Title: Development of a model to assess the impact of lean practices on firm performance in SMEs

Authors: Sachin Saini; Doordarshi Singh

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, RIMT University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College, Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, India

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to develop a model that assesses the impact of lean manufacturing practices on performance enhancement in Indian SMEs. In this present work, empirical study did in small and medium enterprises of Northern India and case studies have been used for drawing out the learning issues and their inferences for developing a model using qualitative modelling approach. Qualitative modelling which consists of options field methodology (OFM), options profile methodology (OPM), analytical Hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy set theory (FST) methods are applied for synthesising the learning issues into options and further prioritising the performance parameters. Four options profiles mainly considered were process improvements based approach (PBA), people oriented approach (POA), top management leadership (TML) and mixed approach (MA). From all the approaches, MA has come out to be preferred for effective implementing the lean manufacturing practices and enhancing the overall performance of the organisation.

Keywords: small and medium enterprises; SMEs; lean manufacturing practices; LMPs; Northern India; qualitative modelling; firm performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPMB.2022.123711

International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking, 2022 Vol.12 No.4, pp.513 - 542

Received: 22 Jun 2020
Accepted: 19 Jul 2020
Published online: 01 Jul 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article