Title: Review the influence of lean tools and its performance against the index of manufacturing sustainability

Authors: Muhamad Zaki Yusup; Wan Hasrulnizzam Wan Mahmood; Mohd Rizal Salleh; Azrul Shahimy Mohd Yusof

Addresses: Sustainable and Responsive Manufacturing Research Group, Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, 76100 Hang Tuah Jaya, Melaka, Malaysia; Department of Quality and Productivity, Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA Kuantan, Km 8, Jalan Gambang, 25150 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia ' Sustainable and Responsive Manufacturing Research Group, Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, 76100 Hang Tuah Jaya, Melaka, Malaysia ' Sustainable and Responsive Manufacturing Research Group, Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, 76100 Hang Tuah Jaya, Melaka, Malaysia ' Department of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, P.O. Box 187, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia

Abstract: Lean production is known as a social-technical management philosophy that encompasses multiple disciplines that focus on increasing the manufacturing productivity by emphasising on the elimination of waste, and increasing the value-added activities. Recognising the internal influences brought by lean in manufacturing practices, this article focuses on how the convergences in lean philosophies are able to contribute in establishing a sustainable manufacturing practice. Based on three performance of sustainability, namely the competency accomplishment performance, economic achievement performance and the environmental responsiveness performance, the discussion is focused on exploring how performance of lean implementation contributes in increasing the development performance of sustainable manufacturing. The findings in this study are able to be used for future researches in formulating new strategies in managing the manufacturing operations. This eventually brings an enormous benefit for further research in improving the operational efficiency, in order to remain competitive in dealing with the intense competition in a global manufacturing environment.

Keywords: lean production; lean tools; lean performance; manufacturing sustainability index; general review; sustainable manufacturing; manufacturing productivity; waste elimination; value-added; operations management; competency accomplishment; economic achievement; environmental responsiveness; lean manufacturing; operational efficiency.

DOI: 10.1504/IJASM.2015.070605

International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, 2015 Vol.8 No.2, pp.116 - 131

Received: 14 May 2014
Accepted: 04 Mar 2015
Published online: 13 Jul 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article