Mayank Dev Singh G. D. Thakar

Abstract

Large scale firms have been adopting various management practices to remain competitive in today's global economy. Lean manufacturing is one such initiative, which significantly improves performance in terms of cost, delivery, quality and flexibility which are achieved by focusing on eliminating waste and non-value adding activities. Since its beginning lean manufacturing has been largely confined to the domain of only the big companies with good resources. Although small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a very significant role in overall manufacturing supply network, less is known about the extent to which lean is present in these firms. The present study investigates this issue by exploring the scenario of implementation of lean manufacturing in worldwide SMEs. Indian industry is still struggling to implement lean principles and philosophies in Indian SMEs. Through this paper, an attempt has been made to identify the scope for lean implementation in Indian industry. The objective of this paper is to review and examine the advancement and encounters of lean practices in Indian SMEs particularly in state of Gujarat.

Keywords- Indian SMEs, Lean Manufacturing, Review