Role of Drivers, Barriers and Critical Success Factors for Lean Readiness in Indian Manufacturing Industries

Abstract

Manufacturing sector in India is currently geared up to increase its competitiveness, lower production costs and make goods up to par with industry standards, in the era of Industry 4.0. They are reviewing their manufacturing processes, as a result of increased market rivalry as well. Many industries have adopted lean in recent years to increase their firms’ competitiveness due to the competition's recent escalation. Lean is a corporate approach that seeks to increase efficiency throughout the organization by removing waste, enhancing quality & service and reducing costs. Lean manufacturing has been recognized as one of the critical approaches to enhancing the performance of an organization. The Indian Manufacturing Sector's readiness to adopt lean tools is a challenge in the current environment. In this context, a review of lean manufacturing, covering drivers, barriers in lean implementation, critical success factors, organization readiness for lean and the intention to adopt lean was carried out to build a theoretical framework. The research aimed to identify the critical success factors required to implement lean tools successfully. This study also sheds light on contextual factors, such as organizational culture, which can be used to investigate the link between critical success factors and organizational readiness for lean, leading to the intention to adopt lean tools in Indian manufacturing industries.