Assessment of lean manufacturing practices and strategic sustainability in Toyota South Africa motors

Abstract

The popularity of lean manufacturing mostly stems from empirical evidence that it enhances a company's competitiveness and quality by reducing any form of waste. However, a wide range of factors, compounded by a lack of training in essential components of lean, not achieving daily target in terms of defects per unit, straight delivery rate, run ratio, operation ratio in production lines, delay of parts from the inventory, developing personnel, and managerial support on the shop floor, make the application of lean principles extremely difficult. These difficulties have influenced South Africa's manufacturing industry, which contracted the capacity of manufacturing units in the entire Sub-Saharan African region. The purpose of this study was to assess lean manufacturing practices (LMPs) and the extent to which Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) utilises innovative strategies to improve their quality and sustainability in a highly competitive environment. The research methodology is mixed method in nature using a survey questionnaire as the primary instrument for data collection. A sample of 44 top management staff was chosen from a population of the 50 top management and other selected staff using random sampling, of these 44, 35 participated. The researcher followed five stages in the qualitative data analysis process. SPSS software version 27 was used to critically analyse the quantitative data to answer the research aims and objectives. Management was found to be aware of the elements that influence quality in TSAM. The staff members cited lack of training, lack of management support, and failure to follow standardised work as the most important factors affecting lean. Selected staff also raised the issue of sacrificing quality over volume as a key issue.