TISM for analysis of barriers affecting the adoption of lean concepts to electronics component manufacture

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the analysis of barriers affecting the adoption of lean concepts to electrical and electronics component manufacturing. Design/methodology/approach: Lean concepts are being increasingly applied by electrical and electronics component manufacturers to enhance product value through streamlined process. To facilitate smooth adoption of lean concepts, barriers need to be analyzed and prioritized. In this context, a structural model of 24 barriers is developed through total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) approach. Findings: ‘Changing governmental policies,’ ‘poor selection of change agents and improvement teams,’ ‘lack of top management commitment understanding and support of the system,’ ‘lack of team autonomy,’ ‘lack of flexibility and versatility’ and ‘lack of customer focus/involvement’ are found to be the dominant barriers based on TISM study. Interpretation statements are being derived from TISM model. Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification analysis is conducted. Research limitations/implications: In the present paper, 24 barriers are considered. In future, additional barriers could be considered to deal with managerial advancements. Practical implications: The paper reports the practical case of analysis of barriers to lean adoption in electronics component manufacture. Hence, the inferences have practical relevance. Originality/value: The development of structural model for the analysis of barriers to lean implementation in electronics component manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises is the original contribution of the authors.