Save it for a rainy day! Lean strategies for cost saving: the role of lean maturity

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 journeyPeer Reviewe

Bioremediation a potential approach for soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: An Overview

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent a group of priority pollutants which are present at high concentration in soils of many industrially contaminated sites. Standards and criteria for the remediation of soils contaminated with PAHs vary widely between countries. Bioremediation has gained preference as a technology for remediation contaminated sites as it is less expensive and more environmental friendly. Bioremediation utilizes microorganisms to degrade PAHs to less toxic compounds. This technology degrades contaminants through natural biodegradation mechanisms or enhanced biodegradation mechanism and can be performed in-situ or ex-situ under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. The purpose of this paper is to highlight potential of using isolated strains from municipal sludge on soil remediation. Several indigenous bacteria from municipal sludge namely genus Micrococus, Sphingomonas, and Corynebacterium demonstrated a high removal rate of PAHs with more than 80% of lower molecular weight of PAHs degraded after one week incubation. Laboratory studies had established that these genus able to degrade PAHs on contaminated soil. The successful application of bacteria to the bioremediation of PAHs contaminated sites requires a deeper understanding of how microbial PAH degradation proceeds. An overview of research focusing on biodegradation of PAHs will be presented

Movers and shakers: Leadership attributes for a successful lean manufacturing implementation

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the leadership attributes for successful lean manufacturing implementation. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed a case study in European automotive manufacturing plants through a series of interviews with six informants from four countries. The six informants represent each subgroup from the job responsibilities. Findings: The result comprises four main lean leadership attributes for successful lean manufacturing implementation. First, management commitment, involvement, and engagement, followed by management mission and vision. In addition, management coaching and effective communication were highlighted as important attributes of lean leaders. Research limitations/implications: Further studies could extend this study using a mixedmethod approach. Applying both methods will contribute significantly to providing a holistic view, providing a breadth and depth to understanding phenomena that neither qualitative nor quantitative research approaches alone could support. Practical implications: This study contributes to expanding the boundary of the existing literature and contributes to the body of knowledge while providing insights to practitioners in tailoring strategies to strategize the roadmap, ensuring the implementation is ongoing by integrating the leadership role to reap the maximum benefit of lean implementation. Originality/value: Although several studies presented positive relationships of leaders and the characteristics, skills, and behaviors of leaders that facilitate lean success from a case study, this study examines the leadership attributes from various contexts to facilitate a deeper comparative analysis

Lean culture for a successful lean manufacturing implementation: An empirical evidence from Malaysian manufacturing industry

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

Sustenance strategies for lean manufacturing implementation in Malaysian manufacturing industries

This study aims to investigate the relationship between sustaining factors and lean manufacturing implementation.This survey-based study was a cross-sectional study and the samples were drawn by using cluster sampling procedure from medium and large manufacturing companies based on the Federation of Manufacturers Malaysia (FMM) with the final number of 151 respondents. In total, four hypotheses were developed and tested statically using PLS-SEM through SmartPLS software.The result provided evidence that lean culture, lean leadership, and lean knowledge management have a positive relationship on lean manufacturing implementation. However, lean supplier management does not have a positive relationship on lean manufacturing implementation.The survey was responded by middle and top-level management from the discrete manufacturing industries. Although there is growing interest in empirical shreds of evidence in favor of sustaining lean, this study provides a comprehensive view of sustaining factors for lean manufacturing implementation.Hence, this study contributes to expanding the boundary of the existing literature and contributes to the body of knowledge while providing insights to practitioners in tailoring strategies to sustain lean manufacturing implementation and leverage their performance

Save It For a Rainy Day! Lean Strategies for Cost Saving: The Role of Lean Maturity

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

Sustenance Strategies for Lean Manufacturing Implementation in Malaysian Manufacturing Industries

This study aims to investigate the relationship between sustaining factors and lean manufacturing implementation. This survey-based study was a cross-sectional study and the samples were drawn by using cluster sampling procedure from medium and large manufacturing companies based on the Federation of Manufacturers Malaysia (FMM) with the final number of 151 respondents. In total, four hypotheses were developed and tested statically using PLS-SEM through SmartPLS software. The result provided evidence that lean culture, lean leadership, and lean knowledge management have a positive relationship on lean manufacturing implementation. However, lean supplier management does not have a positive relationship on lean manufacturing implementation. The survey was responded by middle and top-level management from the discrete manufacturing industries. Although there is growing interest in empirical shreds of evidence in favor of sustaining lean, this study provides a comprehensive view of sustaining factors for lean manufacturing implementation. Hence, this study contributes to expanding the boundary of the existing literature and contributes to the body of knowledge while providing insights to practitioners in tailoring strategies to sustain lean manufacturing implementation and leverage their performance

Systematic literature review : Theory perspective in lean manufacturing performance

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

Systematic literature review: Theory perspective in lean manufacturing performance

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

The effect of training towards employee performance: An evidence from a public university in Malaysia

Employees are the true determinant of the success or competency of an organization. An adequately trained workforce is important to ensure the workplace has the right and valuable employees. Employees in the education sector need the training to improve their performance as they face limitations or challenges to be creative in completing a task. Despite the increasing effects on the training of organizational employees by organizations, there is still limited literature on human resource development issues in developing countries. The study is focused on the effect of training towards employee performance in a public university in Malaysia. Consequently, all the necessary data were collected from primary sources using questionnaires from 244 respondents. This study employed a quantitative approach and found that induction, technical, and soft skill training positively influence employee performance in the case company. In addition, the study recommended future research in training and development strategies, assisting the employees in understanding the relevance of training towards employee performance, monitoring the performance to ensure employees are on track to achieve the best performance, growing and maintaining the employee’s performance to ensure the organization and personal goal can be achieved