Management of seven wastes: A case study in an automotive vendor

Lean manufacturing system (lms) is an important approach that could maximize customer value and reduce the amount of waste. the use of lms in malaysia is still lacking especially among small and medium enterprises (sme) in rural areas. the introduction of islamic values to the existing lms is expected to improve the awareness and acceptance of lms especially among sme in rural areas. the merging of the islamic values to the lean manufacturing tools is to leverage on the islamic culture of the locals. the objective of this study is to assess the level of use and practice of lean manufacturing systems on management of seven wastes. this is a case study of an automotive vendor. a field observation was deployed and standard data was obtained for analysis. field observation was performed by identifying critical areas with a high probability of waste production. the findings from this preliminary study suggest that three most critical causes of wastes are waiting,transportation,and movement. results from this study is to be used in future to establish the equivalent islamic lms (ilms) for targeted smes. © 2015,penerbit utm press. all rights reserved.