Barriers in green lean implementation: a combined systematic literature review and interpretive structural modelling approach

Green Lean has recently emerged as an alternative strategy for organizations to pursue both operational and sustainability excellence. The interest on this approach has rapidly risen in both academic and industry circles. However, despite this interest, very limited research has focused on its implementation, and no research has investigated the barriers that hinder the success of such activity. This study investigates the Green Lean implementation barriers and their contextual relationships and effects on the integration and deployment of this approach. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR), Interpretative Structural Modelling and fuzzy Matriced’ Impacts Croise’s Multiplication Appliqée a UN Classement (MICMAC) analyzes were carried out. Fifteen barriers were extracted from the SLR and then validated in consultation with industry and academic experts. The Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) method was used to understand the relationship between the fifteen barriers and to develop a hierarchical model of these. The different barriers were classified into ‘linkage’ and ‘dependent’ barriers by using MICMAC analysis. The results suggested that all the identified barriers play an important role, and hence can equally act as a significant hurdle to the implementation of Green Lean projects. This study can help managers and policy makers in better understanding these barriers. Thus, they can be assisted in managing and prioritizing barriers towards the successful implementation of Green Lean initiatives for better financial and environmental performance.N/

Supply chain management 4.0: a literature review and research framework

This article presents a review of the existing state-of-the-art literature concerning Supply Chain Management 4.0 (SCM 4.0) and identifies and evaluates the relationship between digital technologies and Supply Chain Management. A literature review of state-of-the-art publications in the subject field and a bibliometric analysis were conducted. The paper identifies the impact of novel technologies on the different supply chain processes. Furthermore, the paper develops a roadmap framework for future research and practice. The proposed work is useful for both academics and practitioners as it outlines the pillar components for every supply chain transformation. It also proposes a range of research questions that can be used as a base to guide the future research direction of the field. This paper presents a novel and original literature review-based study on SCM4.0 as no comprehensive review is available where bibliometric analysis, motivations, barriers and technologies’ impact on different SC processes have been considered

Lean, green practices and process innovation: a model for green supply chain performance

This paper investigates the relationship between lean, process innovation, green practices and green supply chain management performance. Data were gathered by surveying 374 firms in the manufacturing supply chain industry. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the collected data. The study results show general support for the theoretical research framework. Findings reveal that there is a synergetic effect between process innovations, green and lean practices playing a crucial role towards the improvement of green supply chain performance. This paper presents an innovative approach since it studies simultaneously the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social and economic), the lean, the innovation process and green paradigms which are considered strategic for supply chain competitiveness. Investigation of the relationships between the four strategies is a contribution that the authors hope will become a forward step in the promotion of sustainability as a third dimension of the manufacturing supply chain, along with the efficiency and responsiveness dimensions

Green and Lean: a Gemba–Kaizen model for sustainability enhancement

Despite the encouraging results obtained from the application of Green Lean, organizations have found the integration of Green and Lean, and their implementation as an integrated approach, challenging, especially when resources are limited. This paper aims to overcome some of these challenges by presenting a model for integrating Lean and Green based on the Gemba-Kaizen approach. The objective is to help organizations reduce their environmental waste in a practical and easy manner with limited resources. The proposed model was developed on the basis of a through literature review on Gemba and Kaizen, conducted on peer–reviewed journal articles and pragmatic books with managerial impact on the subject, and the more than 40 years of accumulated experience of the authors as academics, researchers, industrialists and consultants after having worked on a number of projects for multinational organisations that wanted to implement Lean Six Sigma and/or environmental management systems in various industrial sectors. The model was validated through two cases study in the aerospace and automotive industries. The results showed that the proposed model helped the case organizations to reduce the consumption of resources and improve their environmental performance. The proposed model can be the basis for further research on Lean and Green, contributing to help organizations to improve their sustainability performance. This research presents a first attempt to develop a model which integrates Lean and Green based on a combined Gemba-Kaizen approach

Lean manufacturing and environmental performance – exploring the impact and relationship

The relationship between Lean Manufacturing and Environmental Performance has attracted much debate but at the same time lack of empirical evidence leaves haphazard opinions on this matter. The objective of this paper is therefore to pro-vide some insight into the impact of Lean Manufacturing on Environmental Per-formance and the existing relationship of these two concepts. Four semi-structured interviews with industrial and academic experts provided a solid ground to suggest that the relationship does exist, despite the fact that these two concepts were developed independently from each other. Being the exploratory nature of this study and its purpose to ignite further research, it does not employ a quantitative approach. The results of this study can help managers to better un-derstand and concurrently tackle both the economic and environmental challenges faced by their organizations.N/

A framework for the integration of green and lean six sigma for superior sustainability performance

Evidence suggests that Lean, Six Sigma and Green approaches make a positive contribution to the economic, social and environmental (i.e. sustainability) performance of organizations. However, evidence also suggests that organizations have found their integration and implementation challenging. The purpose of this research is therefore to present a framework that methodically guides companies through a five stages and sixteen steps process to effectively integrate and implement the Green, Lean and Six Sigma approaches to improve their sustainability performance. To achieve this, a critical review of the existing literature in the subject area was conducted to build a research gap, and subsequently develop the methodological framework proposed. The paper presents the results from the application of the proposed framework in four organizations with different sizes and operating in a diverse range of industries. The results showed that the integration of Lean Six Sigma and Green helped the organizations to averagely reduce their resources consumption from 20% to 40% and minimize the cost of energy and mass streams by 7-12%. The application of the framework should be gradual, the companies should assess their weaknesses and strengths, set priorities, and identify goals for successful implementation. This paper is one of the very first researches that presents a framework to integrate Green and Lean Six Sigma at a factory level, and hence offers the potential to be expanded to multiple factories or even supply chains

Integrating ISO 9001 and Industry 4.0. An implementation guideline and PDCA model for manufacturing sector

The main purpose of this paper is to develop an implementation guideline for manufacturing companies integrating ISO 9001 requirements and Industry 4.0 technologies. The implementation guideline follows the Plan-Do-Check-Act model of ISO 9001 standard. We interviewed 25 experts and observed the quality management documentation of seven European manufacturing companies. Results emerged using thematic content analysis and we gained further insights from interviewees, allowing us to propose suggestions garnered from the interviews. The guideline demonstrates how requirements can be integrated with Industry 4.0 technologies such as radiofrequency identification tags, smart sensors, the internet of things, smart human interface, enterprise resource planning modules, artificial intelligence to improve a typical ISO 9001 quality management system. Some issues emerged relating to the fear of losing jobs, validation of quality control equipment based on artificial intelligence, and decision-making and problem-solving processes. The implications of this research are mainly related to the opening of a new debate concerning the integration between ISO 9001 and Industry 4.0 as well as the proposal, to our knowledge, of the first tentative integration. Manufacturing companies can use the guideline for integrating their quality management system with Industry 4.0 technologies while considering also the practical suggestions provided by the experts

The adoption of I4.0 technologies for a sustainable and circular supply chain:an industry-based SEM analysis from the textile sector

Currently, researchers have been particularly interested in Industry 4.0 (I4.0) as a combination of novel revolutionary digital technologies. This evolution is transforming how organizations operate to promote sustainable and circular practices. Consequently, this research empirically investigates the capabilities of I4.0 adoption to establish a sustainable and circular supply chain. The study investigates the impact of organizational factors on the deployment of I4.0 technologies to achieve sustainability objectives. Furthermore, this approach combines empirical and qualitative analyses within a methodological framework to investigate the relationship between organizational factors, I4.0 adoption, sustainable, and circular practices. In this context, survey responses have been collected from 323 supply chain professionals in the textile sector in Morocco. Consequently, employing structural equation modeling, our results reveal a strong link between I4.0 adoption and the promotion of circular and sustainable approaches. The study finds a positive association between I4.0 adoption, technological readiness, and environmental responsiveness while highlighting the challenges posed by organizational practices on I4.0 implementation in developing countries. This research contributes to the theoretical foundations of the potential influence of I4.0 technologies, and it provides practical contributions for stakeholders to effectively embrace I4.0 technologies and thereby drive more sustainable and efficient practices.</p

Lean Six Sigma and Industry 4.0 combination: scoping review and perspectives

The current market is characterised by a high level of customisation, leading to aggressive competition between companies to respond to customer needs. To keep their competitiveness, companies search continually to improve their efficiency, flexibility, and performance. With the advent of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), new technologies are developed to increase connectivity and automate processes. Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is known for its capacity to solve complex problems using statistical methods. I4.0 affects almost everything including LSS. Thus, a new combination is emerging LSS4.0 aiming at further increasing the operational excellence for companies. Therefore, the aim of this paper, as the first scoping review in this field, is to present the results of existing studies on the LSS and I4.0 integration, find the gaps in the literature, and provide directions for future studies. The paper proposes a framework that categorises the findings into three main discussed directions, which are relationship, implementation, and impact on performance