| dc.description.abstract | Manufacturing firms operating in the presents' rapidly changing and highly
competitive market have been pressured to improve all aspects of operational
performance; quality, flexibility and customer response time as well as reduce costs
of manufacturing. They have retorted by adopting a set of practices that is fast
becoming the dominant paradigm in manufacturing - lean manufacturing. Lean
manufacturing involves continuous elimination of waste from the value chain of
manufacturers thus enhancing customer value through continuous improvement of
operational performance of the manufacturers. This research sought to determine the
effect of lean manufacturing practices on the operational performance of
manufacturing firms in Mombasa County. The study was guided by to three
objectives: To determine the extent to which manufacturing firms in Mombasa
County have adopted lean manufacturing practices; To establish the effect of lean
manufacturing practices on operational performance of manufacturing firms in
Mombasa County and finally the challenges faced by firms when implementing lean
manufacturing. The data analyzed was gathered using a semi-structured questionnaire
targeting operations managers of manufacturing firms in Mombasa. The results were
presented using tables, pie charts and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and
regression models. The findings indicated that most manufacturing firms in Mombasa
practiced lean manufacturing. It was also clear that lean manufacturing firms had seen
an improvement in their operational performance. The effect of lean manufacturing
practices on the operational performance of manufacturing firms was tested against
four operational performance metrics; quality, flexibility, speed and cost). The
outcomes showed that lean manufacturing practices; just-in-time, continuous
improvement/kaizen, value stream mapping and total productive maintenance; are
positively related to operational performance while automation is negatively related
to operational performance. The study also established that the most experienced
challenge in adopting lean manufacturing was high costs of implementation and the
least was lack of top management support. The study recommends more awareness of
the importance of lean manufacturing practices in manufacturing firms and support
from the top management as critical tool for takeoff. Most of all, the researcher urges
manufacturing firms to implement lean manufacturing practices and create a culture
that accommodates them since they have excellent systems and structures that can
productively support it. If lean manufacturing practices are consistently implemented
the operational performance of the manufacturing firms can significantly improve and
this will enable manufacturing firms to survive the harsh business environment. The
study also recommends that for lean manufacturing to be successful it should to be
practiced within the entire supply chain. | en_US |
