Assessment and quantification of leanness in manufacturing systems - an investigative study

The concept of lean is ever-expanding and has continuously been researched upon. But, the question of how lean a system is has been frequently overlooked. In this study, we have researched upon the capability of a multi-level model to calculate the leanness of a system based on studies conducted in various manufacturing industries. The major issue studied and addressed in the problem is the evaluation of wastes in the system through the inhibitors of lean manufacturing in an industry. The different levels of the assessment model deal with the lean dimensions in the first and topmost level, the eight major wastes in lean manufacturing in the second level and the inhibiting factors affecting lean behaviour in the final level. Leanness as a metric is then calculated through the implementation of variability source mapping and data envelopment analysis techniques on the specific data collected through our research instrument. The obtained results have been assessed through plotting all dimensions simultaneously on a radar chart for evaluation. The results have been presented and the model's validity has been assessed. Inferences were drawn from findings of the study.