A Research for applying lean tools in business processes

ABSTRACTMaster ThesisA Research For Applying Lean Tools In Business ProcessesEmre SİVASLIDokuz Eylul UniversityInstitute Of Social SciencesDepartment of Total Quality ManagementOrganizations have to make changes to maintain their existence and tohave the competition advantage in market conditions which exchangecontinuously. Also technological developments get continous changes on theagenda. Traditional thinking replace with new production systems like as leanthinking.Lean manufacturing improve organization?s processes to meet customerdesires. Lean tools intend to improve product quality and decrease costs byeliminating all waste in manufacturing process. Eliminating all waste in asystem is the basic point of lean tools. Waste can be defined as anything otherthan the minimum amount of resources which are absolutely essential to addvalue to the product. The most well-known category of wastes is the ?sevendeadly wastes?. These are overproduction, inventory, transportion, processing,motion, defects and idle time.In this study, the wastes which can be occured in business process, thelean tools which are used for identifying and eliminating these waste and amodel which shows the relationship between different types of waste areexplained. In this model, waste relationships, waste relationship matrix, wasteassessment questionnaire and a case study which is taken from literature areused. The simplicity of the matrix and the comprehensiveness of thequestionnaire contribute to the achievement of accurate results in identifyingthe root causes of waste as seen in case study. It has been noted that some of thewaste cannot be observed and acknowledged by managers.A systematic and continuous identification and elimination of waste canlead to increased efficiency, improved productivitiy and exchangedcompetitiveness. Eliminating waste get some advantage to company as lowerraw material and associated holding cost, reduced work-in-process, lowerfinished good inventories, higher levels of product quality, increased flexibilityand ability to meet customer demand, lower overall manufacturing costs andincreased employees? involvement.Key words: 1) Lean Manufacturing, 2) Lean Tools, 3) Seven Deadly Wastes,4) Eliminating Waste, 5) Waste Assessment Questionnaire