The outcomes of providing lean training to strategic suppliers: a Swedish case study

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this study is to investigate the outcomes of a leading Swedish truck maker (referred to as “TruckCo” for confidentiality reasons) providing lean training to its strategic suppliers.Design/methodology/approachA single in-depth case study is conducted, using on-site semi-structured interviews with representatives from TruckCo and its suppliers for data collection.FindingsThe lean training program resulted in four main outcomes. First, financially unstable suppliers were less receptive to the lean training program than financially stable suppliers. Second, the suppliers became easier to collaborate with over time, through improving their internal ways of working and thus creating more trust in terms of reliability. Third, the suppliers improved their ability to identify possible problems that could jeopardize deliveries. Fourth and finally, the suppliers improved their delivery precision.Research limitations/implicationsOne limitation of this study is that its findings are based on a single in-depth case study. Another limitation is that all the involved companies originate from Sweden. These limitations should be considered in attempts to replicate or further test the reported findings.Practical implicationsThis study provides insights into how a manufacturer can teach lean management to suppliers, and how suppliers can be involved in a manufacturer's journey towards a leaner supply chain. Furthermore, the study reflects more generally on the potential outcomes of a manufacturer providing lean training to suppliers.Originality/valueThis study highlights both TruckCo's and the suppliers' view of the outcomes of the lean training program and discusses how different suppliers adopt the taught lean practices. Avenues for future research are proposed as well.

Lean supply chain management and Industry 4.0: a systematic literature review

“…However, several studies on the topic have focused only on individual aspects of LSCM. In particular, many studies have concentrated only on analysing “upstream” lean practices, while scarcely any attention has been given on their application in the “downstream” (Reichhart and Holweg, 2007; Reitsma et al , 2020). The gradual adoption of LP practices “downstream” in the flow could be justified by the production levelling (heijunka) concept, as there is a requirement of production to cope up with fluctuations with high market demand variability (Mason-Jones et al , 2000).…”

Country-related future research agenda of Lean Manufacturing–A systematic literature review

“…China, Europe, India, etc.) differ in their approach (Danese et al, 2017); how operations strategies are handled by different strategic groups in their Lean practices in different geographical regions (Pozo et al, 2017); the differences across geographies regarding Lean innovation management (Solaimani et al, 2019); whether the positive interaction between layoffs (reductions in the workforce) and LM strategy may hold in Western countries while the interaction between the two can be rather negative in Japan (Shin and Alam, 2020), the status of LM in terms of Lean adoption, benefits, motivation, and challenges of implementing LM in different geographic locations within a country and in different countries (Sahoo, 2020b), what various countries and global regions are doing in the area of rational flow-based resource allocation, planning, and implementation in the context of flow (Lean) management (Schonberger, 2020), whether companies with domestic and foreign capital are following the same pattern with regard to LM (Minovski et al, 2021) Leanness Study the Lean warehouse's global Leanness (Buonamico et al, 2017); the impact of Leanness and innovativeness on environmental and financial performance in different countries (Shashi et al, 2019); the moderating role of organizational environments on the relationship between inventory Leanness and venture survival in countries other than China (Wang et al, 2019); whether Lean maturity moderates the relationship between Leanness and financial performance across different regions and countries (Galeazzo, 2021) Lean knowledge and training Study countries other than Sweden to examine the Lean startup and the role of vicarious and experiential learning processes (Mansoori, 2017); the entrepreneurial cognitions behind the Lean startup in several provinces and countries (Yang et al, 2019), the outcomes of providing Lean training to strategic suppliers in several countries (Reitsma et al, 2020) Lean barriers Study the framework of Lean barriers in different countries…”

How can a buying company develop a Toyota-style supplier network while its lean capabilities are still evolving?

“…However, because most studies on lean development have an internal focus, more studies that capture in detail how lean can be spread to suppliers are needed (Aoki and Lennerfors, 2013;Shamah, 2013;Marodin et al, 2019;Tortorella et al, 2017;De Silva and Jayarathne, 2018;Reitsma et al, 2021). In particular, there is a dearth of in-depth investigating efforts to create Toyota-style supplier networks and the outcomes of lean implementation (Jayamaha et al, 2014;Reitsma et al, 2021). Toyota is clearly the lean master in developing its lean supplier network (Ball e and Handlinger, 2012).…”

“…In addition to studies emphasizing that and when lean should be extended to the supplier systems, a few studies describe in detail how buying firms can develop lean suppliers. For example, Reitsma et al (2021) studied how a buying firm with a mature lean capability extended its internal lean training to four strategic suppliers. However, Powell and Coughlan (2020) and Hoque (2021) investigated lean supplier development efforts that occurred without a mature lean buyer.…”

“…it selected the suppliers to be developed and introduced the suppliers' managers to a researcher supervising the intervention. While all studies found positive effects, Reitsma et al (2021) and Hoque (2021) only captured initiatives that developed suppliers individually and not in networks, and none of them primarily attended to the A Toyota-style supplier network maturity of the buying firm's lean capabilities when embarking on lean supplier network development.…”