An Assessment of Organizational Factors in Lean Implementation in Apparel Export Units of National Capital Region

Lean manufacturing has caught the attention and imagination of few progressive apparel export-oriented manufacturers in India. Few apparel manufacturing units of National Capital Region (NCR) have started the journey generating a whole lot of success stories with big difference in terms of delivering real business profits and performances, while others are still hesitant and struggling in their traditional setup. As lean is all about bringing operational, organizational learning and cultural change in the manufacturing environment of an organization, it is very important to have an understanding of the organizational factors responsible for its smooth implementation. This study examined the driving factors which brought about changes, barriers which slowed the implementation process, and other critical success factors in bringing about a complete transformation. The top driving factor identified was maintain competitive advantage in service, quality and price, most important lean inhibiting factor was short term focus and lack of consistency, and management support was found to be the most important critical success factors responsible for proper and smooth implementation of lean.