Analyzing barriers and strategies for implementing Lean Six Sigma in the context of Indian SMEs

Empirical analysis of Lean Six Sigma implementation barriers in healthcare sector using fuzzy DEMATEL approach: an Indian perspective

Purpose

The present study aims to explore the barriers to Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation in the healthcare sector and develop the ranking of finalized barriers using the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach under a fuzzy environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The LSS barriers are identified through the literature review and validated by the expert's opinion and statistical analysis. A total of 124 experts were identified through the purposive sampling method for conducting this study. A questionnaire survey method is used to collect the data related to identified LSS barriers in the healthcare sector. The screened barriers are ranked through the Fuzzy DEMATEL approach.

Findings

In this study, a total of 21 barriers were identified with the help of a systematic literature review and screened 13 significant barriers by the expert opinions of healthcare personnel. The result reveals that “Lack of top management commitment and support, lack of awareness about LSS”, “resistance to culture change and inadequate resources emerges as the most critical barriers”. The prioritization of barriers facilitates the managers to make effective policies and guidelines for LSS implementation in healthcare organizations.

Practical implications

To avoid LSS implementation failure, the practitioners and researchers need to focus on LSS barriers as per suggested ranking more conventionally and make plans and adoption policies accordingly.

Originality/value

This study is unique in terms of investigation and empirical analysis of LSS implementation barriers in the healthcare sector in the Indian context. The outcomes of the present study will help the managers of healthcare organizations to make the strategies and policies for LSS implementation as per the recommended LSS barriers.

Barriers to the adoption of integrated sustainable-green-lean-six sigma-agile manufacturing system (ISGLSAMS): a literature review

Purpose

Scarcity of resources, ecological imbalance, global warming, rising energy prices and the ever-changing need for variety have attracted the government and manufacturers for sustainable development of the industries. The integrated sustainable-green-lean-six sigma-agile manufacturing system (ISGLSAMS) provides a solid platform for meeting both the customers’ variety needs and business sustainability requirements. Many organizations opted for ISGLSAMS, but still due to various barriers organizations are not able to fully implement ISGLSAMS. The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers to the ISGLSAMS, so that a more sustainable industrial manufacturing system and industrial symbiosis can be developed.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review, from the Web of Science and Google Scholar database, has been carried out to identify the various barriers to the implementation of ISGLSAMS in the entire value chain. A total of 168 research papers have been reviewed for identifying the ISGLSAMS barriers.

Findings

This paper elaborates the concept of the ISGLSAMS, its attributes and various barriers and contributes to a better understanding and successful implementation of ISGLSAMS to meet business’ sustainability and market performance goals in the entire value chain. The paper also projects the future research framework and directions for the ISGLSAMS, integrated sustainable-green-lean-six sigma-agile (ISGLSA) product and ISGLSA supply and value chain.

Practical implications

The study contributes to a better understanding of ISGLSAMS’ barriers. The government, stakeholders and policymakers may plan the policy, road map and strategies to overcome the ISGLSAMS’ barriers. In-depth knowledge of subclauses of ISGLSAMS’ barriers will help the practitioners to overcome the ISGLSAMS’ barriers strategically. By overcoming the ISGLSAMS barriers, a more sustainable 7 Rs based market focused manufacturing system can be designed. This will also increase the opportunities to enhance the industrial ecology, industrial symbiosis and better recovery of the product, process and supply chain residual value. This will reduce the waste to the ecosystem.

Originality/value

This work has been carried out in search of a more sustainable manufacturing system, i.e. ISGLSAMS (which is 7 Rs based, i.e. 6 Rs of sustainability with 7th R, reconfiguration) to meet the customer variety needs along with sustainability in the ever-changing customer market. This study adds value to the practitioners to identify and prioritize the ISGLSAMS’ industry-specific barriers and design the solution for the more sustainable development of (1) industries, (2) the industrial symbiosis system and (3) the ISGLSA product, process, system and supply value chain with minimum resource consumption and environmental impact. The research also contributes to the (a) ISGLSAMS (b) ISGLSA supply chain (c) reconfigurable, sustainable and modular products and (d) redesign, recovery and refurbishing of the product to increase the product life cycle.

Analysis of barriers for implementation of integrated Lean Six Sigma and Industry 4.0 using interpretive ranking process

Purpose

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a continuous improvement procedure that helps in improving the performance, decreasing variations, reducing lead time and increasing profit. Industry 4.0 (I4.0) portrays a new phase in the enterprise and aims at digitalization of the enterprise. The basis of I4.0 is a cyber-physical system, leading to product networking and complete coordination of process, value enhancement and further optimization. Integrating LSS methodology with I4.0 will give an edge in competitiveness to an enterprise. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze barriers to have an obstacle free implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

LSS and I4.0 barriers are identified through literature review. In this paper 18 barriers of LSS and I4.0 that hinder the implementation of integrated LSS and I4.0 are collected. Analysis of barriers was done using interpretive ranking process (IRP).

Findings

From the results, it is observed that lack of top management attitude, commitment and involvement are the most dominant barriers.

Practical implications

The study is done by gathering inputs from industry practitioners and derived inferences have practical relevance.

Originality/value

The study of barriers for integrated LSS and I4.0 is the original contribution of the authors.

An empirical study into the reasons for failure of sustaining operational excellence initiatives in organizations

Purpose

Operational excellence (OPEX) initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma and Agile have some common characteristics that can be understood through their adoption in organizations. The objective of this research is to present the results of an online survey highlighting the most critical reasons for failure of OPEX initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach

This study presents the results of a survey from 106 experts from different countries who have been involved in OPEX implementation. The experts were Six Sigma Master Black Belts, Black Belts and Champions from different manufacturing and service organizations. The developed questionnaire was initially tested with the help of seven experts to ensure their technical validity and soundness.

Findings

The study found 15% of companies surveyed have not adopted any form of OPEX methodology. The top three reasons for non-adoption of OPEX were also found. In terms of the use of various OPEX methodologies, more than 75% of companies were employing Six Sigma and less than 50% were engaged in Lean initiatives. Another surprising result was that less than 5% of the companies were utilizing Kaizen and other continuous improvement methodologies for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational processes. The study further finds top five failure factors for sustaining OPEX initiatives in manufacturing, service, large and small organizations.

Research limitations/implications

The study reports the outcomes based on an online survey with limited sample size. Moreover, the number of samples from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was less than 25, and therefore it was difficult to make any robust conclusions in the comparison of failure factors between large enterprises and SMEs.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study that has attempted to explore the reasons for failure of OPEX initiatives. The authors argue that a greater understanding of the reasons for failure of OPEX initiatives can provide an input to develop a framework that can mitigate the failures and costs associated with such failures.

Prioritization and ranking of lean practices: a case study

Purpose

The paper aims to identify, prioritize and rank lean practices in the context of an Indian automotive component manufacturing organization using interpretive ranking process (IRP) and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

Lean practices are identified from the literature. Then, two hierarchical models were are developed using two distinct modeling approaches – ISM and IRP with expert opinions from an Indian automotive component manufacturing organization to analyze the contextual relationships among the various lean practices and to prioritize and rank them with respect to performance dimensions.

Findings

In the study, the hierarchical structural models are developed using ISM and IRP approaches for an Indian automotive component manufacturing organization. In ISM-based modeling, lean practices can be categorized into five levels. Top priority should be given to the motivators followed by value chain, system/technology and organization centric practices. IRP model shows the dominance relationship among the various lean practices with respect to performance dimensions.

Practical implications

The models are constructed from the organizational standpoint to evaluate their impact to the implementation of lean manufacturing. The study leverages the organizations to prioritize limited resources as per the hierarchy. Managers get the inter-linkages and ranking of various lean practices, which leads to a better perspective for the effective implementation of lean. The structural models also assist management to assign proper roles to employees/departments for effective lean implementation.

Originality/value

There is hardly any structural model of lean practices in the literature for clustering, prioritizing and ranking of lean practices. The study fills this gap and develops the hierarchical models of lean practices through IRP and ISM approaches for an Indian automotive component manufacturing organization. The results from both approaches are compared for illustrating the benefits of one over the other.

Enhancing supplier capability through Six Sigma enablers

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify, analyze and orient the enablers of Six Sigma to enhance supplier capability for an Indian manufacturing supply chain (SC).

Design/methodology/approach

In total, nine enablers of Six Sigma were identified through an extensive literature review and discussion held with managers/senior managers in different Indian manufacturing companies. The interpretative structural modeling (ISM) approach is applied to the Indian auto ancillary company for developing and analyzing the structural framework of enablers to enhance the supplier capability.

Findings

The enablers such as top management commitment and leadership, supply chain management, standardization, training and education, human resource management and project selection and execution methodology of Six Sigma related to supplier capability have emerged as the prominent enablers, which are driving force in the system for the Indian manufacturing SC.

Research limitations/implications

This study is restricted to only one Indian manufacturing company. Therefore, the outcomes of the study should not be generalized. Further studies may be carried out for several Indian manufacturing industries to get a more comprehensive implementation approach, their validity and their variation across the different industries.

Practical implications

The simplicity and clarity of the proposed structural framework of Six Sigma helps in the identification and orientation of enablers for the successful implementation of Six Sigma in the SC. The proposed structural framework can be applied to different manufacturing SCs by allowing managers to structure the enablers considering their unique implementation constraints, which can reflect their priority considerations.

Originality/value

The study goes beyond the conceptual discussion of supplier capability issues. The supplier capability cannot be seen as a standalone approach irrespective of the constraints from the supplier domain as it is in synchronization with the entire SC performance. The enablers and their orientation with respect to the SC are providing a unique contribution toward supplier management planning. The outcomes from the proposed structural framework are used for developing action plans for organization “A” or other organizations to build suitable supplier capability in the SC.

Barriers in repurposing an existing manufacturing plant: a total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) approach

Repurposing of an existing manufacturing plant is an emerging field due to the increase in emergencies of the covid-19 pandemic with the need of rapid responses which has a wide range of potential applications in sustainment of the manufacturing plant in these unfavourable times and helping of the economy. It makes the manufacturing plant adaptable to changes, makes it productive by manufacturing products that are currently in demand, prevents the dissolution of the plant and thus harvests the maximum potential of the manufacturing plant in the need of an emergency. However, not many industries and plants are suited to make the appropriate changes and lack knowledge on how to proceed to do so. The paper identifies the barriers that are faced in the transition for repurposing a general manufacturing plant to a more suited plant for current emergencies that need rapid response. These barriers hinder the repurposing of the manufacturing plant and impact the business decisions to establish a manufacturing plant suited for emergency situations. Surveys and information from various experts in this field are used to identify these barriers and document their interdependencies and influence on one another. The data is graphed and analysed utilizing TISM (Total Interpretive Structural Modelling) and MICMAC (Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification) methodology to further examine by classifying and ranking the relationships. Analysing the relationships between barriers leads to effective decisions towards the successful adoption of repurposing of manufacturing plant. A contextual relationship based structural table called interpretive table and structural model is made to pinpoint influential barriers. Thus, the research explains and explores significant barriers to the adoption of repurposing in manufacturing plant and not only provides a strong methodological and contextual contribution with the help of TISM and MICMAC but also gives research a sense of links of the barriers across various levels. On a practical level, the study is immensely useful to help manufacturing plants overcome repercussions due to disruptions by modifying existing practice and business model to a new model which synchronizes with the new normal to increase the efficiency and survivability of the plant. The result of the research points out that strategical, cultural, technological, and innovation barriers are the most influential barrier in repurposing of manufacturing plant.

Using Lean Six Sigma in small and medium-sized enterprises for low-cost/high-effect improvement initiatives: a case study

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is the implementation of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in a manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) in Greece in order to understand the contribution of LSS in its process improvement and to identify the parameters playing a crucial role in LSS adoption by SMEs. The ability to achieve high-effect improvements without cost investment is also examined to cope with low investment margin that is a characteristic of SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study is based on the combination of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC) phases with the Yin's method for case studies for a complete and efficient implementation and presentation of the project.

Findings

The analysis of this case study revealed that by accomplishing specific critical success factors for the fulfillment of the LSS project, the company attained important benefits by utilizing only the working hours of employees. It was also found that the improvements of LSS projects can be measured using other metrics which can indirectly be translated into monetary terms.

Practical implications

The paper can be a useful guide of how SMEs can achieve high-impact improvements with low or no investment cost utilizing LSS initiatives in small-scale projects.

Originality/value

According to the literature, there is a need for more case studies concerning LSS implementation in SMEs. Examples of how low-cost/high-effect improvement initiatives can be implemented have not been adequately presented before. The assessment of the impact of improvement initiatives with non-monetary measures is also innovative.

Benchmarking framework for sustainable manufacturing based MCDM techniques

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for sustainable manufacturing by adopting a combined approach using AHP, fuzzy TOPSIS and fuzzy EDAS methods. The proposed model aims to identify and prioritize the sustainable factors and technical requirements that help in improving the sustainability of manufacturing processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed approach integrates both AHP, Fuzzy EDAS and Fuzzy TOPSIS. AHP method is used to generate the weights of the sustainable factors. Fuzzy EDAS and Fuzzy TOPSIS are applied to rank and determine the application priority of a set of improvement approaches. The ranks carried out from each MCDM approach is assessed by computing the spearman's correlation coefficient.

Findings

The results reveal the proposed model is efficient in sustainable factors and the technical requirements prioritizing. In addition, the results carried out from this study indicate the high efficiency of AHP, Fuzzy EDAS and Fuzzy TOPSIS in decision making. Besides, the results indicate that the model provides a useable methodology for managers' staff to select the desirable sustainable factors and technical requirements for sustainable manufacturing.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this paper is that the proposed approach investigates an average number of factors and technical requirements.

Originality/value

This paper investigates an integrated MCDM approach for sustainable factors and technical requirements prioritization. In addition, the presented work pointed out that AHP, Fuzzy EDAS and Fuzzy TOPSIS approach can manipulate several conflict attributes in a sustainable manufacturing context.

An SEM Approach for the Barrier Analysis in Lean Implementation in Manufacturing Industries

This paper investigates the barriers that hinder the implementation of lean manufacturing in wood and furniture industries as the adoption of this philosophy in such industries is not promising especially in emerging economies. To this end, a comprehensive review of the literature was performed to identify the barriers and develop a conceptual model. Next, structural equation modeling is employed to examine the model using the collected data from 131 wood and furniture companies. The findings revealed a synergetic effect between three key factors—culture and human attitude, knowledge, and resources—which play a crucial role in implementing lean. The analyses indicated the reasons of companies refused or not ready to implement lean on knowledge and culture and human attitudinal issues, particularly in companies that have limited resources. It is believed that resource issues are an obstacle to lean implementation, but not as important as knowledge and culture and human attitudinal issues. Sufficient knowledge is needed to deploy lean practices as well as changes in culture and human attitude. Investigating the relationships between these three key barriers is a contribution that this study intends to become a forward step for promoting lean manufacturing among under-studied industries. This paper also proposes that through adopting the activities for lean implementation, small and medium enterprises can experience and quantify the positive impacts of lean practices. Government agencies, universities, and professional bodies can support such enterprises in this transition through targeted interventions that address the barriers presented.