Browsing by Author "Samarasinghe, G. D"

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Open Access
Quality management and supply chain management practices towards operational performance: A study of the rubber manufacturing industry of Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Management & Finance, University of Colombo, 2017-12) Jayalath, U; Samarasinghe, G. D; Kuruppua, G. N; Prasanna, R; Perera, H. S. C
Rubber industry, one of the growing industries in the world creates a vacuum to exploit foreign markets especially for countries like Sri Lanka. However, lack of strategic relationships and low quality products with higher cost keep Sri Lanka’s rubber industry performance away from the global market. Since supply chain management (SCM) is implicated in the issue of external relationships and quality management (QM) is implicated in low product quality, the key aim of this study was to test the relationships between SCM, QM and organisational performance, in the context of the rubber industry in Sri Lanka. In particular, it empirically tested the mediating role played by SCM in the relationship between QM and operational performance (OP) of rubber manufacturing organisations though this relationship has already been established in theoretical literature. Data was gathered through a questionnaire from managers of 44 firms in the rubber products manufacturing sector in Sri Lanka. Data was analysed with the descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. The results indicated that QM practices and SCM practices improve OP while SCM practices are partially mediating the effect of QM practices on OP. The results of this study help the rubber products manufacturing organisations in Sri Lanka to formulate successful strategies by enhancing the OP via QM and SCM practices.
Embargo
Viability of lean manufacturing tools and techniques in the apparel industry in Sri Lanka
(Trans Tech Publications Ltd, 2012) Silva, S. K. P. N; Samarasinghe, G. D; Perera, H. S. C
Lean Manufacturing can be considered as a business strategy which was originated and developed in Japan. It tries to identify waste and eliminate it. Thus it leads to improvement in productivity and quality and companies can achieve a competitive advantage over others. Sri Lankan industries, especially apparel sector have attempted to implement this, but a little research work is carried out in regarding its suitability. This research is an attempt to identify a suitable Lean model for the apparel industry in Sri Lanka. As the initial stage of this study, a literature review is carried out to study about the Lean Manufacturing. It starts by looking at how Lean Manufacturing first began. Then it seeks to identify the core principles, tools and techniques and how those tools and techniques are currently being used worldwide. After studying the global scenario the next step is to look at the Sri Lankan context using real world data. This was undertaken by means of structured surveys, observations, and on site interviews. Also the study will reveal period of Lean implementation, suitable implementation methods, order of implementation, tools which are avoided, sustainability of different tools, challenges faced, ways of overcoming challenges and benefits achieved after applying Lean Manufacturing concepts in the apparel sector of Sri Lanka. The findings state Lean Manufacturing can be applied to mass production apparel industries and has created a positive mindset on employees. As implementation of Lean concepts is still in developmental stage, the full benefit is not yet achieved. But current situation suggests that the industry can go forward with Lean and capitalize on its full potential. In this research the authors have proposed a model which can be used to implement Lean in a systematic manner and each manufacturer must develop their own Lean system through training, experiments, employee empowerment, right leadership and kaizen mindset. Originality of the research— The research builds up a Lean Model which is not yet developed for the apparel sector in Sri Lanka. It can be further modified to suit the global apparel industry and other industries as well.