Practical implications and future research agenda of lean manufacturing: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Academic literature on Lean Manufacturing (LM) is widely available. However, due to its fragmentation, the contribution of LM from academic and practical perspectives is controversial. This paper establishes the practical implications of LM studies carried out worldwide and identifies novel research streams. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of peer reviewed journal articles was conducted. A total of 212 articles published in 52 journals during 2005-2016 were collected from four major management science publishers. An "affinity diagram" was applied to organize the data into natural and logical themes. Conceptual frameworks with regard to LM practical implications and future research direction were formulated. The results revealed the "vital few" academic journals which have published the majority of the LM articles. Meaningful themes of LM practical implications and future research suggestions were revealed and classified into two categories. In category one, themes related to the pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation phases of LM were identified. In category two, themes related to the country in which the companies operated, the diverse managerial systems available, and the methodological research approach were identified. Main themes supported in the literature by most references were determined. Finally, respective statements of practical implications and future research were also analytically presented.

Lean production myths: an exploratory study

“…Adam et al, 2020), textbooks and curriculum. The dispelling of lean myths through education and training might be more useful in the pre-implementation phase of LP, which is concerned with the identification of barriers, human factor needed, training and knowledge gaps (Antony et al, 2020).…”

“…Dorval et al, 2019;Sangwa and Sangwan, 2018). However, this widespread use of lean has contributed to misunderstandings, which can be exemplified by the various definitions of LP, its core principles and practices (Antony et al, 2020).…”

From Lean Production to Lean 4.0: A Systematic Literature Review with a Historical Perspective

“…Over recent decades, markets have become more and more competitive as they progressively demand customized products and services at lower prices and with shorter delivery times [1]. In the operations field, lean has become a widespread management system that is suitable for achieving these competitiveness targets [2][3][4] through more efficient processes, shorter lead times, and greater flexibility in supplying a wide variety of products and services in small quantities [5].…”

“…Indeed, this misunderstanding is one of the issues that lean practitioners face when implementing an organizational change and they need to align lexicon and terminology with common conceptions [4].…”

“…Tranfield et al [11] propose methodologically adapting SLR from medical science to management science, while Denver and Transfield [12] developed their method even further. SLR has been used in previous studies on lean topics [3,4,9,[13][14][15]. This study follows the SLR methodology as defined by Denver and Tranfield [12], and it uses the PRISMA 2020 checklist [16] to ensure that a rigorous SLR process has been used.…”