Subsequently, the scope of implementation of Lean has extended to other apartments and in search for performance improvement and value creation to the processes, the shipyard has started the deployment of Lean AS in the warehouse. Initially, a research work-group has been formed at Listen Avert, which has its focus on the functions of the warehouse. With the objective for innovation and development, the shipyard also cooperates with institutions for higher education in Norway and thus several Master’s thesis projects have been executed with Listen Avert.
This thesis is a form of continuation of the sass’s Master thesis of Kissers Kilos 9 Long – Warehouse Management in a Lean Shipbuilding Perspective – An Exploratory Case Study of Listen Avert, which focuses on management for improvement of the warehouse functions and the material flow at Listen Avert. Thus, Lean AS being chosen as an adequate tool for improvement of the warehouse processes, this thesis aims at giving insight into the practical implications connected to the deployment of Lean AS. 1. 2.
Setting, research purpose and guiding questions The initial purpose of the study was to form a deeper understanding of the practical implications, the follow up, and possibly the result of the implementation of the AS tool in the warehouse of Listen Avert. The study was initiated in the winter of 2009, during which time Listen Avert had started the pilot project of the deployment of AS in the Maintenance department. The pilot project was completed during the time of this research and the experience, and results are valuable source of information.
However, due to the fact that the implementation of AS in the warehouse is still in process, no complete description of the process was possible, and the scope of this thesis moved to a description of the problem areas in the warehouse which led to the need of the implementation of AS. At the same time, the thesis discusses the managerial implications connected with the changing processes and describes the driving forces in the processes. Focal point of this research is the warehouse of Listen Avert and the implementation of AS tool in it.
Furthermore, the following methods are sound supplement of the above- mentioned key Lean principles for Lean production (Ross&Associates Environmental Consulting 2004, p. 2): 6. Implement a plan-do-check-act (PDA) improvement framework to achieve results fast. 7. Use metrics and performance feedback to improve real-time decision-making and problem solving. . Approach improvement activities from the perspective of the whole enterprise or system. Lean practices help organizations to improve fundamentally their competitiveness, by cost reduction, increased quality and response to customer needs.
Rationale behind the implementation of Lean is typically strong business drivers, and successful implementation of Lean requires significant transformation of the organization’s culture and practices. Lean practitioners assert that time of crisis is when changes are most successfully fostered and followed in (Ross Environmental Consulting 2004). With the necessary adaptation, the principles of Lean have expanded its applicability from the production, to service industry, the military, and in construction processes, which speaks about the universality, and efficiency of the concept.
Liker (2004) clams that every type of organization business can benefit from Lean not by imitating the tools used by Toyota in a particular manufacturing process but rather, by developing principles that are the right ones for the organization or businesses and by practicing them, to achieve high performance that continues to add value to the customers and society. 16 2. 1. 2 Toyota Production System The idea of integration of production processes in a continuous flow came from Henry Ford in the beginning of the 20th Century.
