A Bayesian Best-Worst approach for assessing the critical success factors in sustainable lean manufacturing

Over the last few decades, industries in emerging economies have been encouraged to embrace sustainable lean manufacturing (SLM) practices to lower operational expenses, eliminate wastes, conserve resources, improve customer satisfaction, and focus on the economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability to maximize productivity. So far, no study has explored the critical success factors (CSFs) facilitating the furniture manufacturing industry's embrace of SLM. This study investigated the CSFs for implementing SLM in the furniture manufacturing industry of an emerging economy like Bangladesh. First, with the help of a literature review and consultation with experts, a total of sixteen most significant CSFs for implementing SLM in the furniture industry was identified. Then, the identified CSFs were clustered into three criteria groups or clusters - organizational and governmental cluster, supply chain, inventory, resource management cluster, and performance and technological cluster, based on the suggestions from the experts. Finally, we employed the Bayesian Best-Worst method (BWM) to evaluate the importance of these CSFs. This study shows that sustainable resource utilization and management reduces lead time and non-value-adding activities, adequate support from top management, and adoption of disruptive and emerging technologies are the top four crucial CSFs to implement SLM effectively in the furniture manufacturing industry. These findings can assist industry professionals and regulators in making efficient action plans to capture this competitive but booming market while ensuring a sustainable future for the next generation.