The role of improvement tools in Polish production companies

The main purpose of this paper is to present the role of organizational improvement tools (like quality and environmental management systems, elements of Toyota Production System, Lean Management as well as Six Sigma) in Polish production companies. The article describes the results of an empirical study carried out in 182 enterprises operating in the Polish market. The aim of the survey was to identify the main decisive factors for the implementation of organizational improvement tools in production companies and in their support services providers. The results of the empirical study indicate that companies operating in Poland implement various organizational improvement tools. The main reason for the transfer of these tools is the requirements of the multinational concerns towards their suppliers which focus on ensuring technical quality, improvement of environmental performance, reducing costs (through an increase in the efficiency of processes) and shortening operational processes cycles.