Lean thinking practices and logistics performance in the Kenya prisons service

Abstract

One of the main objectives of many companies and Kenya Prison department as well is performance improvement. This objective is achieved by different firms through application of different strategies like adoption of lean thinking practices. Depending on factors like nature of work, management support, employee competence and motivation, and resource availability, different lean practices provide different outcomes after adoption. Lean thinking practices includes but not limited to 5s, demand pull, standardization, value stream mapping, process flow simplification and quality upgrade. Adoption of these practices lead to such benefits as cost reduction, efficiency, improved customer service and satisfaction and also business economic growth. The research design used in this study was case study and the target population consisted of the officers attached to different directorates in the Prisons Headquarters based in Nairobi. The researcher used both primary and secondary data. Secondary data consisted of the reference books and documents used in the management of Prison Service. The primary data was collected through a drop and pick later questionnaire. The responses were analyzed using tables and appropriate clarifications aided by SPSS software package. There were three objectives under study including the extent of Lean thinking practices adoption, the relationship between logistics performance and lean practice adoption as well as challenges involved in adoption. Linear multiple regression model was used to analyze the relationship objectives while the challenges and lean thinking practices adoption extent were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study found out that even though lean thinking practices adoption is mostly beneficial, some practices did not quite support the performance improvement e.g. process flow simplification, standardization and use of problem solving groups. The study also found out that there were many challenges hindering lean practice adoption. The study concluded that as many lean practices as possible should be adopted but those that do not add value in performance should either be avoided or enabling adoption environment created. The challenges in adoption of lean thinking practices should be eliminated or minimized to ensure that these practices are adopted for improved performance