Creating lean suppliers: an empirical study of adopting lean manufacturing in supply chains
by Stuart So
International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing (IJRAPIDM), Vol. 1, No. 3, 2010

Abstract: Lean principle preaches simplicity and waste reduction. The bullwhip effect represents a typical manufacturing waste creation scenario in supply chains, i.e., inventory inefficiency. Synchronising production processes with suppliers with lean principles in electronic-enabled manufacturing supply chains (EMSCs) may cope with the scenario. This paper empirically examines the influence of e-supply strategy on lean manufacturing adoption in EMSC aiming to create lean suppliers through waste reduction. The influential factors including information sharing and use of e-business system in supplier integration together with policy-based supplier selection were tested with multiple regression analyses based on survey data. It was found that continued adoption of lean manufacturing is positively influenced by all these factors. Moreover, the results revealed that manufacturers may commit ongoing use of lean principle only if it has been used as regular practice. Lastly, practical implications and future research were discussed to alleviate practical concerns in the execution of e-supply strategy and explore the potential of implementing reverse logistics on this novel platform.

Online publication date: Fri, 30-Jul-2010

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