Implementation of Lean Manufacturing Methods in Russian Companies

Abstract

Implementation of lean manufacturing methods is widespread globally. These methods have demonstrated high potential of implementation and gained popularity in many developed, developing and transition economies. Despite the popularity, so far there are few empirical research devoted to the implementation of lean manufacturing in Russia, and this paper partially fills this gap.Aim. The main purpose of the paper is to analyze the spread of lean manufacturing methods, find out the most frequently used practices, describe the industry affiliation of companies and identify problems and obstacles in the implementation of lean manufacturing methods and techniques.Tasks. To achieve the objectives, the quantitative empirical study was conducted on the base of open secondary sources.Methods. The information about the lean projects of 201 companies of different industries was gathered. The data was processed, coded and analyzed.Results. Among findings, we identified that 5S and VSM were the most implementing practices, most of the companies were practicing 3 to 7 lean practices at the same time. Low employee engagement, unfavorable organizational culture and problems of scaling the pilot projects are the most frequent problems in implementing of lean practices.Conclusions. The introduction of lean manufacturing methods remains one of the main direction of production processes improving and labor productivity increasing on Russian enterprises. The study has limitations inherent to research that are based on secondary sources.