Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to share the successful lean implementation experience of a small to medium enterprise (SME) and the resultant performance improvement including the development of a quality management climate.

Design/methodology/approach

An action research (AR) approach was used with two successive rounds of interventions.

Findings

The results from this project show that the organization was indeed able to build a quality climate as measured by the total defect count. Results include a measurable reduction in non-conformances.

Research limitations/implications

The study took place in a single organization and, as such, it is difficult to generalize the results of the research. However, the benefit of studying one organization is the depth at which the organization may be studied. The major takeaway is that any organization of any size or any industry can increase the quality climate of the organization by intensely focusing on a minimal number of high-impact factors.

Originality/value

The research fills a gap identified in the literature regarding the critical success factors for lean implementation in SMEs and practitioner/academic collaboration in research activities. Moreover, there are very few research studies in the lean literature that provide the practical insights that may be garnered from an AR approach. Thus, both the context and methodological approach contribute to the literature.

中文翻译：

---

如何在中小型企业中建立质量管理氛围：一项行动研究项目

目的

本文的目的是分享中小型企业 (SME) 的成功精益实施经验以及由此带来的绩效改进，包括质量管理氛围的发展。

设计/方法/方法

在连续两轮干预中使用了行动研究（AR）方法。

发现

该项目的结果表明，该组织确实能够建立以总缺陷数衡量的质量氛围。结果包括可测量的不合格品减少。

研究限制/影响

该研究是在一个单一的组织中进行的，因此很难概括研究结果。然而，研究一个组织的好处是可以研究该组织的深度。主要的收获是，任何规模或任何行业的组织都可以通过高度关注最少数量的高影响因素来提高组织的质量氛围。

原创性/价值

该研究填补了文献中确定的关于中小企业精益实施和研究活动中从业人员/学术合作的关键成功因素的空白。此外，精益文献中很少有研究提供可以从 AR 方法中获得的实用见解。因此，上下文和方法论方法都有助于文献。