Application of visual management in small medium enterprises in Vietnam

Lean manufacturing (LM), often simply named as 'lean', plays an important role in enterprises to eliminate waste, increase productivity and efficiency. Visual management (VM) is one of the most efficient and widely used tools and techniques in LM in addition to other techniques like 5S, Kaizen, just-in-time, etc. Lean has been introduced in Vietnam for more than ten years, but few enterprises have applied and attained significant achievement. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the barriers to VM implementation in small- and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) in Vietnam. In this study, in-depth semi-structured interviews, surveys, plant visit (factory tour) and, in some cases, observed managers' statements and conversations with blue-collar workers are used to collect relevant data. Based on the results, a VM model which consists of five main factors including human mindset, employee participation, board of management's long-term commitment, training program, and reward/punishment policy, is proposed for further development of LM in SMEs in Vietnam.