The Effect of Developing the Lean Product on the Lean ...

Webology, Volume 18, Special Issue on Information Retrieval and Web Search

September, 2021

380 http://www.webology.org

The Effect of Developing the Lean Product on the Lean Supply

Chain: A Field Study for the Light Industries Company

Dr. Zahra Abd Mohammed

Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, College of Administration and

Economics, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq.

E-mail: [email protected]

Received February 19, 2021; Accepted June 16, 2021

ISSN: 1735-188X

DOI: 10.14704/WEB/V18SI02/WEB18107

Abstract

The Industrial companies are facing many challenges like shortening the product lifecycle,

reducing production costs, responding to the customers' various needs, the markets'

globalization, the competition's increase and swift developments in the environment of the

business. These challenges forced the industrial companies to look for lean practices and tools

to develop their products leading to create a lean supply chain that eliminates the waste of

time, the cost, and inventory along with the supply chain.

The research problem was formulated by introducing several questions on the impact of

developing the practices and tools of the lean product for the lean supply chain, whereas the

research hypotheses were subjected to several tests to ensure their validity. Moreover, a

questionnaire included (48) questions was used as a main tool of collecting the necessary data

about the sample in order to achieve the objectives of the research.

The Light Industries Company was chosen as a sample of applying the research, and the

statistical program (STATA- MP V15.1) was used to analyze the data.

One of the important results which the research was concluded is that when the dimensions of

the variable of developing the lean product (the value stream mapping and set-based

concurrent engineering, the visual management and quality improvement, the computer-aided

design and modular design) are separated and gathered again, they will have a significant

effect on the lean supply chain's variable (the suppliers and procurement, the over production

and warehousing, the transportation and customer).

Keywords

Lean, Product Development, Lean Product Development, Supply Chain, Lean Supply Chain.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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Introduction

In the competitive markets, the industrial companies are working hard to provide products

of a high quality and low cost, therefore, they try to use the best practices and tools to

develop their products along with focusing on the process of eliminating all the activities

that have not any value to the supply chain. Consequently, the philosophy of lean is

considered as one of the most important and applicable philosophy, because it contributes

in reducing the waste and enabling the access to greater quantities of the production and

resources, and thus the use and application of the lean was spread in all industrial sectors

and drawn the increased attention and wide interest of the public sectors in the past

decades. The lean concepts are aiming to eliminate all type of the waste through the

operational processes. whereas the lean initiative approaches are referring to the

achievement of the right task, at the right time, and in the right quantity in order to

implement the continual process flow at eliminating the waste, reducing the lead time,

doing the inventory process and at the end improving the productivity. Then, the

philosophy of lean was applied in various fields, including the product development and

supply chain.

The research idea focused on identifying any of the practices and tools that contribute to

develop the products in order to be lean (value stream mapping, set-based concurrent

engineering, visual management, quality improvement, computer-aided design and

modular design). These practices and tools have an impact upon the components of lean

supply chain (suppliers, procurement, over production, warehousing, transportation and

customer) so that they can improve the efficiency, reduce or eliminate the waste of time,

the efforts and costs within the supply chain, as well as to gain a clear understanding of

the value that has been added for the customer.

Literature Review

The lean practices and tools have been implemented on a large scale over the past two

decades and in the variety of the industries and services around the world, this is because

the concept of the lean initiatives reduces the waste in the overproduction, and defects,

transportation, mobility, waiting, inventory, and over-process. The lean constantly strives

to maintain the consistency with the flow of the materials and information as well as to

get the positive results (Chaurasia et al, 2019), and also because the product development

is considered as an important component of the companies, and thus, the continuous and

successful product development management is becoming necessary for business

sustainability. In the past few years, the companies have faced a pressure from the


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stakeholders to implement the principles of the lean in their product development

processes (Hejazi et al, 2020) and this has led to a growing literature about the Lean

Product Development (LPD) (Marodin et al, 2018). therefore, the lean product

development is considered as an approach that can reduce the waste in the projects aiming

to develop the products, especially the products that contain technically complex

components, which are required usually higher costs and longer times of the development,

and so the repetition of the process of developing the product can be necessary to ensure

the quality of the final products (Belvedere et al, 2019).

The principles of lean were applied in the supply chain in the 1990s because its

management (SCM) gained a prominent rank due to its ability to create opportunities of a

high value for the companies and competition (Sartori and Frederico, 2020). therefore, the

lean philosophy was applied in the supply chain, and then the lean supply chain (LSC) can

be defined as a set of organizations directly linked by upstream and downstream flows of

the products and services, the information and funds that collaboratively work to reduce

the cost and waste by efficiently pulling what is needed so as to meet the needs of the

individuals and customers (Tortorella et al, 2017).

For the importance of lean, (Tiamaz and Souissi, 2019) suggested to make a general

roadmap for applying the lean in various fields in order to improve the operations, where

the roadmap would make the process possible to adapt the steps to be followed for

applying the lean. The roadmap has been defined as a set of phases that are linked to the

principles, and each phase is defined as a set of steps that are linked to the tools. This

roadmap shows to the operations' manager the objectives that it is aiming for as well as

the lean principles and tools that must be used (Tiamaz and Souissi, 2019).

The researcher conducted a survey for many researches, and she was found that there is

not any study that combined between the practices and tools of developing the lean

product and the lean process of the supply chain. Therefore, the research focused on

identifying lean practices and tools that can be applied to develop the product, which

helps to push the improvement efforts successfully in leaning the components of the

supply chain by eliminating all waste in the components of the supply chain.

Research Methodology

Research Problem

The research problem is focused upon two aspects which are:-


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Knowledge aspect: Many writers and researchers have introduced the practices and tools

of developing the lean product, but they presented some of them and overlooked others,

so the current research tries to present an integrated set of the practices and tools adopted

in developing the lean product that have a very important role in leaning the supply chain.

Field aspect: This aspect can be clarified by formulating the following questions:-

1. Is there a clear perception among the company's management, designers, factory

managers, engineers, and technicians about the concept and types of the lean

practices and tools of the product development?

2. How do the practices and tools of the lean product development affect the lean

supply chain?

Research Objectives

The research aims to achieve the following objectives:-

1. What are the practices and tools related to develop the lean product that have a role

in leaning the supply chain?

2. What are the practices and tools of developing the lean product? And which of the

components of the lean supply chain are most important for the light industries

company?

3. Measuring the correlation between the lean product development and the lean supply

chain.

4. Measuring the impact of the lean product development in the lean supply chain.

Research Procedural Scheme

Figure (1) shows the schematic drawing of the research variables, which shows the

independent variable of developing the lean product as well as the dependent variable of

the lean supply chain.

Research Methods

1. Research Tools

The Light Industries Company was selected as a research sample for the purpose of

testing the research hypotheses, and for collecting the information about the research

sample, a questionnaire was prepared to cover the research variables. Forty questionnaires

were distributed to the engineers and technicians who work in the factories of the sample


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company, to the designers in the Design Department and to the heads of the Purchase,

Stores and Transportation Departments. Thirty four completed questionnaires were

received and analyzed, and the response rate of respondents was 85%.

The questionnaire included (48) questions, see appendix (1, 2), and the fivefold scale was

used, the statistical methods were also applied in analyzing the data by using the

Statistical program (STATA-MP V15.1).

2. Field Visits and Interviews

The researcher conducted a number of field visits to view the reality of the work in the

Light Industries Company, also she held a number of interviews with the company and

factories managers, as well as the engineers, the technicians, and employees in the

departments in order to collect data about the company and its factories in addition to

identifying the nature of work. Moreover, the researcher reviewed the reports and records

of the company as well as the factories.

Figure 1 Research procedural scheme

Quality Improvement

Set-Based Concurrent

Engineering

Value Stream

Mapping

Lean Product

Development

Modular Design

Computer- Aided

Design

Lean Transportation

Lean Warehousing

Lean Manufacturing

Lean Procurement

Lean Customers

Lean Supply Chain

Lean Suppliers

Visual Management


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Theoretical Background

Lean Product Development

The Lean is considered as a philosophy as well as an approach that is focused upon

eliminating the waste and streamlining the operations by close coordination of all

activities (Stevens, 2018). The concepts of lean are operating well in the case of the

demand of relatively stable, predictable and small product diversification (Konecka,

2010).

The objective of the lean is to create value-adding processes that are streamlined and

efficient and at the same time, they provide the necessary information to the employees

(Dumitrescu and Dumitrache, 2011). Thus, the lean thinking is considered as an

optimization philosophy that focuses on creating the value and eliminating the waste.

Moreover, in the book "The Machine that Change the World", the term lean is described

as a combination of ideas and principles developed by Toyota, and that were described by

Taichi Ohno to explain the Toyota production system but later the lean thinking phase

was included the important aspects like the value, the attentions, and five basic principles

of the lean.

Then, the development of the lean products means the lean manufacturing that is applied

to product development. The researchers and practitioners took different ways in their

attempts to describe or explain the product development approach (Muhammad et al.,

2015), while the roots of the development of the lean product are returned to the early of

1990s, which were introduced by Womack and others in 1991 and by Womack and Jones

in 1996. Those scientists and researchers sought for the explanations of the differences

between the Japanese and Western cars making in terms of developing the product. The

development of the lean product is known as the development of a new product, and the

development of Japanese products means the introduction of a new product and the design

of lean design, the development of Toyota products and the lean product lifecycle

management (Johansson and Sundin, 2014). Once the concepts and methods of lean

success are achieved in the field of the production processes, the application of the lean of

developing the product is started in order to provide products that add value to the

customer, and in case of avoiding the wasting, the interactive ability for both the market

demand and company's competitive position will be enhanced (Pinheiro and Toledo,

2016).

Because product development requires significant change, the products have become

more complex, and the competition and price pressures are increased, therefore the


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individual customer's requirements are became increasingly difficult to be achieved. This

complexity requires an increase in the effort and time when it is developed, so in the

recent introduction, the concepts of the lean in developing the product have been

presented firstly (Rauch et al., 2016).

There are two main competitive advantages of applying the lean product development:-

1. It is an enabler to achieve the next level of the lean production.

2. It improves the product development performance.

The product development is represented the life blood to many companies because they

represent the major investments in the resources. Therefore, the manager executives strive

to develop the lean products in order to improve the market response, the design in

quality, in addition to reducing the costs, and shortening the lead times (Liker and

Morgan, 2011).

The main aim of developing the product is to provide the product at a low production

cost, a good quality, and fast delivery to achieve the customer satisfaction (Bilal and

Wasim, 2015).

The researcher defines the development of the product as a systematic approach that

develops the products and focuses on creating the value to the customer as well as

reducing the waste of time, the effort, and cost in order to survive and grow faster than

their competitors.

Lean Practices and Tools of Product Development

The application of the lean manufacturing philosophy in developing the product would

make the process of developing the product more streamlined and efficient, in addition to

increasing the reactivity of the company. The tools in the lean manufacturing, for

instance, Kaizen, Value Stream Map, 5s, and other basic tools can be also adapted in

developing the product process to eliminate all kinds of the waste. Moreover, some

practices are used to achieve the lean's goals where they were used in developing the

product like the concurrent engineering, the visual management, and supplier engagement.

The following table (1) shows the Lean practices and tools of developing the product.


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Table 1 Lean practices and tools of developing the product

Lean Practices and Tools Author's name and the year

1- Set-Based Concurrent Engineering

2- Value - Focus

3- Chief Engineering Technical Leadership

4- Knowledge – Based Environment

(Muhammad et al., 2013)

1-Mistake-Proofing (poke-yoke)

2- Knowledge Based Engineering (Bilal and Wasim, 2015)

1-Value Stream Mapping

2-Visual Management

3- Set-Based Concurrent Engineering

(Pinheiro and Toledo, 2016)

1- Standard Parts

2- Modular Design

3- Highly Capable Production Systems with Quality Built in

4- Concurrent Engineering

(Stevences, 2018)

Source: The author

The researcher suggests for developing the lean product a set of practices and tools that

will have an impact on the lean supply chain components:-

1. Value Stream Mapping: it is the visual representation of the flow value of process,

which is similar to the process flow chart. The value flow determines all steps of the

operations and tasks that are performed to deliver the product or service from the

beginning to the end. The typical value flow includes both the process steps and tasks

that are neutral, this means that they add a value but at the same time they do not add

any value (Schroeder et al., 2018). Toyota Company made a map value stream

originally that is called "Planning Information and Materials Flow", which purpose is

to help in eliminating the steps of operations and tasks that do not add value, as well as

identifying the development opportunities (Stevences, 2018).

2. Set-Based Concurrent Engineering: The concurrent engineering takes the form of the

multi-function teams and meetings where the organizational stakeholders in the

purchasing, manufacturing and marketing processes, as well as in the quality assurance

and assembly along with the designers and engineers are integrated into the product

development project at an early stage and who are also involved in reviewing the

product design and proposals in order to ensure that current plans of developing the

product have met the needs of the internal and external stakeholders.

Concurrent engineering has become the main approach to the product design and

development process. Concurrent engineering focuses on the product design stage to

Achievement the tasks correctly from the first time (Azeez & AL-tayar, 2021).


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The work is done in parallel, which helps avoid repetition and rework the designs later

(Akaberi, 2011). The application of concurrent engineering in companies helps to manage

the design and development of the product, adjust the cost of providing the product,

manage the proffer of the new product, speed in the process of prevention, and provide a

platform to reuse the product (Basu et al., 2013).

3. Visual Management: The visual management is used to facilitate the common

understanding of the product development team. it uses electronic or physical means in

order to make the problems visible (Pinheiro and Toledo, 2016). Moreover the visual

administration aims to make the planned current situation of the process transparent for

all, so that anyone (whether he is engaging in the process or not) can see what is

happening directly. It is usually using a visual sign like the computer and screen, the

normal and traffic signals, and lamps.

The visual administration is distinct with several advantages, where it shows the safe and

effective working practices as a common focus for the team meetings as well as an

assessment of the current situation of the process, in addition to understanding the tasks

and priorities of the work and determining the flow of work, i.e. what has been done and

what is going to be, along with identifying when something is not going as it was planned,

…etc (Slack et al., 2013).

4. Quality Improvement: The research and study in the quality improvement are

considered as an endless process, which is usually focusing on the discovery and

elimination of the problem's causes.

The Andon system makes signals such as (sound alarm, lights, etc.) in case of there is

abnormality in the production system like the malfunction of a machine and device, or

there is a manufactured part which is not meeting the given specifications (Russell and

Talyer, 2011).

The quality improvement has also another term, it is "Poka-Yoke" that means "a failure in

the error". it is emphasizing on the achievement of the perfect quality at every process and

at every time, therefore the managers and employees must work hard in order to develop

the processes and systems that create the right performance, all time, for the tasks in every

time. The term "Poka-Yoke" refers to the focus on redesigning the operations in such a

way that mistakes will be impossible or they will be obvious to the worker immediately

(Swink et. al., 2014).


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5. Computer-Aided Design, CAD: If the designer uses the computer effectively in

designing the products by using the three-dimensional drawings, he will save time and

money throughout shortening the cycle of developing the product along with the speed

and ease of changing, analyzing, and adjusting the designs according to the given

specifications.

The computer-Aided Design helps the flow of the information into the other sections

along with the review of many possible options before making the final product design

decisions (Hezier et al., 2017). The possibility of linking the computer -aided design to

the manufacturing process is considered as one of the characteristics of this component,

therefore it is necessary to link the product design with the process choice, and due to the

computer-aided design, the integration between the product design and choice of process

becomes more easier (Reid and Sanders, 2013).

6. Modular Design: It is a set of parts that are processed as a single unit, and this will

significantly reduce the number of units handled and simplify the process of the

aggregation and procurement, the operation and training … etc. (Stevens, 2018).

The operations manager believes that the modular design is useful because it achieves the

product development, and at the same time, it makes the production and subsequent

changes easier. Moreover, the marketing gives the priority to the modular design because

it gives flexibility to the ways with which the customers can be satisfied (Hezier et al.,

2017).

Lean Supply Chain

In the current global markets, the supply chains play a fundamental role in developing of

an organization and maximizing the profit (Fakhrzad et al, 2018). The supply chain is

considered as a network of the business entities that supplies the product or services from

upstream to downstream, therefore the intensity of information exchange must manage

between functions and activities effectively. The supply chains are considered as networks

of organizations where nodes are connected together in the different processes and

activities, from up to down, in order to make a value to the products or services

(Huddiniah and ER, 2019).

The lean supply chain is an enabler for any organization that is looking for to become

more lean and efficient. the organizations that are applying the lean supply chain, can use

the philosophy of the lean more easily, because it will be a high value for the customers

throughout its respond to the customer needs efficiently and quickly, and this in turn, it


September, 2021


will makes the lean supply chain operates easily, in addition to creating a superior

financial for these organizations (Daud, 2010).

The lean supply chain makes a stress on the removal of all non-add value activities within

the supply chain. It also emphasizes on reducing the required time for preparing and

putting together the machines. Moreover it enhances the performance of the production

system because it provides an economic production with small batches, in addition to

reducing the costs and increasing the profits and flexibility of the production.

The flexibility and responsiveness are considered as important factors in the lean supply

chains especially for the customers' design, timing and distribution requirements, but they

are not highlighted much in the lean production (Gilaninia et al., 2011). It is necessary to

operate the processes of the lean supply chain lean as a one batch than running each

process in the chain lean separately. Therefore, the company must follow the lean

synchronization philosophy of processing the chain as a whole and with everyone being

involved in the process. The fast throughput within the processing network creates a high

value and reduces the costs throughout the processing network. it also reduces the

inventory levels and the waste, in addition to achieving the exact match between the

supply and demand (Slack and Jones, 2018).

The lean supply chain is considered as a new way of thinking about the processing

networks, and here it needs the coordination of the processors besides the balance

between cooperation and competition. The cooperation involves a set of cooperative

relations in addition to the coordination of mechanisms. The Vendor partnerships and

alliance strategy are considered the key features of the lean supply chain management.

Therefore, the relationships must be close and good with processors who are expected to

process small and frequent shipments of high quality materials (Stevenson, 2018).

Moreover, the companies must make strong relationships with the suppliers so that they

can ship the product frequently and within short time so that the customers can receive it

at the specific time and with the required quality. Therefore, the company has to look at

the suppliers as its partners in the company (Krajewski et al., 2016). The flexible

approach can be used in the supply chain and in the stable environments where it can

enhance the performance of the supply chain by reducing the operating times (throughout

making the supply chain more responsive to customer requirements), improving the

quality, reducing the costs and improving the customer service. The lean supply chains

seek to eliminate the need of the inventory, the waiting time, and temporary stores.

Therefore, this case will be achieved well if both the suppliers and customers work as

partners in simplifying the system. Thus, the partners must work together to develop an


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environment where the processors can access their customers' processes easily and vice

versa (Swink et al., 2014).

The lean supply chain is defined as a set of companies linked directly with the flow of the

products and services, the finance, and information that work collaboratively to reduce the

costs and to achieve what is required to meet the customer demands efficiently and

effectively (Kimani, 2013).

The researcher defines the lean supply chain as it is defined by all parties where it is

related to the flow of the products and services, the money and information from the

lowest to the top level of the supply chain and to the reduction or elimination

cooperatively all types of the waste of time, the inventory, the costs within the supply

chain.

Lean Supply Chain Requirements

There are six basic required characteristics to make and maintain a lean supply chain

(Daud, 2010), (Johansson, 2010):-

1. The demand management: The management must coordinate with the suppliers to

secure the requirements in a proper time and when they are needed, and this will be

achieved by building strong relationships among them.

2. The cost and waste reduction: To achieve a lean chain, it requires a cooperation

among the chain's members to eliminate all kinds of waste, consequently, this will

lead to a reduction in the total cost.

3. The process standardization: The standardization of the process makes the product or

service moving through the system to the final customer without waiting, and this will

lead to a rapid delivery of the product to the final customer.

4. The adoption of the industrial standards: The lack of standardizing the industrial

standards among the trading partners leads to the waste of time and increase in the

costs, in addition to standardizing the specifications for the customers that will

enhance the efficiency of the product or service with which the customers were

supplied.

5. The cultural change: The partners of the supply chain (the suppliers and customers)

must work and cooperate as one team.

6. The establishment of cooperative projects: The use of teams in the cooperative

projects will help these teams to coordinate the work of the supply chain.


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Lean Supply Chain Components

There is a set of basic components of the supply chain that must be leaned in order to

obtain a lean supply chain. The following table (2) shows the researchers' views on the

lean supply chain components.

Table 2 Lean supply chain components Lean supply chain components Author's Name and Year

1- Lean Suppliers 2- Lean Procurement

3- Lean Manufacturing

4- Lean Warehousing 5- Lean Transportation

6- Lean Customers

(Daud, 2010)

1- Lean Suppliers 2- Lean Procurement


4- Lean Warehousing 5- Lean Transportation

6- Lean Customers

(Johansson, 2010)

1- Lean Procurement 3- Lean Production

4- Lean Transportation

(Kimani, 2013)

1- Lean Suppliers

2- Lean Procurement 3- Lean Manufacturing

4- Lean Warehousing

5- Lean Logistics 6- Lean Customers

(Jacobs and Chase, 2018)

Source: The author

The researcher agrees with (Jacobs and Chase, 2018), (Daud, 2010), (Johansson, 2010)

about the lean supply chain components that are:-

1. Lean suppliers: The removal of the non-added activities of the value enables the

processors to respond towards the changes, and the prices that are offered by

processors, will be less because of the lean processes and their quality throughout

avoiding a lot of inspections. It also helps the company's suppliers to receive the

needed requirements at a proper time. The company must plan the value flow to solve

the problems so that it can improve the lean of suppliers.

2. Lean Procurement: The purchases are done by the electronic procurement. The

electronic procurement is achieved by the transactions and strategic sources, the

tenders and reverse auctions that use the web-based applications and software

programs in order to remove the human element from the multiple functions in the

company. The purchasing lean is based on the clarity and transparency, where the

suppliers is able to see the customers’ operations, and the customers are able to see

the processes of the suppliers. Therefore, the overlap in these processes must be

improved to maximize the value from the point of view of the end-customer. The


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companies also need to determine the current value flow and the future value flow

that show the purchase.

3. Lean Manufacturing: The lean production systems focus on producing what the

customer needs and at time in which he wants the quantity and the minimum

resources only. The lean production system is also considered as the biggest

opportunity to reduce the costs and improve the quality. The lean system must

interact with the customer's request so that it can smooth the manufacturing process,

in other words, the production of the commodity will be only done if there is a

request from a certain customer.

4. Lean Warehousing: Such ideal functions as the material receipt and inventory

replenishment, the warehouse status and packing for the shipment, the inventory

selection and shipping are distinct by the avoidance of the non-valuable steps and

losses in the product storage operations. The waste can be found in many storage

operations that have the shipping defects led to the over-charges and over-shipping of

the products, to the surplus stock that requires an additional space, and reduction of

the storage efficiency, to the excessive movement and dealing, besides the unladed

items and inefficient information systems.

5. Lean Transportation: The lean concept can be applied on the functions linked with the

materials' movement during the system, and some these key areas include the pooling

orders and optimized method selection, the cross load, perfect routing and combined

multi-stop truckloads, along with processes of transporting the export and import.

Some other areas of supply functions need to be optimized by eliminating the non-

adding activities and improving value-adding activities.

6. Lean Customers: The lean customers need an understanding of the business

requirements as well as the identification of the important and accurate customer's

demands. Lean customers add a value to the customers themselves throughout an

increased speed and flexibility, so they expect high levels of the delivery performance

because the value means what the customer wishes. The lean customers are interested

in creating an effective partnerships with their suppliers, and also the Lean customers

expect a value from the products that they buy, in addition to providing a value for

their customers.

Results and Analysis

Sample Company Descriptive Analysis

The Light Industries Company has been chosen as one of the leading companies in the

Electrical Appliances Industry, and it is one of the mixed sector companies that was


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established in 1959. The company has three factories, namely the Refrigerators Factory,

which produces three kinds of refrigerators with different sizes, and the Freezers Factory

which produces several types of freezers, while the third factory is the Heaters and

Cookers Factory. The questionnaire was distributed on the research sample as shown in

Appendixes (1) and (2).

The table (3) shows the frequency (repetition) and percentages of both variables of the

lean product development and the lean supply chain.

The majority of the responses for each dimension was higher than the value of the mean

and generally this reflects a good level of agreement about the answers and thus

respondents' answers were homogeneous. This case motivates the company's management

to take care of these dimensions and support them. The second dimension of the related

lean product development to the set-based concurrent engineering (X2) comes first in

terms of the relative importance according to the responses of the inspected sample with a

rate of (78.24), then the related sixth dimension to the modular design (X6) is with a rate

of (75.88), and then the related variable to the lean supply chain components (y) is with a

rate of (75.42).

Table 3 Frequencies and percentages of both variables of lean product development and

the lean supply chain

Lean Product

Development

(X)

Response Scale

Average

Standard

Deviation

Relative

importance

Always

5

Most of

time 4

Sometime

3

Rarely

2

Never

1

F % F % F % F % F %

Value Stream

Mapping X1 8 23.53 22 64.71 3 8.82 1 2.94 - - 3.699 0.536 73.97

Set-Based

Concurrent

Engineering X2

11

32.35 19 55.88 4 11.76 - - - - 3.912 0.577 78.24

Visual

Management

X3

4 11.76 12 35.29

10 29.41 6 17.65 2 5.88 3.147 0.996 62.94

Quality

Improvement

X4

5 14.71 19 55.88 9 26.47 1 2.94 - - 3.684 0.607 73.77

Computer-

Aided Design

X5

4 11.76 7 20.59 13 38.24 8 23.53 2 5.88 3.250 0.879 65

Modular

Design X6 5 14.71 21 61.76 7 20.59 1 2.94 - - 3.794 0.711 75.88

Lean Supply

Chain (y) 2 5.88 28 82.35 4 11.76 - - - - 3.771 0.419 75.42

Source: Results of statistical analysis of the questionnaire using the statistical program

STATA-MP V15.1


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Correlation Relationships Descriptive Analysis

In order to identify the nature of the correlation relationships among the dimensions of the

lean product development variable (X) and the lean supply chain components variable (y),

the correlation coefficients were calculated for Spearman (r) in order to examine the

existence of the relationship, and then the t-test was used to test the significance of the

relationship among the dimensions, and as it shows below in the table (4).

Table 4 The correlation coefficients of Spearman and t-Test

Lean Product Development (X) Lean Supply Chain Components (y)

r t Sig

1- Value Stream Mapping X1 **0.567 3.896 0.001

2- Set-Based Concurrent Engineering X2 0.437* 2.096 0.044

3- Visual Management X3 0.263 1.543 0.133

4- Quality Improvement X4 0.745** 6.318 0.001

5- Computer- Aided Design X5 0.549** 3.710 0.001

6- Modular Design X6 0,641** 4.722 0.001

Lean Product Development (X) 0.698** 5.516 0.001

Source: the statistical analysis results of the questionnaire by using the statistical program

STATA-MP V15.1.

The table (4) shows that there is a strong direct significant correlation between the

dimension of the value stream map and the lean of the components of the supply chain,

where the value of Spearman's correlation coefficient was (0.567), and this indicates that

the more interest in developing the value stream map, the more lean happens in the

components of the supply chain, and vice versa, whereas the value of the test hypothesis

(t) reached (3.896) at a level of significance less than (0.01), and this indicates the

significance of the correlation between the two dimensions, as well as there is also a direct

significant correlation between the Set-Based Concurrent Engineering dimension and the

components of the supply chain, where the value of Spearman's correlation coefficient

reached (0.437), and this indicates that the greater the interest in the Set-Based Concurrent

Engineering, the lean of the components of the supply chain increased, and vice versa,

while the value of the test hypothesis (t) reached (2.096) at a level of significance less

than (0.05), and this referred to the significance of the correlation between the two

dimensions.

It is also evident that there are strong positive significant correlations at a significance

level being less than (0.01) between the dimensions of (the quality improvement, the

computer-aided design, and modular design) and the lean components of the supply chain,

where the values of the correlation coefficient reached to (0.745, 0.549, and 0.641)


September, 2021


respectively, whereas the values of the test hypothesis (t) reached to (6.318, 3.70, and

4.722), respectively, at a significant level being less than (0.01) that indicates the

significance of the correlations.

It is also evident that there is a weak and insignificant correlation at a level of significance

being less than (0.05) between the visual management and lean of the components of the

supply chain, where the value of Spearman's correlation coefficient reached (0.263), and

the value of the test hypothesis (t) reached (1.543), which indicates a lack of significance

for the correlation relationship between the two dimensions.

Also the table (4) shows that there is a strong correlation relationship between the

independent variable lean product development (X) and the dependent variable the lean

supply chain (y), where the correlation coefficient of spearman is (0.698) which indicates

that the more attention given to the dimensions of lean product development will lead to

an increased attention to the lean supply chain components. The value of (t) is of (5.516)

at a significant level and it is less than (0.01), so it indicates the significant correlation

between the two variables.

Regression's Descriptive Analysis between the Lean Product Development and Lean

Supply Chain

The regression analysis method was used in order to test whether there is a significant

impact for the lean product development (X) in the lean supply chain (y), and below the

table(5) shows the results:-

Table 5 Determination of the coefficient values, the regression coefficient and F test Lean Product Development (x) Lean Supply Chain Components (y)

R2 β F P- value

1- Value Stream Mapping X1 0.322 0.444 15.178 0.001

2- Set-Based Concurrent Engineering X2 0.121 0.252 4.391 0.044

3- Visual Management X3 0.069 0.111 2.379 0.133

4- Quality Improvement X4 0.555 0.514 39.914 0.001

5- Computer- Aided Design X5 0.301 0.261 13.768 0.001

6- Modular Design X6 0.411 0.378 22.297 0.001

Lean Product Development (x) 0.50 0.570 30.428 0.001

Source: the statistical analysis results of the questionnaire by using the statistical Program

STATA-MP V15.1.

The table (5) shows the (F) test values and the coefficient values of the determination

(R2), the slope values of the regression equation (β), and values of (p - value), where it

appears:-


September, 2021


1. The value of the F-test for the indicator of the value stream map reached to (15.178)

and at the level of significance is of (0.001), which has a significant indication at a

level of significance being less than (0.01), moreover, the value of the determination

coefficient was (0.322), meaning that the indicator of the value stream map explains

(0.322) of the change that occurred in the components of the supply chain. The value

of the coefficient (β) indicates that the change in the value stream map by one unit

leads to a change in the lean of the components of the supply chain at (0.444), and

thus, there is an existence of a significant effect of the value stream map on leaning

the components of the supply chain.

2. The value of the F-test for the indicator of the Set-Based concurrent engineering was

(4.391) and at the level of significance of (0.044), which is of significant indication at

a level of significance less being than (0.05), while the value of the coefficient of

determination was (0.121) and this means that the indicator of Set-Based concurrent

engineering explains (0.121) of the change in the lean of the components of the

supply chain. Moreover, the value of the coefficient (β) indicates that the change of

Set-Based concurrent engineering by one unit leads to a change in the lean of the

components of the supply chain at (0.252), and thus, there is an existence of a

significant effect of the Set-Based concurrent engineering on the lean of the

components of the supply chain.

3. The value of the F-test for the indicator of the visual management was not significant

at a significant level of less than (0.05), and reaches to (2.397), and this indicator

explains (0.069) of the change in the lean of the components of the supply chain,

whereas, the value of the coefficient (β) reached to (0.111), and therefore there was

no significant effect of visual management on the supply chain's lean components.

4. The value of the F-test for indicator of the quality improvement was (39.914) and the

level of significance is of (0.001), which has significant indication at the level of

significance being less than (0.01). Thus, the value of the determination coefficient is

of (0.555) and this means that the indicator of the quality improvement explains

(0.555) of the change in the lean of the components of the supply chain. Moreover,

the value of the coefficient (β) indicates that a change in quality improvement by one

unit leads to a change in the lean of the components of the supply chain at (0.514),

and thus there is a significant effect of quality improvement on leaning the

components of the supply chain.

5. There is an existence of a significant effect at the level of significance less than (0.01)

for the indicator of the computer-aided design on leaning the components of the

supply chain, where the F-test value was (13.768) and at the level of significance of

(0.001). The value of the determination coefficient was (0.301), and this means that


September, 2021


the indicator of the computer aided design explains (0.301) of the change occurring in

the components of the supply chain. Thus, the value of the coefficient (β) indicates

that a change of computer-aided design by one unit leads to a change of lean of the

components of the supply chain by (0.261).

6. There is an existence of a significant effect at the level of significance less than

(0.01), for the indicator of the modular design on leaning the components of the

supply chain, where the value of the F-test was (22.297) and the level of significance

of (0.001). The value of the determination coefficient was (0.411), meaning that the

modular design index explains (0.411) of the change in the lean of the components of

the supply chain. The value of the coefficient (β) indicates that the change of the

modular design by one unit leads to a change in leaning the components of the supply

chain by (0.378).

7. There is a significant effect at a significance level less than (0.01) for dimensions lean

product development (X) in the lean supply chain components (y). The value of (F)

test is (30.428) and the significance level is (0.001). The coefficient of determination

is (0.50), and this means that the dimensions of lean product development (X) are

account for (0.50) by the change in the variable of the lean supply chain components

(y). The value of (β) indicates the change in the dimensions of the lean product

development (X) and in one unit which leads to a change in the lean supply chain

components (y) of (0.570).

Conclusions

The lean has become as one of the most popular terms in the field of the production, the

product, and supply chain. It has been defined as a systematic approach to identify and

eliminate the waste of time and materials, the inventory and effort.

The present research presents the different views that have been introduced by writers and

researchers about the practices and tools, which are used in developing the product. The

authors and researchers have expressed different views about the components of the lean

supply chain. The researcher and after his review and study to these views, especially

those studies related to the lean product development and the lean supply chain, she was

able to identify the practices and tools that contribute in the lean product.

The distinctive contribution of the research is that it is focused on introducing six of the

practices and tools that contribute in the lean of product (the value stream mapping and

set-based concurrent engineering, the visual management and quality improvement, the

computer-aided design and modular design), and which will have a significant impact on


September, 2021


the lean of the six components of the supply chain (the suppliers and procurement, the

over production and warehousing, the transportation, and customer). Therefore, the

researcher prepared a questionnaire of (48) questions in order to measure the correlation

and effect of developing the lean product practices and tools on leaning the supply chain.

The difficulty of finding industrial companies that produce various products and use the

practices and tools of developing the lean product was as one of the determinants of the

research, so the researcher tried to choose an industrial company that products many

products, and at the same time, it is proper to the practices and tools of developing the

lean product where these practices and tools have an actual role in leaning the supply

chains for its products. Therefore, the light industries company was selected, and when

the questionnaire was applied upon it, the results revealed that the set-based concurrent

engineering got the first rank in terms of the relative importance, which was followed by

the modular design and then the components of the lean supply chain.

The results of the study indicated to a significant correlation between the development of

the lean product and the lean supply chain. This shows that the light Industry Company

has paid little attention in this concern, so its management must present greater efforts to

the application of the practices and tools for developing the product, which will reflect in

the lean components of the supply chain.

The company is working in a wide competitive environment, therefore its management

must pay more attention to the practices and tools of developing the lean product which is

considered as a critical factor for the company's success.

In the future, a lot of lean product development practices and tools can be identified in

order to contribute more support and help quickly to the components of the supply chain.

The importance and necessity of developing the new products in some sectors emerged at

the present time as a result of Covid-19 outbreak, therefore the companies must use the

lean practices and tools in their new products, in addition to leaning the supply chain in

order to respond quickly to the customer and market requirements.

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Appendixes

Appendix (1): Lean product development in the sample company Never

1

Rare

2

Not often

3

Often

4

At all

times

5

Questions

Response Rate %

Lean product development

1- Value Stream Map

2.9 0 41.2 35.3 20.6 1- A value stream map is used at developing the

product

0 0 17.6 50.0 32.4 2- Identifying the activities that add a value to the

product

14.7 23.5 32.4 29.4 0 3- Identifying the activities that don’t add a value to

the product.

0 0 8.8 64.7 26.5

4- Reducing the number of used parts in the product

in order to reduce the production time, assembly and

costs, in addition to improving the product's

performance.

2-Set-Based Concurrent Engineering

11.8 00 41.2 38.2 8.8 5-The company's management works on applying

the concurrent engineering by adopting the parallel

activities instead of the sequential activities.

0 0 32.4 44.1 23.5 6-The company's management authorizes the

concurrent engineering team to practice sufficient

powers and make decisions in order to achieve the

given tasks quickly.

0 0 5.9 44.1 50.0 7- The company seeks to develop the product in

order to lean the supply chain's components..

0 2.9 20.6 52.9 23.5 8- The company is working on developing its

products based on several sources like the customers

and development teams, the sales representatives

and others.

3-Visual Management

2.9 17.6 41.2 20.6 17.6 9-The company's management sets up visual signs

like (computer screen, lights, lamps, etc.) in order to

facilitate the common understanding of the product

development team.

20.6 14.7 20.6 44.1 0 10- The used visual signs show the problems to be

visible to everyone.

11.8 26.5 23.5 38.2 0 11-The used visual signs provide a visual picture of

the schedules and phases of the product

development project.

5.9 11.8 35.3 20.6 26.5 12- The visual signs are used in order to take the

preventive measures in a timely manner, and to

reduce the costs and time, in addition to achieving

the quality performance.


September, 2021


4-Quality Improvement

0 23.5 20.6 41.2 14.7 13-The management of the company uses the

warning signals like the sound alarms or lights in

order to indicate the existence of the quality

problems like (manufactured part does not meet the

specifications, damage of the machine or the device,

etc).

14.7 14.7 23.5 38.2 8.8 14- For the purpose of eliminating all defects before

they occur, the company's management chooses

such means as the procedures or simple device in

order to detect errors and fix them immediately.

0 0 8.8 41.2 50.0 15-All working personnel in the factory are

responsible for maintaining the quality of work and

product.

0 8.8 11.8 76.5 2.9 16-The factory management has a plan for

continuous improvement included various activities

in order to avoid the waste, the mistakes.

5-Computer- Aided Design

5.9 44.1 26.5 11.8 11.8

17-The customers' needs and desires are taken into

account when the products designs are developed.

5.9 38.2 23.5 20.6 11.8 18-The company uses the computer aided design

techniques in order to develop the product designs.

0 0 11.8 47.1 41.2 19- The computer aided design techniques

contributes in eliminating the waste of time, the

effort, and cost.

5.9 26.5 38.2 23.5 5.9 20- The computer aided design techniques achieves

a fast product development.

6-Modular Design

0 17.6 20.6 50.0 11.8 21-The company's management uses the modular

design in order to develop the product designs.

0 2.9 32.4 47.1 17.6 22-The modular design reduces the number of

handled parts.

0 2.9 20.6 55.9 20.6 23- The modular design can eliminate the waste of

time, the effort, and cost by simplifying the

purchases, the production, and assembly.

0 2.9 32.4 38.2 26.5 24-The company's management relies on the

modular design to reduce the product delivery time

to customers.

Appendix (2): Lean supply chain in the sample company Never

1

Rare

2

Not often

3

Often

4

At all

time

5

Questions

Response Rate %

Lean supply chain

1-Lean Suppliers

0 5.9 38.2 52.9 2.9

1- The elimination of the non-added value

activities pushes the suppliers to respond quickly

to the changes

0 11.8 14.7 70.6 2.9

2- The company's management works to share the

suppliers in the information in order to reduce the

information volatility.

0 0 20.6 41.2 38.2

3-The company's management relies on a small

number of suppliers at building long-term

relationships with them.


September, 2021


11.8 14.7 8.8 44.1 20.6 4- The company's management is working hard to

avoid plenty inspection.

2-Lean Procurement

23.5 26.5 14.7 11.8 23.5

5- The company's management follows the

modern methods of procurement, like the method

of electronic procurement in order to carry out

purchases.

0 2.9 41.2 55.9 0

6- The company's management uses the clarity

and transparency with its suppliers in the

procurement processes.

11.8 2.9 44.1 8.8 32.4 7- The company's management depends on the

small and frequent purchase payments.

0 0 14.7 82.4 2.9

8- There is an information exchange flow

between the company's factory and suppliers in

order to reduce the costs and integrate the supply

chain.


0 2.9 32.4 52.9 11.8

9-The factory's management determines the

required quantities of the production due to the

customers' needs and minimum resources.

0 0 38.2 58.8

2.9

10-The factory's management determines the

steps and unnecessary activities that don't add any

value to the customer to reduce the costs and

improve the quality of the product manufacturing.

0 2.9 38.2 35.3 23.5

11-The factory's management is interested in

improving the process and in communicating the

information to the source that requires it at a

timely manner.

0 0 26.5 55.9 17.6

12- The factory's management is working hard to

make parts movement fast in all stages of the

production and supply network in order to meet

customers' demands.

4-Lean Warehousing

17.6 0 35.3 41.2 5.9

13- The removal of losses, steps, and activities

that do not add any value to the storage

operations like (the product excess shipping, the

surplus stock and shipping defects that are caused

the returns … etc.

0 0 8.8 52.9 38.2

14- Specifying the basic storage functions that

add value to the storage operations (e.g. material

receipt, store location… etc.).

0 0 8.8 64.7 26.5 15- The Determination of suitable storage areas in

order to minimize the space and costs.

8.8 2.9 38.2 44.1 5.9

16- An efficient information system is used in

order to monitor the movement of the inventories

5-Lean Transportation

0 0 11.8 58.8 29.4

17-The factory administration determines the

movements and activities that are not added any

value to the product (starting from the movement

of materials from the supplier to the warehouse,

and from the stores to the factory or among the

work stations, as well as from the suppliers to


September, 2021


stores of finished goods).

0 0 2.9 70.6 26.5

18- The factory's management reduces the

transport distances by using methods of

improving the internal ranking and organizing the

work system locations

0 0 8.8 20.6 70.6 19- The factory's management makes the

administrative procedures of transportation easy.

0 5.9 32.4 41.2 20.6 20- The ideal method of transfer is defined as a

gathering of the orders, optimal paths and others

6-Lean Customers

0 0 23.5 70.6 5.9

21- The customers' needs are identified clearly so

that they can add a value to the customers through

their participation.

0 0 17.6 76.5 5.9

22- The factory's management reduces the lead

time and on-time delivery, the appropriate quality

and increased flexibility (in terms of the volume

and mass customization).

0 0 61.8 17.6 20.6 23- Such problems as the delay of delivery that

affect the customers must be identified

0 5.9 26.5 52.9 14.7 24- The procedures must be Implemented in order

to solve the customers’ problems immediately

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