Engaging People in Implementing Lean Manufacturing: An Analysis of the Rolls- Royce Production System

Purpose: Lean manufacturing has been widely adopted by manufacturing organisations across the world over the last thirty years with varying level of success. With some organisations failing to deliver any benefit from it there has been extensive research into why. This research paper reviews the current state of lean manufacture and the issues organisations have been experiencing when implementing their version of lean manufacturing. Focusing specifically on how well the organisations are engaging their people in the implementation, it analyses Rolls- Royce‘s implementation of their latest lean manufacturing initiative- the Production System. Approach: The research comprises of interviews with key personnel, a case study of teams implementing the Production System within their manufacturing areas and an international survey of the wider population of Production System participants across Rolls- Royce’s manufacturing footprint. Findings: The engagement of people in the Production System is relatively good with positive feedback from all levels of the organisation across the different research methodologies. However, a significant difference in engagement between different geographic locations was noted. Opportunities for improvement are leadership engagement has found to be better than teams, also resource availability and allocation was found to be a concern amongst all levels in the organisation. Celebration of success and confidence that the benefits gained will be able to be sustained were two issues also recognised. Value: A framework to identify lean manufacturing success factors has been developed. It promotes people over processes, mind-set over tool set, and evolution over revolution when approaching lean manufacturing implementation within an organisation. Several specific recommendations in response to the research findings have also been made. Keywords: Lean, Manufacturing, Engagement, People Word Count: 1847