Ethical Practices and Lean Production: Primark & Nestlé
Primark: Ethical Practices
Primark
What Does “Being Ethical” Mean for Primark?
Being ethical means doing the right thing. For example, ethical companies provide fair working conditions for their employees and build fair relationships with suppliers. For Primark, acting ethically means:
- Taking care of its people
- Being a good neighbor
- Respecting human rights
- Engaging with its stakeholders
What is a Stakeholder?
All businesses depend on a variety of stakeholders. Some stakeholders are internal to the business, such as a company’s employees. Other stakeholders are external to the business, such as suppliers, customers, trade unions, civil society groups, shareholders, and the communities in which the business operates.
Primark’s Main Stakeholders
Suppliers, Trade Unions, Governments, Customers, Non-Government Organizations, Shareholders, Workers, and the Communities.
How Primark Engages with Stakeholders
Primark uses a variety of methods to engage with its different stakeholder groups. For example, one method that Primark uses to communicate with its customers is through its ethical trading website. To communicate with workers and the communities in the countries that manufacture the goods, Primark uses initiatives such as the community engagement program it has in India.
Nestlé: Lean Production
Nestlé
Defining Lean Production
Lean production is a manufacturing approach that tries to reduce waste in terms of time, money, and resources used in production. In that way, it will help reduce environmental impacts by using fewer materials and less time.
Understanding Kaizen
Kaizen is another idea developed in Japan. It supports lean production by introducing the idea of continuous improvement. Kaizen is a concept that makes improvement the responsibility of everyone involved in production. Improving efficiency becomes a continuous process, not a one-off activity. Kaizen implies that even the smallest improvement should be made, as many small improvements can lead to big savings.
Explaining Just-in-Time (JIT)
Just-in-time (JIT) is another Japanese lean production technique. It focuses on timings during the production process. Both storing and waiting for materials can increase costs. Waiting for materials will waste employees’ time and could also delay production. JIT involves ensuring materials arrive just as they are needed. Similarly for outputs, transport must arrive to take finished products away just-in-time, without any waiting or storage costs.
Value Stream Mapping (VSM) Explained
VSM illustrates the flow of materials and information required to bring the finished product to the consumer. Lean training sessions helped employees to determine where the production process could be improved to reduce waste, for example, by combining or removing elements of the process.
Benefits of Lean Production
Using lean production, a company will have the following advantages:
- Improve efficiency and quality in manufacturing and transporting
- Create social and environmental benefits
- Save raw materials
- Reduce the site’s carbon footprint