Critical factors for sustaining lean manufacturing in the long-term: a multi-method study

In recent years, lean manufacturing (LM) has been used to improve the operational performance of organisations by improving the productivity, quality and profitability of their operations. However, some authors claim that these organisations are struggling to implement and maintain lean initiatives in a sustainable way over time. This paper proposes a list of critical factors for sustaining LM in the long-term. We used a multi-method research approach. First, we generated a list of critical factors for sustaining LM in the long-term using the systematic literature review approach. Subsequently, interviews with experts were used to refine these factors. Following this, two case studies were performed, and the results passed through another round of interviews with experts to ensure the robustness of the results. The main result of the research is a list of 19 LM sustainability factors. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first research to propose a scientifically validated list of critical factors for sustaining LM. The contribution of this work lies in consolidating the lean sustainability factors widely found in the literature. In practical terms, the proposed list can guide managerial efforts towards sustaining lean in the long-term. [Submitted: 22 April 2021; Accepted: 29 December 2021]