SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

The effects of lean manufacturing techniques in the Cement industry to

eliminate waste and increase plant efficiency

Section 1: Demographic Details

1.1 No. of employees : 101-300 301-500 501-1000 >1000

1.2 Products manufactured : Auto Components Non-Auto components Both

1.3 You supply products to? : OEMs Tier I companies Tier II companies

1.4 How would you categorize the product mix of the company in terms of Volume-Variety?
High Volume-More Variety High Volume-Less Variety
Low Volume-High Variety Low Volume-Low Variety

1.5 Whether the company is aware of Lean Manufacturing Techniques? Yes No

1.6 Do you agree that implementing Lean manufacturing techniques has organizational benefits?

Yes No

1.7 Have you started implementing Lean Manufacturing Practices? Yes No

If Yes, when? < 1 year 2- 3 years < 3 - 4 years > 4 years

1.8 What is the growth percentage of the company compared to last year?
0-5% 6-10% 11-15% > 15% < 0% (negative)
Section 2: How do you rate the following external factors are important that it is necessary to
practice Lean techniques?

Important

Important
Important

Important
Extremely
Very
Not
External Factors

Entry of foreign companies

Increase in raw material price
To meet International quality standards
Tough national and international competition
Competitive pricing by other manufacturers
Rapid Introduction of new products in the market
Government initiatives and schemes
The customer want the product fast
The customers are always demanding for a low price
Customers’ expectations are high and changing very often
Others (please specify)

Section 3: Pl tick the following questions to understand your product characteristics

Strongly Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly

Neutral

Agree
Product Characteristics

Our products has a constant demand throughout the year

Production line is able to achieve steady output rate
The products are delivered frequently in small lots
The company gets repeat orders for same component
Production line faces difficulty while change in job variety
The customer assist you in using quality control techniques
There is always raw material shortage in the market
There are sudden changes in supply quantities by the
customer
The delivery schedules are well planned
Most of the drawings are given by customer
The company purchases from atleast 3 suppliers for one item
70 % of our suppliers are within 50 kms radius
The company has contract agreements with its customers
We receive frequent engineering changes from customer side
Section 4: What are the reasons for not implementing Lean or the obstacles faced by the company
while implementing Lean Techniques? (Pl. in the box)

Strongly Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly

Neutral

Agree
Implementation Challenges

Company is not fully aware of lean tools and techniques

Management is not interested in implementing Lean techniques
No proper training is provided to employees
Implemented but cannot continue due to high employee turnover
There is no interest shown from employees side
Employees are interested but not empowered
Employees are not ready to change to new practices
In some areas, employees slip back to the old method
The investment requirement is high for implementation
No consultant is available for guidance and implementation
Did not know where to start
Others (pl specify)

Section 5: How do you rate the Production & Inventory Management practices in your company?
(Pl. in the box)

Strongly Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly

Neutral

Production & Inventory Management Agree

We predict the customer demand and accordingly the production

planning is done
We use the Pull production system and no waiting for material at
every work station
The inventory Levels are high at all work stations
Our suppliers supply material only when it is needed
We use Kanban squares or containers in the shop floor
Supermarket concept is used for maintaining inventory buffers
Product quantity routing has to be improved in many areas
99 % the products are delivered on time
Finished goods are stocked in excess to meet out the demand
The frequency of purchase is improved in last two years
Visual Pull Signals are well used in process flow
Section 6: How do you rate the extent of TQM practices in your company? (Pl. in the box)

Strongly Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly

Neutral

Agree
Total Quality Management

All critical processes are controlled using SPC Charts

Waiting time for materials at work stations are very high
Rejections are eliminated using fail-proofing method at critical points
Every place in the organization is neat and well arranged
The components produced by us meets the international standards

Department level meetings are held regularly to solve problems

Whenever a problem occurs, the root cause is identified and solved
Most of the products received from suppliers are delivered at point of
use
We always compare our self with competitors
Communication (Top-down and Bottom-top) both ways need to be
improved

Section 7: How do you rate the extent of Total Organizational Buy-in, TOB practices in your
company? (Pl. in the box)

Strongly Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly

Neutral

Agree
Total Organizational Buy-in

targets
Best performer announcements are made regularly
Sign Boards are very effective and displayed at appropriate positions
Department problems are solved as a team exercise
Employees are rewarded whenever an improvement is made
At least 25 % of employees suggestions are implemented
There is lack of financial support for effective implementation of lean
Most of the suggestions will come from managers rather than
operators
Most of the employees are not ready to change to a new method
Safety is a major problem in the departments
Employees are ready to stay back and work whenever need arises
Atleast 60% of the employees have attended training programmes
Section 8: How do you rate the extent of the following techniques implemented in the company?
(Pl. in the box)
NI Not Implemented, 1 Just started implementing, 2 Implemented but very less,
3 Implemented partially, 4 Implemented well, 5 Achieved Full implementation

Techniques Implemented NI 1 2 3 4 5
5S
QC Circles
Poke Yoke
Kaizen
Just-in-time
Line Balancing
Set-up Time Reduction
Group Technology
Visual Controls
Value Stream Mapping
Cellular Layout
Takt Time
Single Piece flow
Quick Change-overs
Total Productive Maintenance, TPM
Jidoka (Autonomation)
Standard Operating Procedure, SOP
Machine reliability

Section 9: How do you rate the benefits achieved by the company in the past two years?
(Pl. in the box)

Very Somewhat Not

Achievements Effective Neutral
Effective Effective Effective
Quality Improvement
Rejection Rate
Meeting Customer demand
Reduction in Inventory Level
Wastage Reduction
Productivity Improvement
Delivery Lead Time
Machine Downtime
Product Cost Reduction
Lot size reduction
Product Cycle Time reduction
Process Flexibility
Setup time reduction
Supplier Lead time reduction
Work Environment
Communication Flow
Employee Morale
Customer Satisfaction
 Section 10: Pl. in the box)

Strongly Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly

Neutral

Agree
Competitive Advantage

The products are sold at lowest price when compared to competitors

Customers buy our products only because of high quality
We have an excellent delivery performance record to satisfy our
customers
We are the only company to offer more number of variety products
Our products are known for its excellent design
Customers come to us because we can supply any volume of
requirement
We get orders because we only have the technology / machines
Customers come to us only for new product development
Our products are sold well because of the best service we provide

Section 11: Pl. in the box)

Significant Marginal No Marginal Significant

Measure
Decrease Decrease Change Increase Increase

No. of orders
New Customers
Production Cost
Market Share
No. of Products
Sales Turnover
No. of Employees
Export Orders (if applicable)
Asset Value
Sales Return
Cost Control

12. Please Answer these open ended survey question:

1. What Competitive advantages does your organization have?
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2.What do you do better than other companies else?
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3.Do you support Lean Support culture ?If yes Is your staff is also
supporting Lean system?
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4.Who in the organization uses the Lean technology to tackle with cement waste ?
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5.What are the key features of a Lean Management System?
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6. What type of lean manufacturing strategy or strategies your is using and how they are
increasing your efficiency ?
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Name of the organization :

Name of the respondent :

Thank You for your valuable time!

Date: Signature of Respondent