CAUSAL FACTORS OF LEAN AFFECTING TRANSPORTATION AND WAREHOUSING FOR WASTE REDUCTION AND VALUE ADDEDE: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Lean manufacturing or lean production is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Basically, lean is centered on preserving value with less work. Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (TPS) (hence the term Toyotism is also prevalent) and identified as "Lean" only in the 1990s (Womack, 1990; Holweb, 2006). It is renowned for its focus on reduction of the original Toyota seven wastes to improve overall customer value, but there are varying perspectives on how this is best achieved. To apply lean concepts in the context of warehouses, this research study focuses on applying the concepts for a general warehouse and refrigerated warehouse operation. Normally, a warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. Generally, a cold storage company may provide service for keeping import and export chilled/frozen cargo, freezing, re-packing, and container vanning. A cold storage facility is not only essential for increased production capacity and larger profits, but also important in order to achieve maximum efficiency with minimum non-value added waste. This paper reviews the literature detailing lean manufacturing, general warehouse and refrigerated warehouse, and applying lean concepts in warehouses.