Prattana Punnakitikashem, Ph.D., who is also researching in the area of lean manufacturing, especially those applicable to the health care sector, for her useful knowledge and expertise. THE PERCEIVED EFFECT OF LEGAL PRODUCTION ON CLOTHING STORE WORKERS AND HOW TO SUPPORT A LEGAL CULTURE. The paper demonstrates the bottom-up approach to understanding lean manufacturing through the case study of a Thai garment manufacturer based on the perceptions of shop floor workers as assumed by management.
Research question
LITERATURE REVIEW
Consequences of Lean Manufacturing
- The positives
- The Negatives: Case of Mexico
Ghosh (2013) found that in India, 80% of 400 firm respondents adopt a dimension of lean manufacturing that creates better operational performance and that the main drivers of lean implementation are - accurate manufacturing in transition first, reduced production time. , and productivity growth. Matsui (2007) provides an empirical evidence of how JIT or Lean indicators can be used to measure the competitiveness of 46 Japanese manufacturing plants and found that efficient equipment structure contributes greatly to the competitiveness of the manufacturing plant. Initially, lean implementation caused productivity gains in the same way that the proponent of lean manufacturing would argue.
Implementing Lean
Absences were so widespread that the company had to call in the riot police as workers attempted several riots. The company that was once stable and profitable became like a war zone due to poorly planned weak enforcement systems. To minimize the pitfalls of Lean implementation, a firm must consider the people context, how to bring about and sustain change, and the psychology behind successful system implementation, e.g.
Research Framework
They also found that job autonomy is positively correlated with job satisfaction and that job satisfaction is positively correlated with operational performance. This research would like to find out whether current workers in clothing stores know the reasons for Lean methodologies used in factories or not. Another interesting finding that should be examined is the perception or attitude of trainee workers, as the first impression of these workers would play a key role in shaping their culture or work 'DNA' to blend with the organization of their choice.
METHODOLOGY
Data Collection
Questionnaires
Interviews
Helfrich (1999) proposed the “Triarchic Resonance” model, suggesting the three factors that influence cultural images; individual, task and the culture itself.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Lean Proliferation contributes to sustainability
One of the intriguing results was that there appears to be a statistically insignificant, slight positive correlation between employees' years of service in the workplace and the amount of scores they obtain, using Pearson Bivariate Correlations analysis. This suggested that long years of service do not guarantee the level of Lean understanding of employees in the workplace, or it does not always move in the same direction. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the year of service and the score obtained was +0.076, with a significance level (2-sided) of 0.121. This showed that the majority of employees on the work floor had some Lean knowledge and that years of service with the company do not indicate the degree of Lean knowledge, which are the same results as we obtained using the Pearson Correlation Model.
To test the 2nd proposition, the data of workers undergoing training (0-2 years of work experience) were taken into account in order to check their knowledge and attitude towards lean production. The data shows that the mindset of workers in training is positive towards lean manufacturing, which may be one of the factors contributing to the low job turnover rate for HIT.
To what degree of Lean knowledge effectively build sustainability
The following part assessed the significance between getting each aspect of the Lean questions right and the effect on the scores obtained by each store employee using the Pearson Chi-Square Crosstab analysis. Based on the above, we see that there is a significant correlation between understanding of Kaizen, the continuous improvement aspect of Lean and a better overall understanding of lean, as the Pearson Chi-Square Significance is 0.006. From the above, we see that there is a significant correlation between the understanding of the Lean focus on 'process' and a better overall lean understanding, as the Pearson Chi-Square Significance is 0.006.
From the above we see that there is a very significant relationship between understanding the concept of value added and non-value added and a better overall lean understanding as the Pearson Chi-squared significance is 0.000. From the above we see that there is a very significant relationship between realizing the importance of Self QC (as assumed to rely on external QC) and a better overall lean understanding as the Pearson Chi-Square Significance is 0.001. From the above we see that there is a very significant relationship between understanding the management of WIP (work-in-process) and a better overall lean understanding as the Pearson Chi-Square Significance is 0.000.
From the above, we see that there is a very significant correlation between realizing the importance of quality and a better overall lean understanding, as the Pearson Chi-Square Significance is 0.000. From the above, we see that there is a very significant correlation between understanding the use of Visual Management and a better overall lean understanding, as the Pearson Chi-Square Significance is 0.000. Based on the above, we see that there is a very significant correlation between understanding the concept of Waste (in the form of Lean) and a better overall understanding of lean, as the Pearson Chi-Square Significance is 0.000.
From the above we see that there is a very significant relationship between the understanding of Takt/cycle time and a better overall lean understanding as the Pearson Chi-squared significance is 0.000. From the above we see that there is no relationship between the ability to perform Root Cause Analysis and a better overall lean understanding as the Pearson Chi-squared significance is 0.352. It can be implied that the understanding of more various aspects of Lean contributed to a more understanding of the Lean and the Lean implementation better sustained, as supposed to the deeper understanding of each aspect of Lean.
EMIT view of the corporate by new and existing workers
As for happiness, it was quite difficult to gauge as people come from different circumstances and backgrounds, but one thing was quite clear, they were quite happy with the work environment they were in. Since HIT was a fairly flat organization, they were able to raise points of concern directly to top management and felt warmth and consideration from them. For the workers in training, the results were pretty clear – people who understood the reasons for implementing Lean would have a very positive mindset, and people who opposed it would simply see it as a nuisance.
The new workers were less open to the interview, which may have been due to the lack of service experience with HIT. The work environment and setup was quite new to them as well as the workstations being connected to each other and that the work was in a continuous flow. The use of WIP (work-in-process) meant that they were pressured by the WIP in their stations passed from the connecting workstations.
This meant that it was all new improvements for them, those who had a positive way of thinking about Lean would be grateful for the opportunity and try their best to improve their skills and be more open to working conditions in HIT. Those who could not understand the reasons for lean are more likely to leave the company in the near future. It was difficult to gauge the level of happiness of the new recruits as there were too many factors involved and yes they were.
Nevertheless, they felt that HIT is very systematic and uses many processes in production, and that working in HIT is fairer and that they can balance their professional and private lives better.
RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
- Limitations
- Future Research
The majority of the shop floor workers had a positive attitude towards both the veterans (more than 2 years of service) and the workers in training (0-2 years of service), and thought that the company should continue to implement Lean. The workers who see the benefits of the Lean manufacturing system will have the positive attitudes right from the beginning of the recruitment as assumed for those who contributed negative reactions. The most crucial factor that contributes to the successful implementation of Lean culture is the understanding of the perceived benefits that the shop floor workers (Lean operator) would have obtained once they follow the systematic works of Lean.
In the case of HIT, the higher knowledge of Lean, such as the Root Cause Analysis skill or a deep understanding of the rationales, may not be disseminated to the shop floor workers. They must also think about fair working environment, incentive, benefits and development or participation of their workers, as it is essential to ensure the sustainability of the company in the long term, as Lean is not a static process, but one that revolves around time through the process of continuous improvement. In a sense, Lean is a culture that must be strictly practiced; otherwise, the benefits of the implementation may not outweigh the costs of switching from a non-Lean environment.
Firstly, the use of interviews is very limited because HIT practices equitable production, because interviews could not be done entirely during working hours and because the study period was very short, the sample size was quite small. The study based the sample size on only one company; therefore, it may not be a good representation of the culture as a whole, and the study is very specific to HIT's organizational culture. Future research could include tracking perceived Lean understanding over time for the trainee employees (0 – 2 years of service experience).
This would provide further insight into how HIT transforms the new recruits or how employee perceptions changed over time.
Supply Chain Performance Based on the Lean-Agile Operations and Supplier-Firm Partnership: An Empirical Study on the Garment Industry in Indonesia. It cuts both ways: workers, management and building a "community of destiny" on the shop floor in a Mexican garment factory.
APPENDICES
