An investigation and identification of lean supply chain performance measures in the automotive SMES

Abstract

The basic goal of this paper is to identify the underlying lean supply chain performance components and related measures with a special focus on small and medium enterprises in Iran's automotive industry. An initial list of supply chain performance measures was compiled and then modified by six experts in order to extract the appropriate lean supply chain performance measures. Following this, a questionnaire was designed and sent to 580 supply chain practitioners working at small and medium enterprises in Iran's automotive industry in order to score the measures. Principal component analysis was applied to identify and group the lean supply chain performance components and related measures. From the initial list, a total of 28 performance measures were chosen by the experts and considered essential to monitor the leanness of a supply chain. Four underlying components were identified (quality, cost, flexibility, and delivery and reliability) and the 28 related measures were subsequently grouped under these performance components. By identifying and validating a multi-dimensional list of lean supply chain performance components and related measures for small and medium enterprises, the research can be useful for practitioners or academics that are going to evaluate the leanness of a supply chain. Key words: Iran, lean supply chain, performance measures, small and medium enterprises, automotive industry.