Research

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Lean Manufacturing in Small and Medium Sized Printers

Area: Processes, Productivity, and Profitability
Document # PICRM-2004-04

Large manufacturing organizations have been achieving productivity improvements for decades using what is commonly known as lean production. Less is known about the extent to which small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs) have also benefited from the adoption of lean practices. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how small and large printers differ in their adoption of lean management practices. We find that while both small and large printers view lean production as an important contributor to future profits, small- and medium-sized printers are lagging in their adoption of a range of lean practices. In addition, we found that smaller printers used significantly fewer printing units, while producing a significantly higher range of print products. We argue that this operational configuration may place some smaller printers at a particular disadvantage when it comes to implementing lean systems. We discuss how small printers may wish to approach lean production given these operational constraints.

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Tags: lean manufacturing small printers

Author

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Sandra Rothenberg, Ph.D.
Associate Professor & Zutes Faculty Fellow, E. Philip Saunders College of Business
Rochester Institute of Technology

Author

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Frank Cost
Interim Dean, College of Imaging Arts and Sciences
Rochester Institute of Technology