Lean Accounting: Economic-financial Performance of Companies with Lean Manufacturing

This article presents a study of multiple cases with four leading publicly traded companies on Bovespa (Brazilian Stock Exchange), before and after the implementation of lean manufacturing, evaluating economic and financial performance through primary and secondary data. Net income was the indicator that showed the greatest positive variation after lean manufacturing, although it increased indebtedness (over 200%) and storage (over 140%), indicating difficulties in conditioning suppliers to the production cycle. Lean manufacturing was not accompanied by accounting practices appropriate to the new productive environment, suggesting a rethinking of the management system, under the lean accounting approach, based on the value stream flow. The results are consistent with the view that lean thinking is a holistic business strategy and demonstrates the weakness in the spread of lean accounting in the corporate environment, which is necessary in order to optimize the overall results of a lean company. It is concluded that there is still a long way for lean Brazilian companies to develop a new organizational model and become lean enterprises focused on the flow of the value chain.