Prioritization of barriers to lean implementation in Indian automotive small & medium sized enterprises

Lean manufacturing has been the most deliberated concept ever since its introduction. Many organization across the world implemented lean concept and witnessed dramatic improvements in all contemporary performance parameters. Lean manufacturing has been a sort of mirage for the Indian automotive industry. The present research investigated the key lean barriers to lean implementation through literature survey, confirmatory factor analysis, multiple regression, and analytic network process. The general factors to lean implementation were inadequate lean planning, resource constraints, half-hearted commitment from management, and behavioral issues. The most important factor in the context of lean implementation in Indian automotive industry was inadequate lean planning found with the help of confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. Further analysis of these extracted factors through analytic network process suggested the key lean barriers in Indian automotive industry, starting from the most important were absence of proper lean implementation methodology, lack of customer focus, absence of proper lean measurement system, inadequate capital, improper selection of lean tools & practices, leadership issues, resistance to change, and poorly defined roles & responsibilities. Though literature identifying various lean barriers are available. The novelty of current research emerges from the identification and subsequent prioritization of key lean barriers within Indian automotive SMEs environment. The research assists in smooth transition from traditional to lean system by identifying key barriers and developing customized framework of lean implementation for Indian automotive SMEs.