This review examines the trend of applying theories in LM performance and offers the latest recapitulation of related theories in LM performance. The methodology is based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) to search for multiple scientific information databases and to guarantee that no important study is overlooked. For the single theory, highly employed theories were the Theory of Constraints, Resource-based View/Natural Resource-based View Theory (RBV/NRBV), and Contingency Theory (CT). Meanwhile, several articles employed integrations of several theories in a publication. Concerning the year of publication, significant growth in articles with underpinned theories was published from 2020 onwards. This study offers several significant contributions to researchers to widen the knowledge related to the adaptation of theories in the field of lean performance, as research underpinned by a theory offers a solid and convincing result in investigating the research problems. The first limitation was the search string to identify the related articles, which could be extended to maximize the article search. The other limitation was the database used which was limited to the Scopus database. Despite the importance of underpinning theory in research, OM has been criticized for the inadequacies of its theory, with only one-third of OM research incorporating theory. However, a limited review was conducted on the theories used in LM performance theory. To reduce this gap, this review examines the trend of applying theories in LM performance and offers the latest recapitulation of related theories in LM performance.

This study is an approach to investigate and to choose the suitable material for the fabrication of tools trolley to ensure the good quality of the product. The project team of an automotive manufacturing company is planning to fabricate 100 sets of tools trolley in the assembly shop. This study was developed to describe an approach based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) that can assist decision-makers and continuous improvement engineers in determining the most suitable material to be employed in fabrication process at the early stage of the product development to reduce the cost. The selected main criteria are Material Strength, Material Cost, Procurement Lead Time and Duration of Fabrication Process while the four materials that will be considered in this study are Aluminium, Steel Tube, and Square Tube. Finally, the results show that Square Tube is recommended as the most suitable material for the in-house tools for trolley fabrication.

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Although lean has gained many accomplishments, 90% of the manufacturers that implemented lean failed to sustain the implementation, and these results have led academics to consider lean culture as a soft lean approach for successful lean implementation. This research is aimed to investigate the role of lean culture for a successful lean implementation. This survey-based was a cross-sectional study with 151 final respondents from discrete manufacturers in Malaysia. The samples were selected using a cluster sampling procedure from medium and large manufacturing companies registered with the Federation of Manufacturers Malaysia (FMM). The data was analyzed using SmartPLS 4.0 software. The result showed evidence that lean manufacturing implementation is positively impacted by lean culture. This study contributes to the body of knowledge and widens the bounds of the current literature, and offers insight to the lean practitioners on lean implementation techniques to strategize the roadmap and assure continuous execution by considering the role of lean culture.

Purpose: This study investigates the effect of lean implementation on production cost reduction and the moderating role of lean manufacturing maturity.Design/methodology/approach: This study employed a cross-sectional survey, of which the samples were drawn using a cluster sampling procedure from 151 middle and top-level management of medium and large manufacturing companies gathered from the Federation of Manufacturers Malaysia (FMM). Data were analyzed using the PLS-SEM approach through SmartPLS4 software.Findings: The result revealed that lean implementation does not leverage production cost reduction as the lean journey requires long-term orientation, which finally leads to valid cost reduction. The moderating role of lean manufacturing maturity was significant and positive in the relationship between lean manufacturing implementation and production cost reduction.Research limitations/implications: Future research should include longitudinal settings as this study is cross-sectional, and future research might put the present model to the test in multiple industries and regions, including a cross-country comparison to improve the generalizability of the findings. Additionally, further studies could extend this study using a mixed-method approach.Practical implications: By offering a holistic perspective, this study expands the existing literature, contributes to knowledge of integrated lean implementation and supports the management in planning their path towards cost-cutting performance.Originality/value: This study answers the inconclusive finding between lean implementation and operational performance in terms of production cost reduction. The study contributes to the body of knowledge and, most importantly, to the practitioners in planning their lean journey.

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Manufacturing worldwide acknowledges lean manufacturing (LM) as a tool to enhance performance. However, sustaining the implementation has been an issue for them to reap the full benefit of LM. With this issue, this study is aimed to investigate the sustaining factors for LM, develop measurement items, provide valid and reliable constructs for LM sustaining factors, and empirically validate the measuring instrument using the SEM approach. Five sustaining factors and 30 assessment items were constructed by adopting, adapting, or self-developing based on the extensive literature review. In total, 151 discrete medium and large manufacturing companies in Malaysia responded to the survey questions. Following that, the constructs were empirically assessed using the SEM model. The findings show that all of the measuring items represent their underlying constructs and contribute significantly to their respective constructs. Some limitations were identified, including the fact that this study was collected from medium and large discrete manufacturing companies in Malaysia, hence resulting in restrictions on generalizability. This research provided valuable information for practitioners to gain more understanding and develop a plan for sustaining LM implementation.