THE IDENTIFICATION OF EXPERT OPINIONS BETWEEN EU AND THAI COMPANIES ON THE DIFFERENT IN IMPACT OF LEAN PRODUCTION ON SUPPLY CHAIN

Abstract

            Lean production and sustainability of supply chains management has been adopted in Thailand for a period of time with small amount of research to assess the impact of lean production on supply chains as opposed to manufacturing or distribution conducted, due to the inadequacy of quantitative data. This study attempts to identify the impacts of lean production on the sustainability of supply chains, investigate similar or different impacts caused by lean production between European and Thai companies. Qualitative and Quantitative data analyses are conducted in this study. Delphi survey technique for qualitative analysis is applied with online data survey to address two panels: 1) Thai expert panel and 2) EU expert panel, where major finding lies in the areas of: partner relationships, location, scheduling, cost, information technology, warehouse, delivery transport, and environmental impacts. Preliminary result of Delphi survey shows the importance of long term relationship between suppliers and manufacturers. As for quantitative analysis, Classification tree is implemented to identify key factors that impact panels’ decision for both Thai expert panel and EU expert panel. The result demonstrates different perspective between European and Thai companies such as ICT investment, Milk-run transport, empty run transport, inventory management, and relationship management.