LEAN THINKING

Lean Thinking -Final Project Report

Table of Contents

Introduction to lean thinking1

Objectives of the Final Project1

Methodology2

About Ford Motor Company2

Operational problems at Ford Motor Company and Lean Thinking4

Inbound Freight4

Optimal expenditure on inventory5

Manual processing of data5

Sources of information6

Effective Action Plan for transformation8

Most important concepts and techniques applied9

References10

Lean Thinking -Final Project Report

Introduction to lean thinking

Lean thinking is an important topic in Operations management. This can relate to supply chains and products, design and management of services as well as their supply (Managing Automation, 2012). The underlying objective of lean thinking is to make the delivery of goods and services efficient. This is done through the acquisition, utilization and development of resources needed. This lean thinking may be implemented in one of the departments of the organization or in overall organization.

There are three levels in which lean can be implemented. These are tactical, operations and strategic level. More and more companies are considering the implementation of lean thinking in order to cater to their valued customers by providing them premium quality of products and services to gain customer lifetime value (Carpinetti & Buosi, 2003, p.543). The report lays down the objectives of research project undertaken at Ford Motor Company, the methodology that was used to conduct the research as well as the ways lean thinking has been implemented at Ford Motor Company to gain operational excellence.

Objectives of the Final Project

The main objectives of the research are given hereunder:

To apply the concepts and techniques of the module to the analysis of the real problems of an organisation.

To draw up an effective action plan for the transformation of Ford Motor Company.

Methodology

The small project on the implementation on lean thinking is an Ex post facto research. This is the research whereby the researcher did not want to change anything. He merely stated the findings of the research as it is (Viewlocity, 2000, p. 1). In addition, this is a fundamental research in that the underlying objective of a fundamental research is only to find out the how the chosen organization is implementing lean in their organization. However, if the underlying objective of the research was to find out how the chosen company is applying lean thinking, what were the problems faced and if there are any changes to be made, then this would have been an applied research. Applied research is one that gives recommendations for improvement. The purpose of fundamental research is only to conduct research on a given topic to develop a comprehensive understanding of the topic (Tan, 2009, p. 26).

This research is qualitative in nature. This is to say that the scope of the research was restricted to assess what is the perception of management at Ford Motor Company on lean thinking and how they are using it for inventory and freight management. Since, the purpose of the research here is to gain an insight into perception of the management; this is the most suited method (Shim, 1999, p. 285). In addition, this method is very widely used in organizational ...