Analysis of the CSFs of Lean Tools and ERP Systems in Improving Manufacturing Performance in SMEs

摘要

The aim of the work presented in this paper is to determine the most important critical success factors (CSFs) which have the strongest impact on the implementation of lean tools and ERP systems within small-medium enterprises (SMEs). In order for SMEs to be competitive and responsive to the market, they need to assess their practices. This can only occur by adopting the appropriate practices related to the business and manufacturing strategy of the company. The various competitive practice methods being used by organizations are Total Quality Management (TQM), Supply Chain Management, Six Sigma, Lean tools, Material Requirements Planning (MRP), Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. These methods are considered as tools and practices, which can lead to improve the performance of SMEs. The approach, which has been adopted in this work, consists of two phases; the first phase is a literature review, in order to identify the set of CSFs that have an impact on lean tools and ERP systems implementation. The second involved the design of a questionnaire and the gathering data from SMEs regarding the factors, which they consider influences the successful implementation of lean tools and ERP systems. Ten SMEs were involved in completing the questionnaire and the first analysis was based upon six the received responses. This study has indicated that there is a positive correlation between the CSFs of lean tools and the CSFs of ERP systems.