Maturity of lean practices in Brazilian manufacturing companies

Abstract

Using the instrument proposed by Bento and Tontini 2018. Developing an instrument to measure lean manufacturing maturity and its relationship with operational performance. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, (in press)], the present paper examines lean maturity in the Brazilian manufacturing industry, verifying the relationship between lean maturity and the size of the company. The instrument evaluates companies’ maturity on 38 lean practices, divided into eight dimensions. The perceptions of professionals from 90 manufacturing companies are used to examine lean maturity levels, according to five degrees of maturity, ranging from ‘1 – Not implemented or implemented informally.’ to ‘5 – Implemented, controlled, and continuously improving.’ In general, application of lean practices is non-existent or informal in the surveyed companies. Problem-Solving and Supplier Integration are the dimensions with the lowest level of maturity. On the other hand, Customer Focus presents the highest maturity of the research, ranging between 4 and 5, where the practices can already be considered implemented, showing sustainable results. There was no statistically significant difference between small and medium companies. However, there is a statistically significant difference between small and large and medium and large industries. The use of this instrument in different segments of industry can help to demonstrate that it is reliable for practical application. It also can be used for benchmarking purposes. The paper contributes to the expansion of scientific studies of lean manufacturing and maturity of Brazilian organisations. Moreover, the study of differences between small, medium and large companies can help managers to understand which tools to prioritise when adopting lean, according to each company size.

Keywords:

• Maturity level
• lean manufacturing
• Toyota principles
• company size
• Brazil

Additional information

Funding

This study was financed in part by the Foundation for Research and Innovation Support of Santa Catarina State - FAPESC under grant 03/2017 and by the National Research Council of Brazil - CNPq under Grant 09/2018.