen deze impact verkleinen. BEPERKINGEN - De kleinschaligheid en selectie van de respondenten maken veralgemening moeilijk. TYPE ONDERZOEK - Exploratief onderzoek. I Preface This research was carried out as a master dissertation for acquiring Master of Science in Business Engineering (Operations Management) from Ghent University. The subject of this thesis is situated in the field of lean management. The research is centered around a comparison of Japanese and Belgian manufacturing SMEs. The goal is to investigate the possible differences between both countries and whether lean awareness and national culture have an influence on the lean implementation level. The writing of this dissertation has taught me a lot, not only knowledge on lean management and cultural differences, but other valuable skills as well. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the accomplishment of this master dissertation, in special I thank: The participating companies for their time and willingness to participate in this research. Without them this research would not have been made possible. Prof. V. Limère for coordinating my master dissertation and providing helpful advice. Prof. K. Hidaka for providing helpful advice and support for my research in Japan, and for assisting me in the field visits. Mr. M. Yotsu and Y. Takano for offering help and assistance during the field visits in Japan. My friends in Japan for helping me translate the questionnaire and e-mails into Japanese and for their support. Veltion, for providing helpful advice and for their support in reaching Belgian SMEs. Prof. L. Chalmet and Jim Lippens for offering helpful advice and insights. My friends and family for correcting the thesis writing, for their continuous patience and for their endless support. Jasmien Dierickx II Table of contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Personal motivation ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2. Research subject...................................................................................................................... 1 2. Literature review ............................................................................................................................. 5 2.1. What is lean? ........................................................................................................................... 5 2.1.1. Defining the lean concept ............................................................................................... 5 2.1.2. History of lean ............................................................................................................... 13 2.2. Lean in practice ..................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.1. General issues ................................................................................................................ 15 2.2.2. SME-specific issues ........................................................................................................ 20 2.3. Influence of national culture on lean implementation ......................................................... 22 3. Research design ............................................................................................................................. 25 4. Research methodology .................................................................................................................. 26 4.1. Selection of participants ........................................................................................................ 26 4.2. Online questionnaire ............................................................................................................. 27 4.3. Personal interview and field visit .......................................................................................... 28 5. Research results and analysis ........................................................................................................ 29 5.1. Lean in Japanese SMEs .......................................................................................................... 29 5.1.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 29 5.1.2. Results field study.......................................................................................................... 30 5.1.3. Analysis and conclusion ................................................................................................. 41 5.2. Lean in Belgian SMEs ............................................................................................................. 43 5.2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 43 5.2.2. Results field study.......................................................................................................... 44 5.2.3. Analysis and conclusion ................................................................................................. 54 5.3. Comparison of Japan and Belgium ........................................................................................ 57 6. Conclusion and discussion ............................................................................................................. 61 7. References ........................................................................................................................................ I Appendix .................................................................................................................................................
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