Nike'S Lean Production Brings New Byproducts.

What surprises you is Nike.

In the process of lean production, we found that not only the efficiency of production and the quality of products have been improved, but also the working environment of workers has improved.

Although China is now

The largest supplier has not produced such a by-product after lean production. However, we still believe that the lean production mode has many advantages that are worth learning from and promoting. We firmly believe that as long as we have the determination to improve the environment and enhance the working environment of workers, the improvement of economic efficiency and the improvement of living environment are not the two balance weights.

Professor Jens Hamuller and colleagues from other universities jointly studied and analyzed the supplier factory of Nike.

Nike's suppliers pform from traditional factories to "lean" factories, emphasizing the efficiency and feedback of improving production quality.

Researchers see that during this process, the improvement of workers' working environment has become a pleasant by-product.

"Nike is one of the largest apparel companies in the world, and the results should be very enlightening for any company that wants to solve the social responsibility and moral problems in the global production chain."

Hamuller said.

1. Natural experiment

In the mid twenty-first Century, Nike was in developing countries.

The principle of lean production is introduced to improve the productivity and quality of the supply chain.

After the Second World War, the lean production method developed by Japanese automobile manufacturers focused on eliminating waste, emphasizing flexibility and technological work.

In traditional clothing factories, workers may be good at performing routine tasks, such as suture of a certain part.

While waiting for the production schedule of other components to catch up, there may be a lot of backlog.

In this case, a garment that only needs a few minutes of artificial splicing is now waiting for several days.

If the company suddenly wants to change the size of the order or change the design according to customer needs, inventory backlog will make it difficult for the factory to respond, increasing costs and limiting the corresponding capabilities.

In lean environment, workers learn how to perform multiple tasks and play an active role in process improvement. Inventory backlog is regarded as waste and top public enemy: sewing, ironing and packaging can be linked in a single process and integrated system.

Starting in 2009, Nike began training lean production processes for garment suppliers in batches, and began to review the working conditions of suppliers' factories.

Every 12-18 months, Nike rated each factory according to different labor standards (such as wages, working hours, discipline execution, etc.), as well as health, safety and environmental standards (for example, emergency exit passages and safe storage of dangerous chemicals).

These data can answer a simple question: what changes have taken place in the working environment of workers after the implementation of lean production in factories?

2. By products

Previous studies focused on the impact of "lean production" on business elements, such as productivity and financial performance, and we know little about the impact of the "lean production" on the working environment, especially on the working environment of developing countries.

Intuition may tell us that the emphasis on efficiency and quick adjustment may not be beneficial to labor standards.

However, looking back at the past, during and after the implementation of the "lean production" scoring results, and controlling other factors, the researchers analyzed the impact of lean production on labor standards compliance.

Only a single production line adopts a "lean production" factory, the labor compliance score increased by nearly 1/3, and 100% of the lean production plants, the labor compliance score increased by more than 50%.

In general, "lean production" reduces the possibility of a serious violation of labor regulations 15%.

3, in-depth excavation

How does lean production improve the working environment? One explanation is that lean production brings a virtuous circle, and workers are no longer just small gears in big machines.

This means that managers should invest more in training employees, retain staff and motivate employees, which will lead to more fair and just employment terms.

Looking at all Nike apparel suppliers in different countries, researchers found a significant difference.

In India and other Southeast Asian regions, the "lean production" factories can see significant improvement in labor compliance.

For other countries, such as China and Sri Lanka, there is no significant effect.

In Sri Lanka, non lean factories have scored highly in terms of labor compliance, and there is little room for improvement.

However, China, the largest supplier of Nike, has not improved significantly after adopting lean production.

Although lean production is not the golden key to eliminate the harsh working environment thoroughly, Hamuller is still optimistic about maintaining the balance between the company's global business operation and corporate social responsibility.

"Obviously, there may be other consequences which we have not seen.

But the best result is that there are real business cases to do so and continue to be in the best interests of the company.

But at the same time, lean production also appears to have a positive social effect, creating a win-win situation.

Even if it's just to maximize profits, why not try it?