The adoption of lean manufacturing in the maquiladora industry in Hermosillo, Guaymas and Empalme, Sonora.

Abstract

The evident uneven diffusion between countries and industries and the partial adoption of lean manufacturing (LM) tools have led to an ongoing debate about the theoretical and technical coherence of the model, as well as on the benefits and obstacles after its adoption. The central objective of this research is to explain the relationship between the level of adoption (LA), the expected benefits (EB) and the associated obstacles (AO) to the adoption of a set of LM practices in manufacturing companies in the automotive, aerospace, electrical and electronic components and medical devices sectors, located in the cities of Hermosillo, Guaymas and Empalme, Sonora. The data are obtained from a survey applied to a sample of 60 companies, and are processed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method in the Partial Least Squares (PSL) modality. The results reveal that there is a positive relationship between LA and EB, a relationship mediated by AO. The scope of this work is of an exploratory-relational nature that seeks to shed new information or knowledge on the patterns of LM adoption, based on the different practices that comprise it and in a specific industrial and socio-territorial context.