Lean Supply Chain Management for Growth

This assignment investigates lean supply chain management strategies employed by various manufacturing industries. It aims to analyze and recommend techniques that promote sustainable growth while meeting present needs without compromising future capabilities. The research will also explore how lean practices can drive innovation, quality improvement, and efficiency within organizations, ultimately expanding market reach and attracting new customers.

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 1
A RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON LEAN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN THE
AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY
A Research Paper on Lean Supply Chain Management By
Student’s Name
Name of the Professor
Institutional Affiliation
City/State
Year/Month/Day

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 2
Executive Summary
The review is about the lean concept in the supply chain management in the automobile
industries. The challenging conditions of the business of the 21st century have led to the
companies experiencing issues like economic insecurity to the new technologies, globalization,
and increasing consumers’ demand. In the automobile industries, as the vehicles are
manufactured and designed globally, their chain of supply also increased globally with
challenges stand in the profitability way and higher value of the shareholder like long delivery
order lead to time, excess inventory in the supply chain, lack of the suppliers visibility, unreliable
schedules of production and the lengthy planning cycles demand. The global economic
meltdown effects increased the pressure on the executive of the automobile to make a good
decision about their chain of supply to have better performances.
In the competitive and challenging environment like currently, where the chain of supply
is a known tool for improving the competitiveness of the organizations, the effective and
efficient chain of supply strategy is important for manufacturers of the automotive industries and
their component manufacturers so that they can meet the consumers’ changing demands. This
paper explores the concept of the lean as the generic plans of the supply chain and presents the
framework of the strategy for the automobiles’ supply chain as the approach to responding to the
demands of the consumers that keeps on changing (Bhasin, 2010, p. 145).

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 3
TABLE OF CONTENT
Item Page
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………..2
Introduction……………………………….…………………………………….…….4
Literature Review..................................................................................................…....5
Aim and objectives of the study……………………………………………….……..8
Research questions …………….…………….……………………………….………9
Methodology/ Theoretical Content…………………………………………………...9
Hypothesis……………………………………………………………………9
Data collection………...................................................................................................9
Experimental setup............…........................................................................................10
Results………………………………………………………………………………...11
Discussion …………………….……………………………………………………..11
Project Planning and Gnat Chart……………………………………………………..12
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………13
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….14

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 4
INTRODUCTION
Severe competition, raising the requirements of the customer and the market demands
that are fluctuating has led to the demanding of the customer with the preference increase. This
is because of the marketplace of the today that has more introductions of the competitive
products, products of a shorter lifecycle, and the volatile demand that makes the life cycle
difficult and uncertain to predict. Participation of the automotive industry in the globalization
has provided them with important opportunities and gave the manufactures pressure to
manufacture quality, improve the styling, increase the efficiency of the organization and drive
the features of innovation into their products in the effort to expand new markets and attracts
more customers.
This challenge shows that manufacturers of the automobile need to become flexible and
responsive to the customers’ demands to succeed. According to (Association, 2012), the major
function of the supply chain management in improving the performance of the automobile
industry is highlighted. Organizations and authorities have acknowledged the function of the
supply chain as the source of the benefit of the competition to the automobile industry. In the
light of this, for the last years, the practices of supply chain management developed towards
more processes and approaches of the lean in order to reduce cost through elimination of the
inefficiencies.
Some of the concepts that have led to the improvement of the performances of supply
chain through setup costs are: just in time, virtual inventory, global and customized network,
rationalization of the supplier, outsourcing, reduction in the distribution facilities number, and
reduction of materials of buffer, time and capacity

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 5
Literature review
The fierce environment of the global business of competition and raising the demands of
the customers have led to the continuous and development of the evolution of numbers of
disciplines like supply chain management. Management of supply chain can be described as the
management and design of value-added and seamless process across the boundaries of the
organizations to meet the needs of the customers. According to (Bookboon, 2013), the supply
chain management involves the management and the relationship of the outflow and inflow of
the goods, information and services within and between the manufacturers, producers, and
consumers.
A supply chain includes every activities, facilities and function that may be indirectly or
directly in the transformation and flow of the services and goods from the stage of material to the
user end. It comprises the upstream-downstream channel and supplier network. Currently many
automotive industries have become part of the supply chains like manufacturers, suppliers,
retailers, distributors and the customers as stated by (Christopher, 2012). The automobile
industry is made of the physical distribution administration and the management supply. The
chain of supply in the industry stretches out from the raw material producers to assemble most of
the computing technologies and sophisticated electronics.
In his article, (Charles, 2016) states that most of the automotive industries create the 30 to
50% of the value of the company and the rest is delegated to their suppliers. The subassemblies
like powertrain, window, doors, and electronic from the suppliers are purchased by the
manufactures and it was comprehended that to improve the ability of innovation and to get cars
faster to the market, automotive manufacturers should improve their ability of the management

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 6
and development through the advance in planning process aided by the computer, design aided
by computer, engineering aided by computer, and management of products’ data.
The Rosslyn plant of BMW in the Republic of South Africa
Roselyn firm was the first line of the assembly located outside of Germany. It exports over
50,000 car series yearly and 220 units are produced daily with more than 2500 people that are
employed. (Christopher, 2012) states that about 80% of the car produced by the industry are
shipped to Australia, USA, and Japan and others remain to market of South Africa. This plant is
integrated fully in the whole world network supply of BMW and has proven first growth. It is the
only subsidiary group of the BMW that is outside the Germany which combines the national
sales, the business of manufacturing vehicle and organization of marketing in one company.
Supply chain process
The process of chain supply of BMW ends with the customers and starts from the costumes. For
the customers to get what they desire, BMW uses a system of the built to order. Requests are
made by the customers through the dealers and the information is passed to Germany which is
the Munich. In an article, (Taylor, 2017) states that the central database captures the information
and allocation of the bill are done so that the manufacturing cost and decision are made on where
to manufacture the car. This is involved chain the product nature, cost and lead time. The parts
are supplied on the basis of the built to stock on the life model of the imported car and parts
picked at the airport of Cape Town through cargo and taken to the industry where the assembling
takes place.
Once manufactured they are taken to the storeroom and then conveyed to the dealers where the
customers can take from them. Some of the manufacturing processes in this automobile

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 7
manufacturing industry are painting of the car, suppliers of the parts, cars distribution and
exportation.
Lean supply chain management in automobile manufacturing industries
In another article, (Andrea, 2016) states that the LSM engage constant efforts of
improvement that emphasis on waste elimination. Efforts supported it to achieve the internal
manufacturing efficiencies and reduction of the setup time which enables the production of the
economy of small amounts and improve the cost reduction, the springiness of manufacturing and
the profitability. The supply that is lean may not have the external reaction to the demands of
customers that require the springiness in the product design, scheduling, manufacturing,
distribution and planning.
The approach of SCRM progressed into the niche of multiple competition as the frequency of the
change rises in the marketplace. The competition of multiple niches is the manufacture of any
given volume where even one unit combined with the ability of segments satisfaction in the
markets (Andrea, 2016). Administrations of the automobile should know that apart from squeeze
responsiveness and variety added, they must adapt to the modifications in future.

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 8
Decoupling point: the point of decoupling of the chain of supply is at the periphery of the pull
part and push part. It is where the switch from the mode of built to forecast to the mode of built
to order takes place. The records of the components made in-house and supplied are preserved at
this place and levels corresponding are evaluated by methods of stochastic (Müller, 2012).
These inventories are also called decoupling inventories because of their position in the chain of
supply. The process of the customization is initiated on the system of the pull after the order of
the customer arrives, the components that are necessary are selected out of the stock and joined
in the line of the main assembly of the products of the customers which are shipped to the
customers.
From the perspective of the original equipment manufacturer, there are some of the
positions that should be highlighted: the line of assembly decoupling and the differentiation point
(Association, 2012). The point of the differentiation is where the multiplicity increases, like the
station of painting in the company of automobile, represent the differentiation point where the
body of the car assume their unique colour, in the process of the assembly, differentiation points
are many and it's at these stages where the product gets more identity.
In the leading line of assembly, it is dangerous to interrupt the downstream that is the
differentiation’s first point since there are many procedures that are standardized and common on
the product end. Management of supply chain concentrates on the methods that are required to
synchronize the supply to the customer’s demand and minimizes wastes when the optimizations
of the inventory are held (Association, 2012). The industry of automotive need the
responsiveness and flexibility in their chain of supply, also an automotive supplier of the
components will look for the different areas on the board in order to improve the level of
efficiency, cost-effectiveness and quality to streamline the operations.

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 9
Aims and sub goals
The researchers seek to obtain the following goals
 To discuss the lean supply chain management in the vehicle manufacturing industries
 To discuss the advantages and benefits of lean supply chain management in the vehicle
manufacturing industry
 To identify some of the problems associated with the lean supply chain management in the
vehicle manufacturing industry and some of the technologies that can be employed to reduce the
risks.
Research questions
In this research paper, the following are some of the research questions that are formulated and
will be effective for the research paper:
 How do you understand lean supply chain management?
 How can you explain the lean supply chain management in the vehicle manufacturing industries?
 What are some of the benefits of the lean supply chain in the manufacturing industries?
 What are some of the disadvantages associated with the lean supply chain management in the
vehicle manufacturing industry?
 What are some of the technologies that can help lean supply chain management in the vehicle
manufacturing industries perform better?
Theoretical content
This section explains the methods that were used in this research of the lean supply chain
management of the automobile manufacturing industry. The person doing the research will get a
different suggestion from dissimilar people about their view on the lean supply chain
management in the manufacturing industry. The methodology that will be used in this research
depends on the company ranks, the age of the respondents and level of the education (Mentzer,
2013). The research should be performed well so that the objectives of the research are met
through the results can be personal because of the assumption of the results that are coming from
the researcher’s judgment or the personal interpretation.

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 10
The interviews were purely based on the personal observation and structured questions. The
target of the age group was 20 to 68 years and two to five automobile companies that uses lean
supply chain management were targeted (Modrák, 2014). The hypothesis was two: there is the
relationship between the lean supply chain management and the automobile manufacturing
industries. Secondly, there are many factors that drive to the employment of the lean supply
chain management in the automobiles industries.
Hypothesis
Research questions Relevant Hypothesis
How do you understand supply chain
management?
A supply chain that is lean engage constant efforts of improvement that
emphasis on waste elimination.
What are the benefits of the lean supply
chain in the manufacturing industry?
Efforts supported it to achieve the internal manufacturing efficiencies and
reduction of the setup time which enables the production of the economy
of small amounts and improve the cost reduction, the springiness of
manufacturing and the profitability and also reduce severe competition.
What are the technologies that help
lean supply chain management to
perform better?
Technologies employed in the lean supply chain management in
automobile industry are built to delivery and build to forecast
What are some of the problems
associated with lean supply chain
management?
Severe competition, raising the requirements of the customer and the
market demands that are fluctuating has led to the demanding of the
customer with the preference increase. This is because of the marketplace
of the today that has more introductions of the competitive products, the
shorter lifecycle of the products, and the volatile demand that makes the
life cycle difficult and uncertain to predict
For the research questions to be answered appropriately, the study will focus on the quantitative
data gotten from the interviewee associated with the automobile manufacturing industries in
Australia through questionnaires, observations and survey. Hypothesis 1 can be employed to
answer the studies’ principle question to find out that lean supply chain management is engaging
to improve and reduce elimination of wastes in the manufacturing sector. Hypothesis 2 will be
used to prove that lean supply chain is making efforts to achieve the internal manufacturing
efficiencies and reduction of the setup time which enables the production of the economy of
small amounts and improve the cost reduction, the springiness of manufacturing and the

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 11
profitability and also reduce severe competition. To answer the third research question,
hypothesis 3 is used to admit that Technologies employed in the lean supply chain management
in the automobile industry are built to delivery and build to forecast. In order to discuss the
answer to question number four, it can be identified through hypothesis 4 that severe
competition, raising the requirements of the customer and the market demands that are
fluctuating has led to the demanding of the customer with the preference increase. This is
because of the marketplace of the today that has more introductions of the competitive products,
the shorter lifecycle of the products, and the volatile demand that makes the life cycle difficult
and uncertain to predict.
Experimental setup
The field set up of the study will be about the lean supply chain management in automobile
manufacturing factories. Because of the differences between the supply chains, the study will be
limited to the specific supply chains. The automotive chain of supply gives big geographical
services and product ranges that make it a good topic for the subject of this study. According to
(Packowski, 2012), there is no assurance that the response is 100% though through the
collaborations with the supply chain respondent’s population, the person doing research can
make sure that data is obtained and analyzed accurately. The research will use the questions that
are closed-ended to expedite the data collection process because they are always easier to answer
than open-ended questions.
Supply chain managers responsible for the operational or the management are the best potential
respondents for this research because they can give the relevant information in the supply chain
management field. The research study and experiments were done within the automobile
industry. It took a maximum of three weeks and data were collected through physical interaction.

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 12
A case study was done in the Rosslyn Company that deals with the manufacture of BMW cars
and employed the use of lean supply chain management. Data gotten through interview,
observation and questionnaire from this case study will be used to conclude the research paper.
Results
The following are some of the results that the researcher got from the automobile industry that
was visited.
Features of the vehicles Lean supply chain management characteristics
Reengineering 
Benchmarking 
Differentiation 
Competency 
Ability to adapt 
Flexibility 
Relationship of collaborations 
Integration and information systems 
Just in time manufacturing 
Quality of total management 
Sensitivity of market 
Build to order 
Discussion
The system of the automotive industry relies on the built to delivery and built to forecast.
Build to forecast: the forecasting sales aggregates all the dealers and companies forecast are used
to input the programming. The production programming is whereby forecast demand of the
market is consolidated to the available capacity of production to get the framework which
explains the number of the vehicles that will be built (Monden, 2013). The stage of order entry
is where checking is done to the entered orders; scheduling suppliers is where the suppliers held
the forecast; inbound logistics is process where the components are moved from the supplier to
the plant of assembly; vehicle production process is whereby painting, welding and assembling

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 13
of the vehicle takes place and vehicle distribution is the stage vehicle that is finished is shipped
to the dealer.
Build to delivery: the forecasting sales starts with the sale of the company where it asks the
dealer to supply their yearly forecast volume and the demand forecast become the basic input for
the programming of production. The dealer is responsible for the order in accordance and must
identify certain future very early (Wincel, 2010).
Outsourcing and globalization have increased the complexity of supply chain as firms expand
under the uncertainties situation. Some perspectives claimed that the concept of the lean supply
chain management reduces inventory that is not used and wastage of the resources which in turn
increases the cost efficiency of the firms that perform manufacturing (Packowski, 2011). Also
without many inventories, there is potential to disrupt the operation of production in the event
where the supply of the raw materials delay or when the demands of the consumers increased.
The Aim of the supply chain management of to increase the financial performance of the firms
that seem to backfire as their present the disagreement, potential risks, and main goal of the
disruption of the supply chain and loss of finance as stated by (Vrijhoef, 2012).
Project planning and Gantt chart
To make sure that the project goes well, the person doing the research will use the control and
monitoring procedures. The logbook will be used in data entry from the faculties and the
professionals. Other reports will also be written to the supervisor and delivered to the
respondents to inform them closely as stated by (Palevich, 2015). The table below shows the
project planning method:

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 14
Number of the milestone Expected deliverables Duration
Milestone 1
Project preparation
Data Collection
Project Preparation
Data recording setup
2 days
3 days
3 days
Milestone 2
Project execution
Conduction of the Experiment
Data recording
Simulation of the result
1 week
2 days
3 days
Milestone 3
Validation and analysis
Database preparation (graphs)
Responses comparisons
Writing progress report (Comparison)
Validation of hypothesis
2 days
5 days
3 days
2 days
Milestone 4
Project delivery
Final report
Presentation of final report
Final Report submission
5 days
3 days
2 days
The figure below shows the Gantt chart for the project:

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 15
Conclusion
By considering the analysis, it is noted that the aim of the project is to develop a lean supply
chain management for the automobile companies in Australia. This research proposal will
present the lean supply chain management in the automobile manufacturing industry in the
current states and identify its benefits and some of the challenges it may be facing. The project
proposed will develop the techniques and strategies of lean supply chain management used by
different manufacturing sectors. The study will produce some of the recommendations that will
help in the development and improvement of the lean supply chain management for sustainable
growth that will satisfy the needs of the present manufacturers without undermining their future.
Research also will provide important opportunities and give the manufactures pressure to
manufacture quality and improve the styling and increase the efficiency of the organization and
drive the features of innovation into their products in the effort to expand new markets and
attracts more customers.

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 16
Bibliography
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Perth: OECD Publishing.
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Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications. Chicago: IGI Global.
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Michigan: Springer.
Bookboon, H and Henry, B. 2013. Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management. Paris: Bookboon.
Charles, G. and Johnston, V. 2016. Marketing. London: Cengage Learning.
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Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
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Perth: IGI Global.
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Science & Business Media.
Netland, H. 2014. The Routledge Companion to Lean Management. Cape Town: Taylor & Francis.
Packowski, M. 2012. LEAN Supply Chain Planning. Michigan: CRC Press.
Packowski, J., 2011. LEAN Supply Chain Planning: The New Supply Chain Management Paradigm for
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Infrastructure with Lean Technologies. Colorado: FT Press.
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Approach. Melbourne: Cengage Learning EMEA.
Vrijhoef, R. and Kristiina V, 2012. Supply Chain Integration in the Building Industry: The Emergence of
Integrated and Repetitive Strategies in a Fragmented and Project-driven Industry. London: IOS Press.

Lean Supply Chain Management Research Proposal 17
Wincel, J. P. and Marian, K. 2010. Lean Supply Chain Management: A Handbook for Strategic
Procurement. Chicago: CRC Press.