This paper presents a survey on the lean production (LP) implementation process in 47 Brazilian and foreign companies. Among the main results, the survey pointed out that the respondents are mostly interested in learning about lean organizational culture and value stream mapping. The main drivers for adopting LP are improving competitiveness and the fact that LP is adequate to solve critical production problems. People resistance to changes and difficulties to adapt concepts and practices are the main difficulties during LP implementation. The most frequently used practices are work standardization and visual management. Pull production implementation is the practice of highest priority. The results of this survey, along with the observation data collected during visits to some of the investigated companies, permitted the identification of research opportunities on LP implementation, which are summarized at the end of this article.
Lean production; Questionnaires; Organizational assessment
