LEAN MANUFACTURING AS A STRATEGIC TOOL IN IMPROVING QUALITY PERFORMANCE OF THE APPAREL FIRMS

Abstract

Increased competition, reduction of profit margins, pressure on reduction of the leadtime and quality have put pressure on Sri Lankan apparel industry to adopt global manufacturing strategies so as to be competitive in the global markets. Lean manufacturing has become one of the most popular organizational interventions in the quality improvement in the Sri Lankan apparel industry. Purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the duration of lean implementation with organizational quality performance. The population of the study consisted of apparel companies operating in Sri Lanka that have implemented lean manufacturing techniques. Results show that the increase of lean duration increases the level of quality performance of the Sri Lankan apparel firms. The quality performances in terms of rework and rejections shows negative relationship and audit pass rate shows positive relationship with lean duration. Therefore, lean implementation has positive impact on the quality performance of the Sri Lankan apparel firms.

Keywords: Lean Manufacturing, Quality Performance, Apparel Industry

For full Paper: fmscresearch@sjp.ac.lk