The concurrent application of lean production and ERP: Towards an ERP-based lean implementation process

Abstract

Lean production and enterprise resource planning systems are often quoted as being the two most important strategies for achieving competitive advantage in today's global manufacturing environments. Though IT has traditionally been viewed as a contributor to waste within lean production, we suggest that modern developments in IT and the onset of hybrid “push-pull” production control mechanisms have allowed ERP and lean approaches to converge towards a state where ERP systems can in fact be used to support the deployment of lean practices. This paper analyses typical lean and ERP implementation processes contained within the scientific literature, and by further examining a concurrent implementation process in real-time, we develop and propose a process for ERP-based lean implementations. Our findings suggest that the implementation of a contemporary ERP system can act as a catalyst for the application of lean production practices.