An Empirical Approach to the Implementation of Lean Manufacturing as a Strategy to Mitigate Industrial Waste in South Africa

This study investigates the influence of lean manufacturing as a strategy to eliminate waste if not minimizing it by considering the different types of waste to eliminate, the 5S Lean method, Kaizen, Just in Time, and Value-added management. The study provides a theoretical application of lean manufacturing on how it can be introduced and implemented in the business environment. A quantitative approach with the use of questionnaires has been used to gather information from 80 organizations that voluntarily took part in the study. Results have shown that many of the respondents are aware of lean and use it, nevertheless, different internal barriers such as reluctance to change, management support, and staff training make lean’s application difficult even though they all agreed that it had a positive impact on their production process. The sample size is a major limitation to the study, using a much bigger one would provide more reliable result to confirm these findings and enrich the existing literature.