Previous Studies and Differences between Lean Management and World Class Manufacturing

The main objective of this study is to determine the relationship between Lean Management (LM) and World Class Manufacturing (WCM) practices of aeronautical company in Italy. The methodology should help managers to select those principles and tools of Lean Manufacturing and WCM that are expected to be effective in their company. The research aims to integrate the two models and to achieve a global manufacturing performance in order to maximize the company performance. To this end, a methodological approach, based on Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), is proposed to quantitatively evaluate relationships between LM and WCM. The proposed model allows to identify key factors of Lean and WCM practices and to measure the quantitative relationship between these strategies. The final output is a dynamic analysis designed to identify how relations change with each individual factor.