Evaluation of Manufacturing Wastes and Their Impact on Operational Performances: The Case of a Bottled Water Manufacturing Company

Abstract

Lean is a system that deals with all about the reduction of wastes which are significantly contributing to the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of the business entities. Companies that have not previously been exposed to lean manufacturing tend to have a lot of wastes in their manufacturing processes. The case company, which this research focuses on, is a bottled water manufacturing firm which was not an exception. This research was conducted to identify the significance of the eight manufacturing wastes (such as, quality, delivery time, and costs) and their impact on the operational performances of the case company. To validate data through cross verifications, triangulated measurement systems including survey questionnaire, archival data collection, and focus group discussions, were employed. To investigate the magnitude of wastes in the processes, the research was conducted in two categories. Category 1 represented the manufacturing and those processes intensively interact with it, and category 2, the support process. A total of ninety five (95) responses were collected and the analysis of the data demonstrated that wastes were significantly present both in category 1 and category 2. Analysis made on the archival data collected in a period of twelve months has also revealed that significant amount of wastes existed in the case company in different forms. The third instrument used was focus group discussion. It was designed to identify the root causes of manufacturing wastes and determine their significance to be risks to the case company. The data analysis and conclusions made on these triangulated methods showed consistency in that wastes were significantly present in both manufacturing and support processes and these wastes were also significantly impacting negatively the operational performances of the case company.