Research on the Relationship between Lean Management and Globalisation at the Hungarian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers

Goda, Adrienn – Medina, Viktor – Zsidai, László

Keywords: lean management, internal flexibility, error-free, system integrity, supply chain, Q10, Q12, Q17

The position of agriculture has always had a key role in the Hungarian economy. Foreign companies involved in the field of manufacturing industry also involve international markets in the sector’s interest beyond technology imports. This increases the external economic contact point of Hungarian agriculture. To improve the competitive position of Hungarian agricultural machinery manufacturers, the relationship between globalisation and lean management must be explored. In our paper, we summarise the results of our research in the Hungarian agricultural machinery industry, related to the former. Looking at the relationship between the lean management themes created by statistical methods and the elements of the reduction of globalisation, we concluded that lean management has an impact on the globalisation of the supply chain. All three major components of lean management (internal flexibility, error-free, system integrity) are interdependent with the globalisation of the supply chain (product-oriented, supply chain-focused), with a minimum 95% reliability. Consequently, the presence of the Lean Management theme (and its internal flexibility) simultaneously influences the emergence of globalization, the specific production process of the product and of the activities before and after the manufacturing. The lean practice used to eliminate errors is inversely related to product-oriented globalisation. Furthermore, the difficulties of the manufacturing process have a reverse impact on the globalisation of the supply chain. Our research has shown that the use of lean management by domestic agricultural machinery manufacturers is dependent on the company’s globalisation strategy.

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