THE USE OF INDUSTRIAL LEAN MANAGEMENT METHODS IN THE ECONOMICS PRACTICE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANIES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Companies are encouraged to make changes and improve business processes to achieve performance and competitiveness. For these purposes, industrial engineering methods can be used in business practice. The main aim of this paper is to identify the most frequently used industrial engineering methods in Czech manufacturing companies. The secondary aim is to compare the use of individual industrial engineering methods in selected industrial areas. The necessary data were collected through online questionnaire (N=118). The results shows, that the most commonly used industrial engineering method are standardization, Material Requirements Planning (MRP I), Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II), 5S and Kaizen. This study confirms that the use of standardization, 5S, Kaizen, and MRP I depends on the type of industry in which the company operates; the industry focus does not affect whether or not TQM or MRP II are used.