Review of Lean Manufacturing Philosophy in Manufacturing SMEs to Identify Critical Success Factors

Most of the manufacturing industries have been facing challenges of rapidly changing set of market requirementsand demand. For developing countries such as Indian manufacturing industries to stay in competition and maintain theirmarket share in this global market, the adaptation of lean manufacturing system has become essential. Lean Manufacturingfocus on the systematic elimination of waste and non-value added activity from the production process, reduce time and costfor improved operational and financial performance. Although many firms are attempting to implement lean, only anestimated very few percent are achieving the desired level of success. The comprehensive literature review method has beenadopted for the study. This study will provide current status of Lean Manufacturing principle and accompany the organizationto prepare framework to identify the critical success factors (CSF) that constitute a successful implementation of leanManufacturing within manufacturing small and medium enterprise (SMEs)