Abstract:
The aim of this research was to investigate shop floor employees’ involvement
(including supervisory staffs) in lean implementation or Kaizen activities at a Malaysian
automotive parts manufacturer leading in lean; and to propose a bottom-up lean
conceptual model and its implementation roadmap to provoke involvement of shop
floor employees in Kaizen. The research was carried out in five phases. First, the focus
areas of Kaizen at Toyota and the critical success factors that would influence the
extent of shop floor employees’ involvement in Kaizen activities were identified via
literature review. Second, a case study was carried out at a Malaysian automotive
parts manufacturer (known as Company A) with 7-years of intensive lean experience.
The research data were collected via a semi-structured interview with the Lean
Coordinator of the company, and a survey which addressed to different levels of
internal stakeholder from top management to operators. Third, analyses on the extent
of shop floor employees’ Kaizen involvement at Company A and the influences of each
critical success factor were carried out. Fourth, a bottom-up lean conceptual model
and its implementation roadmap incorporating the critical success factors were
developed. Fifth, the proposed lean model and its implementation roadmap were
validated by lean experts from both academia and industry. As a result, the study
found the shop floor employees’ extent of involvement in Kaizen at Company A was
low. The identified critical success factors namely F1 – top management’s
commitment; F2 – shop floor employees’ commitment and technical capability; F3 – the
stage of lean transformation; and F4 – shop floor responsibilities assignment were
found to have significant influence on the extent of ‘Employee Involvement’. Being
awarded as a Model Company in Malaysian automotive industry, Company A had yet
to commence their transition to bottom-up approach phase in their lean journey
although they had already enjoyed the early benefits of lean. The proposed model
would thus serve as a general guideline to help the company or the Malaysian
automotive industry in large in bottom-up approach lean implementation.
