Lean Manufacturing Practices and Performance of Organizations Listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange

Abstract

This study sought to study Lean manufacturing practices and performance of organizations listed at the Nairobi. This study set to achieve three objectives namely; the fist being to determine the effects of Lean manufacturing practices on the performance of organizations listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, to document the extent to which Lean manufacturing practices have been adopted by organizations listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange and to find out the challenges faced by organizations listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange in their pursuit to implement lean manufacturing practices. The goals for lean manufacturing practices are to improve quality; to stay competitive in today’s marketplace, a company must understand its customers’ wants needs and designs processes that meet their expectations and requirements. Among the areas highlighted include the various lean manufacturing practice models that are being adopted; the benefits derived from the adoption of these practices and the challenges encountered in the implementation of the practices Primary data was collected by use of questionnaire with both closed and open ended questions. The closed ended questions enable the collection of qualitative data for analysis the Likert scale while the open ended questions enable the researcher to collect qualitative data on the respondents view on lean manufacturing practices in organisations in Kenya. The study found out that most Kenyan firms believe that lean manufacturing practices enhance the long term business performance and success. The study established less process waste, reduced inventory, reduced lead time, less rework financial savings and increased process understanding as the benefits emanating from the implementation of lean manufacturing practices. The study established the following hindrances to lean manufacturing practices implementation: external obstacles, logistic issues smaller supplier’s difficulties and global issues. These findings should help in encouraging the widespread adoption of lean manufacturing practices in Kenya. Due to tight schedules of the top management in companies listed Nairobi Security Exchange, the study encountered difficulties in gaining access to the respondents and the researcher had to keep rescheduling their time to align with the availability of the respondents.