EXPLORING E-KANBAN APPLICATION IN THE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Abstract

This research is conducted to investigate the potential implementation of the e-kanban methodology in the inventory management process at Honda Autoparts Manufacturing (M) Sdn Bhd At Pasir Gudang, Johor Bahru. With a growing interest in Industrial 4.0, many business practices have moved from manual processes to automation which heavily relies on the usage of electronics platforms. The transformations of the manual process to the electronics platform is covering a wide range of operation that includes the implementation of Kanban in inventory management. Kanban, which is a manual method adopted from the Japanese company practices is also subjected to changes. Hence, this study is to investigate the potential adoption of electronic Kanban (E-Kanban) at Honda Autopart Manufacturing that currently implemented the manual Kanban for their logistics department. This study adopted a qualitative method using a focus group interview to collect the data for analysis. The finding revealed that lack of knowledge and cost are the main themes unveil for the Honda to adopt the changes from manual to the electronic platform for Kanban. The findings from the study contribute to the preliminary information for future study.