To handle competition in the marketplace and resist challenges, businesses are constantly seeking new approaches that can assure better flexibility – a lean system is among them. It evolved primarily from Japanese industries, however, is widely implemented in different spheres in other countries. The ultimate goal of a lean system is a balanced system, assuming that management and production resources are operated efficiently.
The economy has a cyclic nature so the stage of recession is definitely followed by the growth period. In general, the economic crisis tends to influence almost every company, so new methods of management are needed to shift from stagnation to progress. During the last economic crisis, many companies implemented modern management methods to reach the desired outcomes. Lean management appeared among the most effective approaches, so the companies considered it over a long-term period due to its high efficacy. Lean management assumes adjustment of businesses to the actual market conditions (Dekier, 2012). The company then is supposed to change its policy, particularly in regards to the management style and assets. Successful adaptation of lean management in the enterprise means that the following aspects are present: managers are fully committed and devote the resources for conversion; all the team members and team leaders show the spirit of cooperation and unity; despite the uniqueness of the corporate culture, lean philosophy is adopted.
The primary goal of a lean system is a balanced system where a smooth and rapid flow of materials and work leads to competitive advantage focusing on the enhanced customer service and decreased costs. Another aspect of a lean system is to eliminate disruption and significantly reduce wastes. Therefore, the process and product design is another constituent of this system. Lean manufacturing concepts imply fruitful collaboration between suppliers, distributors, producers, and consumers to reach mutually beneficial outcome (Wahdiat, 2016). In practice, the efficiency of such partnership can face several challenges. Suppliers sometimes resist to comply with the principles of the lean system for a number of reasons as frequent small deliveries may be difficult. On the other side, consumers might not be eager to commit the resources crucial for the suppliers’ adaptation to the lean system. Furthermore, building lean manufacturing is a sequential process that consists of several steps, including identification of production gap and implementation goal based on that. The next steps are Group Technology, and Cellular Manufacturing, which is streamlined through Line Balancing and Flow manufacturing (Sundara, Balajib, & Satheesh Kumar, 2014). Adherence to those criteria is supposed to optimize manufacturing and minimize wastes.
When the companies use the concept of Lean Management, then Lean Accounting is inevitable to reach the desired outcome at the end. Lean accounting provides detailed information based on regular reports that could be easily understood by any employee in the company. Those reports depict the true financial impact of lean changes, where business is focusing on the customers’ values and drives transformation (Wahdiat, 2016). Lean accounting gives a possibility to analyze whether the company is moving towards the right direction and whether the implementation of innovation is successful. Any business is ought to comply with the principles of lean accounting when using lean manufacturing concepts, otherwise, the general concept of the lean system will be neglected and creation of the balanced system will not be possible.
Despite being promising, the lean system implies continuous process of improvement. Implementation of the lean system with management, manufacturing and accounting principles leads to the formation of balanced environment within the company. It is essential to adopt all these concepts simultaneously, otherwise, no desired effect will be acquired. The lean system assumes that the enterprise obtains such benefits as reduced wastes, lower inventories, increased quality, faster and more efficient production lines.
References
Dekier, L. (2012). The origins and evolution of lean management system. Journal of International Studies, 5(1), 46-51.
Sundara, R., Balajib, A.N., & Satheesh Kumar, R.M. (2014). A review on lean manufacturing implementation techniques. Procedia Engineering, 97, 1875 – 1885.
Wahdiat, I.S. (2016). Analysis of lean accounting, JIT and balance scorecard in the company’s lean manufacturing. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 5(2), 213-220.