The impact of lean manufacturing practices on operational and financial performance: the mediating role of agile manufacturing

Enhancing worker-centred digitalisation in industrial environments: A KPI evaluation methodology

Recently, the European Commission announced Industry 5.0 as a strategic initiative toward a value-driven industrial transformation. This new paradigm coexists with previous Industry 4.0 revolution that has guided the efforts towards technology driven industrial digitalisation in the past ten years. As part of this Industry 4.0 strategies, numerous KPI-driven evaluation methods were proposed to cover the multiple pillars of smart industry assessment. However, they do not incorporate human workers and actors in a systematic way as drivers for digitalisation processes, as the new Industry 5.0 paradigm argues. This paper addresses this gap by proposing an evaluation methodology that incorporates multiple human actors in the digitalisation process. The final objective of this methodology is to evaluate the direct and indirect benefits of the technology-driven transformation process to achieve the goals of human workers and other human stakeholders. To this end, our methodology provides the basis for proposing assessment tools and instruments for technological and infrastructure integration, process optimisation, new functionalities and human factors benefits, and four core indicators that have been applied to a real case comparing the digitalisation processes of three different companies.

The key success factors to adopting lean practices: the case of South American manufacturing firms

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that promote the successful adoption of lean practices in manufacturing firms operating in developing economies in South America.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the results obtained from using structural equation modeling to analyze the collected data, the authors argue that manufacturing organizations need to identify the factors that assist in successfully adopting lean practices in manufacturing firms operating in developing economies in South America. A dataset of 1,809 responses, gathered from manufacturing firms as part of the World Management Survey, was used to find support for the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

Several hypotheses were tested finding that lean practice success factors such as organizational targets proved to have a significant and positive relationship with the mediating factor, performance management. Likewise, performance management was also found to have a significant and positive relationship with lean practices adoption. Human capital management (HCM) has a significant but negative predictive relationship with lean practices.

Research limitations/implications

The empirical results of this study provide valuable managerial insights. The results are therefore limited to the economies analyzed and to the variables surveyed as part of the World Manufacturing Survey research.

Practical implications

The results of this research provide a starting point for researchers to continue studying the key lean practice factors and relationships in the achievement of improved performance management, thereby helping managers in developing strategies to improve the lean capabilities of their practices. This, in turn, will increase the organization's competitive advantage sustainably.

Originality/value

This paper identifies and tests the impact of key factors on successful lean practices adoption in South American organizations in the manufacturing sector.

Improving operational performance of manufacturing SMEs: the interactive effect of technical and human lean practices

Purpose

Although understanding how different resources are interconnected within firms is important, there are few studies that have focused on this area. This study aims to explore the unique and interactive effects of technical lean practices (TLPs) and human lean practices (TLPs) on the operational performance (OP) of manufacturing SMEs in Yemen, a less developed country (LDC).

Design/methodology/approach

Depending on data collected from 318 manufacturing SMEs in Yemen, the relationships in the proposed model were tested using hierarchical regression analysis via PROCESS Macro V. 3.5 in SPSS.

Findings

The results show that both TLPs and HLPs have unique effects on OP of SMEs. More importantly, both TLPs and HLPs have synergistic effects on OP.

Practical implications

The study would be of interest to Lean practitioners, as the results of this study can be used in firms to put a focus on how TLPs and HLPs have to interact when it comes to the successful implementation of lean manufacturing (LM).

Originality/value

Although research interest in LM is increasing, the interactive effects of TLPs and HLPs remain to be understood. This study provides an initial empirical evidence for performance outcomes from the interaction between TLPs and HLPs of SMEs in LDCs such as Yemen. Most of the previous studies on lean practices have focused on SMEs in developed countries, which may not fully apply to LDCs such as Yemen. This is helpful for SMEs' managers in the context of LDCs to understand how TLPs can further improve OP when interacting with HLPs.

Lean manufacturing and firms’ financial performance: the role of strategic supplier partnership and information sharing

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of strategic supplier partnership and moderating role of information sharing (IS), in the relationship between lean manufacturing and firms’ financial performance (FP).

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing the contingency approach, this study develops a research model to validate the proposition that a proper integration of supply chain (SC) practices enhances the financial performance of the firm. The study uses data from one hundred and fifty-seven manufacturing firms. The results are generated on structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS software.

Findings

The study finds that strategic supplier partnership partially mediates the relationship between lean manufacturing and FP, whereas, empirically, it could not demonstrate that IS significantly moderates the relationship between lean manufacturing and FP.

Practical implications

The paper theoretically develops logic for and empirically shows that strategic supplier partnership is an appropriate practice for mediating the impact of lean manufacturing on FP.

Originality/value

This strategic supply chain integration contributes to theory and demonstrates that SC practices’ correct synchronization and orchestration may realize superior FP. In addition, this research provides a sustainable strategic SC model that creates value and provides a competitive advantage for firms in the long term.

Achieving operational excellence through the lens of lean and Six Sigma during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose

This article shows operational excellence achieved during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic using the Lean, Six Sigma and Sustainability practices in small medium enterprise (SME) manufacturing firms and its impact on the performance dimensions of efficiency, growth and profit for firms located in the industrial zones of Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative methodology was used and data were collected from a sample of top-level managers from 28 SME manufacturing firms located in the five industrial zones in Pakistan. A total of 62 questionnaires were included in the study.

Findings

The findings show that awareness levels of Lean, Six Sigma and Sustainability are emerging, and firms are trying to implement these concepts. However, the results show that while Lean and Six Sigma enhance firms’ performance in terms of efficiency, profit and growth, sustainability has no impact on these three performance dimensions.

Research limitations/implications

The quantitative data of a sample of 28 manufacturing firms inevitably present limitations on the generalizability of this work. Future research could employ greater quantitative data to explore the topic further. Only one particular country is studied so that future research could be carried out in other countries or regions.

Practical implications

This study may have value for policymakers and other stakeholders who need to know more about how Lean, Six Sigma and Sustainability affect a firm’s performance in industrial zones in the context of a developing country.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to knowledge in the field by integrating Lean, Six Sigma and Sustainability with firms’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic by assessing efficiency, growth and profit dimensions where otherwise no empirical research has been undertaken in the Pakistani context.

Agility enhancement through agile manufacturing implementation: a case study

Purpose

Dynamic business environment has a deep influence on production and management related exercises. In order to remain competitive, organization needs to coordinate with continuous and unpredictable changes taking place in the market. Globalization of markets is posing competitive pressure on firms, which leads them to adopt a new manufacturing paradigm termed agile manufacturing (AM). The purpose of the present case study is to explore the contribution of AM towards agility and productivity enhancements in an Indian manufacturing company.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is carried out at forging industry which has been assessed on certain key business performance indicators. The assessment highlighted various issues which had scope for improvement to enhance the agility of the organization. Therefore, a phase-wise implementation of AM is carried to reap the significant benefits as a result of AM implementation in the case study company. The methodology has been applied to decrease the inline rejection, increase the productivity and responsiveness of the organization.

Findings

The results revealed an improvement in performance score from 77.5 to 100. Further, an increase in productivity and reduction in line rejection has been achieved through the systematic implementation of AM.

Practical implications

The study highlights the contributions of strategic AM implementation to organizational performance and highlights the need for successful management of AM practices for establishing sustained performance of the organization.

Originality/value

The contribution of the present work is the phase-wise implementation of AM in the case studied company.

Methodological Foundations for Modeling the Processes of Combining Organic Fuel Generation Systems and Photovoltaic Cells into a Single Energy Technology Complex

The needs to reduce the imperfection of theoretical and methodological approaches to value and regulate the processes of applying the methods of transactional energy are substantiated. The concept of combining organizational, economic and mathematical models to improve technical, technological and information methods for the effective integration of renewable and traditional energy facilities has been formulated. This determined the goal of forming a digital platform for machine-to-machine automatic processing of transactions. The creation of the platform contributes to solving a number of research tasks including development of schemes for the use of photo and thermoelements for energy generation in distributed energy and control of electrical and thermodynamic parameters of equipment in sensors of its diagnostics and use in electric drives of actuators of the Industrial Internet of Things. The use of big datа and datа science tools is aimed at achieving a number of practical results. Firstly, the differentiation of the composition of capacities and sources in the complex of hybrid energy facilities has been expanded, secondly, possibilities of modeling has been increased. Furthermore, the results of investigation are the model of integration and balancing regulation in the transactional energy platform of the Center for the Coordination of Interest in Complex Objects.

A relational analysis of drivers and barriers of lean manufacturing

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to categorize and analyse the drivers and barriers of Lean Manufacturing (LM) and subsequently, based on the structural model develop a house of lean management which will give an idea to the academicians and practitioners about the factors that are critical to implement lean practices in an organization.

Design/methodology/approach

A list of drivers and barriers was prepared based on the literature review and opinions from experts. Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM) was utilized to build a structural hierarchy of the drivers and barriers of LM. The structural hierarchy was utilized to build the house of lean management.

Findings

Based on the hierarchy developed, the elements (drivers and barriers) of LM are classified into three groups: bottom-level, middle-level and top-level elements. To develop a house of lean management, bottom-level of elements were considered as a foundation, middle-level elements were considered as pillars and top-level elements were considered as a beam. Finally, foundation, pillars and beam of the house were used to support the roof (which is value to customers and profitability to firm).

Practical implications

The outcome of this research can assist researchers as well as practitioners to enhance the significant drivers and to reduce the impact of hazardous barriers for the better implementation of lean practices.

Originality/value

This research is a novel approach, as it visibly demonstrates both the drivers and barriers, examines the interrelationships among them in order and shows them pictorially as the house of lean management.

Impact of lean service, workplace environment, and social practices on the operational performance of India post service industry

This paper aims to study the determinants of the Lean Service System (LSS) on the Operational Performance (OP) of India's mail service in the National Sorting Hub (NSH), Mangaluru, Karnataka, the southern part of India. Measuring the OP in mail service is a big challenge in the postal service industry. Hence, we have conducted a survey, and 150 usable data has measured the impact of Lean Service Practices (LSP), Lean Workplace Environment Practices (LWEP), and Lean Social Practices (LSoP) on the OP. The results are analyzed from the partial least square based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with the support of R programming. The analysis shows that there is positive and significant impact of LSP (β = 0.380, p < .05), followed by LWEP (β = 0.281, p < .05), and LSoP (β = 0.266, p < .05) on OP. The practical effect of the findings of LSS are effectively implemented for enhancing the OP of the business. This research addresses the appropriate empirical model to test LSS in India's postal service industry, which is scant in the existing literature. Moreover, this study helps India Post to review its policy so as to sustain the effectiveness of Lean Service (LS) implementation.

The relationships between TQM, TPM, JIT and agile manufacturing: an empirical study in industrial companies

Purpose

This empirical study aims to explore the relationship between Total quality management (TQM), Total productive/preventive maintenance (TPM) and Just-in time (JIT). It also seeks to examine the relationship between Just-in time (JIT) and agile manufacturing.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for the study were collected from a survey of 205 industrial companies and the relationships proposed in the framework were tested using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results indicate that (1) TPM has a positive impact on TQM and JIT, (2) TQM has a positive effect on JIT and (3) JIT has a direct positive relationship with agile manufacturing. In addition, the results reveal an indirect effect of TPM and TQM on agile manufacturing through JIT.

Research limitations/implications

The conceptual model proposed and tested in this study can be used by researchers for developing Lean manufacturing practices (TQM, TPM and JIT) and agile manufacturing theory. In addition, this model shows to practitioners the importance of integrating TQM, TPM and JIT in manufacturing firms. In other words, this study shows practitioners how firms can support their agile manufacturing system.

Originality/value

This research presents an innovative approach since it examines simultaneously the interdependencies between TQM, TPM and JIT and their direct and indirect link with agile manufacturing using structural equation modeling.

An empirical investigation and prioritization of barriers toward implementation of agile manufacturing in the manufacturing industry

Purpose

The study aims at empirically investigating and prioritizing the critical barriers for the successful implementation of agile manufacturing in the medium- and large-scale Indian manufacturing industries.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review of peer-reviewed journals and discussion with experts is used to identify 17 barriers to the implementation of agile manufacturing. An empirical survey is then conducted to collect data regarding the agile manufacturing barriers and is further analyzed using the factor analysis and vlsekriterijumska optimizacija i kompromisno resenje (VIKOR).

Findings

Based on the survey of empirical data, the investigated critical barriers were reduced in five critical categories, as follows: Managerial constraints, technological constraints, human resource–related constraints, operational constraints and organizational culture-related constraints, which are further ranked in terms of their severity using VIKOR. This research advocates the development of a strategy for addressing the most critical barriers instead of focusing on all for the successful implementation of agile manufacturing.

Originality/value

This work contributes to agile manufacturing literature by the structured presentation of the barriers to implement agile manufacturing in the Indian manufacturing industry. It also extends the integrated factor analysis and VIKOR method to investigate and rank the barriers.