Lean supply chain model and application in an Italian fashion luxury company

Since many years the lean production paradigm has found many applications in a lot of different organizations. The necessity, for every organization, to reduce wastes and to make more efficient the way to operate has become a dogma. However, there are many cases of failure in the implementation of lean methodology that can be found in the literature. These failures are due to the fact that the techniques and tools of lean production must be accompanied by a careful analysis of the market environment, the product, the field in which the organization operates and not least the characteristics of the supply chain. The field of fashion and luxury has very particular characteristics in the way of realizing the products along the supply chain. Therefore, it is necessary to establish the appropriate methods and techniques to implement the methodologies of lean production. In this paper a structured approach for the development of a lean management project is presented highlighting what are the characteristics of this particular sector. Thanks to the application and integration of the principles of Lean Production and Total Quality Management it was possible to line up the suppliers craftsman production with the management requirements of the luxury industry, in order to obtain a better interaction between the actors of supply chain, higher product quality and maximize productivity. A case study, applied in a major Italian company in the fashion industry, is reported to validate the proposed approach.