Lean Manufacturing and Agile Strategies on Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant Manufacturing (PDF)

Document from the year 2021 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 63%, Coventry University (Engineering Business Management), language: English, abstract: The objective of this paper is to introduce the concept of lean and agile manufacturing based on Ford Motor Company, generally known as Ford. It shows techniques, the need, the impacts and the benefits of lean manufacturing and agile strategy on automotive manufacturers. Furthermore, this paper discusses the effectiveness on lean and agile paradigms. It is structured into five consecutive chapters. After the introduction, chapter two highlights the incentive for Ford to adapt lean and agile manufacturing. The supporting literature of lean and agile manufacturing is discussed in chapter three. Chapter four describes the impact and benefits for Ford through the adaption of lean and agile strategies. Further, the effectiveness of these concepts and the readiness for unpredictable changing environments are evaluated. The conclusion in chapter five summarises the results of this paper.

In order to response to continuously changing environments efficient and effective concepts are required. The overall performance of manufacturing organisations depends on the level of adaption and implementation of these concepts. Automotive manufacturer, such as Ford Motor Company face strong competition in global economies. Based on the success of Toyota and to ensure its marketplace, Ford Motor Company adopted lean and agile manufacturing. Lean operations target the elimination of waste (non-value-added activities) while supporting value-added activities to provide a quality product. In fast-moving societies with continuously changing market/customer needs and requirements Ford Motor Company implemented agile strategies to respond quickly and adequately to changes. The successful utilisation of lean management tools and agile strategies impacts the performance of Ford Motor Company.