Roadmap to achieve operational excellence through Lean Management implementation and quality management system conformance

Abstract

Automotive companies are facing major challenges, namely competitiveness and the evolution that characterizes the sector. To ensure their sustainability, companies operating in the automotive industry are concentrating their efforts on reducing waste sources throughout the supply chain by implementing a variety of Lean Management tools. The compliance of the quality management system with the requirements of the international automotive standard IATF 16949:2016 is also a top priority for automotive suppliers. IATF certification is required to operate in the automotive market and enables organizations to meet customer requirements and demonstrate the quality assurance of their systems. This paper analyzes the principles of the Lean Management organizational tools in correlation with the requirements of the IATF automotive standard and determines their synergistic impact on operational excellence. Based on the correlation analysis performed, an original roadmap that will serve as a guide for automotive companies has been developed. The findings show that in order to achieve operational excellence, it is necessary to implement the five Lean Management organizational tools in correlation with the operational requirements dictated in chapter 8 as well as the leadership requirements outlined in chapter 5 of the international automotive standard.