A survey into the adoption of Lean in SMEs
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), defined as firms employing up to 250 people [1], represent over 99% of Welsh businesses and are both socially and economically vital to Wales [2]. It is therefore extremely important that SMEs continue to remain competitive, profitable and sustainable in business.
The application of lean thinking has made a significant impact both in academia and industry over the last decade [5]. Lean has proven to be a vital tool for successfully achieving growth and sustainability in business. Extended learning (e-learning) experiences on the other hand take advantage of an enriched environment where classroom instruction is supplemented by an interactive component facilitated by technology tools [3]. Adoption of Lean through E-learning (ELean) in this research is being considered as a key driver of economic growth, sustainability and increased productivity within the SME community in Wales.
This paper identifies and analyses the findings from the survey to focus on the potential for Welsh SMEs to engage in training via the web by examining a number of factors to determine the current state of use of the web within Welsh SMEs, SMEs knowledge and application of Lean tools within their businesses, an analysis of the characteristics of SMEs that think the web is applicable for training, those that think it is not and reasons behind this rationale as well as a brief analysis of the manufacturing sector of Welsh SMEs
| Attachment | Size |
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| E Lean.wmv | 4.71 MB |
Hi Rich
Thank you for your excellent question. There is no evidence that the 24% of companies had achieved competitive advantage through the adoption of lean.
Having said that, the survey was not directly aiming for this output but it should have been an important research question in order to identify whether their interpretation of lean had brought any benefits.
Thanks
Andrew
Andrew,
Thankyou for your excellent reply.
If these companies are examples of enterprises willing to enact new best practice, can we look to extend e-Lean to become e-Fit ?
e-thanks,
Rich.
Hello Authors,
thankyou for your excellent paper.
Is there any indication by the 24% of companies that claim to be using lean tools that they have achieved a competitive advantage over the 76% that are not ?
Rich.