Title: Lean manufacturing implementation challenges: a case study of pharmaceutical industries in Himachal Pradesh (India)

Authors: Anbesh Jamwal; Rajeev Agrawal; Monica Sharma; Govind Sharan Dangayach; Sumit Gupta

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amity School of Engineering and Technology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, India

Abstract: Growth of pharmaceutical industries in India plays an important role in the Indian economy. Increasing customer choices, government policies concerned with environment and competition around the globe have forced industries to adopt new manufacturing strategies in India. This study aims to find the barriers of lean manufacturing for pharmaceutical industries in Himachal Pradesh, India, which is a highly important sector for the economy of the region that suffers from too traditional manufacturing systems. An interpretive structural modelling (ISM) is used to establish the relationship between the barriers identified. These barriers influence and explain the way pharmaceutical industries in the Himachal Pradesh region try to implement the lean philosophy in their manufacturing system. It was found in the study that labour uncertainty is the main driving barrier which affects the implementation of lean manufacturing.

Keywords: lean manufacturing; pharmaceutical industries; interpretive structural modelling; ISM; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBSR.2023.131730

International Journal of Business and Systems Research, 2023 Vol.17 No.4, pp.462 - 481

Received: 14 Aug 2020
Accepted: 21 May 2021
Published online: 30 Jun 2023 *

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