Assessment of lean awareness and lean preparedness in the petrochemical industry: a case for Qatar

Abstract

Success of lean implementation relies on, among others: 1) level of lean awareness; 2) how much a particular industry is prepared to embrace lean thinking. As such, lean awareness and lean preparedness studies are crucial inputs to the success of lean implementations. This paper investigates the level of lean awareness and lean preparedness in the petrochemical industry in Qatar. A web-based online survey instrument was used to collect data from a number of companies. Data analysis showed that employees in the petrochemical industry in Qatar have a basic knowledge of lean. In addition, differences in employee perceptions on lean benefits and challenges to lean implementations were apparent. It was observed that while lean concepts have been fairly recognised by top management, a large number of general employees are not aware of key areas of lean. Although this result agrees with a number of studies elsewhere, it often leads to failure at lean implementation level. Therefore, the overall level of lean awareness and lean preparedness in the petrochemical industry in Qatar should be improved in order to ensure success at lean implementation level.