This paper presents a research into the presence of Lean Thinking principles in the management of urban transport firms in Porto Alegre. The procedures were: measurement of presence of Lean Thinking principles in management of urban transportation firms in Porto Alegre; reliability checks and clustering of firms according to the degree of presence; and case studies with clusters, class association and a public operator who influences the industry. The research discovered that the industry has learning capacity and would welcome an inductive approach based on Benchmarking with world-class manufacturing operations, in order to enhance management. Also, the industry was less inclined to accept deductive approaches and academic activities in such a program.
Lean Thinking in transportation; Benchmarking in transportation; Learning in transportation
