Purpose: Process improvement initiatives, such as Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma, typically have common characteristics that are carried through projects. Whilst a project’s performance is an important determinant of the successful implementation of continuous improvement (CI)...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the current state of the Lean principles adopted by food small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach: The case study approach was undertaken in order to gain insights into Lean adoption. Nine Greek food SMEs certified...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the key findings of a systematic literature review (SLR) on Lean for services and, in particular, airport services. Design/methodology/approach: The authors have utilised an SLR methodology proposed by Denyer and Tranfield (2009). A total of 23...

Purpose: Literature contributions to Lean manufacturing (LM) are fragmented and show some significant limitations. The purpose of this paper is to identify the existing research gaps in LM as well as to group them into respective themes. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that enable total quality management (TQM) implementation in the readymade garment (RMG) sector of Bangladesh. More specifically, the present study is a supplement of the previous call from research to investigate the TQM-enabling...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the voice of the customer, key performance indicators, critical to quality characteristics, critical success factors, and commonly used tools and techniques for deploying the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) strategy in Indian private hospitals, with special...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to carry out an empirical study of the limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma in manufacturing and service companies. Design/methodology/approach: The authors developed an online survey instrument based on the existing literature addressing the...

Purpose: Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is one of the most popular and widely used business improvement methodologies. However, many organizations discontinue LSS despite a plethora of studies on the critical success factors. The purpose of this study is to answer the research question how do...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and its associated tools to reduce dispensing errors in an inpatient pharmacy of a teaching hospital in Thailand. Design/methodology/approach: The action research methodology was used to illustrate the...

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to present the results of a critical literature review (CLR) on Design of experiments (DoE) in the service industry. Design/methodology/approach: A critical review of existing literature review across various databases including Scopus, Web of Science,...