Lean supply chain and its effect on product cost and quality: a case study on Ford Motor Company

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address “how Toyota can continuously and consistently achieve its dramatic success through its competences ‐ continuous waste elimination and the objective of long term philosophy”; the paper aims to summarize some solid suggestions and comprehensive ideas for those industries planning to implement lean production.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology used is the case based approach (CBA), which described lean supply chain (LSC) through value stream mapping (VSM) using a case study from the Ford Motor Company in Chung Li, Taiwan. The paper follows a four‐step problem solving process to demonstrate how lean supply chain affects product cost and quality.Findings – Using VSM case study to demonstrate LSC, all the measurable indices helpful for cost reduction, quality enhancement and lead time reduction are shown. The paper also provides some recommendations and basic principles to implement VSM successfully through P‐D‐C‐A improving cycle.Research limitations...

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