Lean Implementation and Organizational Transformation: A Literature Review

Abstract

Manufacturing organizations are constantly striving to develop more effective and flexible means for managing challenges due to globalization and increasing customer expectations. This has led to increased efforts by the business community to research and implement the Toyota Production System, or lean manufacturing, to address these challenges. These efforts have resulted in numerous publications on lean manufacturing, including research reports, scholarly articles, and trade magazine articles. However, the existing body of knowledge on lean manufacturing is disperse and diverse in nature with respect to the application and implementation of lean tools and practices, making it difficult for researchers and practitioners to gain a real grasp of this topic. In this article, we have comprehensively organized the existing work on implementation of lean manufacturing in a more structured way, enabling engineering management practitioners to more easily identify knowledge and best practices and enabling researchers to identify gaps in the extant literature. Lastly, drawing from the organizational science literature, this article also provides important insights on lean manufacturing from the perspective of organizational learning, innovation, and \culture.

Keywords:

• Lean Implementation
• Literature Review
• Organizational Transformation
• Process Improvement

EMJFocusAreas:

• ContinuousImprovement
• OperationsManagement

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Om Prakash Yadav

Om Prakash Yadav, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at North Dakota State University. He has over 25 years of teaching, research, industry, and consulting experience in India and the United States. He has published over 100 research papers in the area of quality, reliability, product development, and operations management. His research interests are focused on design optimization, reliability and quality engineering, concurrent engineering, and manufacturing systems engineering.

Bimal P. Nepal

Bimal P. Nepal, PhD is an Associate Professor of Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University in the United States. His research areas include distribution and supply chain management, manufacturing, and engineering education. He has authored over 80 research articles in refereed journals and peer-reviewed proceedings in these areas. He has received several teaching and research honors and awards both within and outside Texas A&M University. He is a member of INFORMS, ASEM, ASEE, and a senior member of IISE.

Md Mahabubur Rahaman

Md Mahabubur Rahaman is a graduate student in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at North Dakota State University. His research interests include lean implementation and organizational transformation.

Vinod Lal

Vinod Lall, PhD is co-chair and Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at Paseka School of Business at Minnesota State University, Moorhead. He earned the Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) credential by APICS and is a member of the CSCP subcommittee. His research focuses on the application of Data Envelopment Analysis and he has published nine peer-reviewed articles between 2009 and 2015. He regularly teaches MBA classes in Bulgaria, Ecuador, India, and Thailand.