On the truck dispatching problem

The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature on the critical success factors (CSFs) of various continuous improvement (CI) like total quality management (TQM), Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma (LSS), and perform a content analysis (CA) leading to an agenda for future research.,CA is based on literature review of 41 papers published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. A four-stage methodology is used by the authors, with Stage 1 featuring relevant material collection; Stage 2 presenting a descriptive analysis; Stage 3 outlining the category selection; and Stage 4 featuring the material evaluation using clustering and Pareto analysis.,The CA revealed various research implications and directions for the future. The number of studies in the literature regarding CSF assessment is found to be far from substantial while compared to CI implementation. Assessment methodologies developed have been ranging from qualitative to quantitative models. Key gaps were identified and directions for CSF assessment are proposed which requires further validation.,Only articles that appeared in peer-reviewed journals were analyzed; conference papers, reports, manuals and white papers from practice were excluded. Another limitation of the paper would be the scope of CA limited to four CI constructs – TQM, Lean, Six Sigma and LSS. Research implications indicate that the future studies in this domain would be intensive toward analyzing the vital CSFs for enterprise organizational excellence and not merely process excellence.,This review study can serve as a resource for both researchers and practitioners to understand the importance of CSFs and positioning CSFs for the successful implementation of CI programs.,The CA on the existing literature on CSFs for CI presents a unique, systematic effort to identify an agenda for future research. This study is the apparently the first of its kind on CSF assessment.

Critical success factors of TQM, Six Sigma, Lean and Lean Six Sigma: A literature review and key findings

Fostered by a rapid spread beyond the manufacturing sector, Lean philosophy for continuous improvement has been widely used in service organizations, primarily in the healthcare sector. However, there is a limited research on the motivating factors, challenges and benefits of implementing Lean in healthcare. Taking this as a valuable opportunity, the purpose of this paper is to present the key motivating factors, limitations or challenges of Lean deployment, benefits of Lean in healthcare and key gaps in the literature as an agenda for future research.,The authors used the secondary data from the literature (peer-reviewed journal articles) published between 2000 and 2016 to understand the state of the art. The systematic review identified 101 articles across 88 journals recognized by the Association of Business Schools ranking guide 2015.,The systematic review helped the authors to identify the evolution, current trends, research gaps and an agenda for future research for Lean in healthcare. A bouquet of motivating factors, challenges/limitations and benefits of Lean in healthcare are presented.,The implications of this work include directions for managers and healthcare professionals in healthcare organizations to embark on a focused Lean journey aligned with the strategic objectives. This work could serve as a valuable resource to both practitioners and researchers for learning, investigating and rightly adapting the Lean in the healthcare sector.,This study is perhaps one of the comprehensive systematic literature reviews covering an important agenda of Lean in Healthcare. All the text, figures and tables featured here are original work carried by five authors in collaboration (from three countries, namely, India, the USA and the UK).

A systematic review of Lean in healthcare: a global prospective

In recent years, a new transformation known as Industry 4.0 has drawn much attention throughout the world, and numerous investigations have fundamentally looked into the uprising concept. However, few have concentrated on the literature review. Taking this as motivation, the authors endeavored to assess the different attributes of Industry 4.0. The paper aims to discuss these issues.,This review concentrated on linking the articles from different database and distinguishing the attributes of Industry 4.0. The authors assessed 85 articles from scholarly database and peer-reviewed journals on Industry 4.0 through the selection of the Mayring (2004) procedure. The examination included a four-advance process, in particular, material gathering, engaging investigation, classification of the choice and material assessment.,The study backs experts and readers to comprehend the spread of Industry 4.0 in various ventures. For academicians, this gives an extensive rundown of Industry 4.0 attributes. Besides, the writing review gives a chance to comprehend the idea of Industry 4.0 in detail. Further, the outcome aggregates the success factor, failure factor, business model, potential and difficulties in the context of Industry 4.0.,Many areas such as supply chain, circular economy and healthcare have started exploring Industry 4.0. However, few specific cases have reported about it, and no generic model is found for real-time application.,The study serves as reference material for researchers and practitioners to understand the spread of Industry 4.0 and utilize the concept of Industry 4.0 for real-life application.,The study focuses on reporting the potential, challenges, business model and pre-requites of Industry 4.0.

Industry 4.0: key findings and analysis from the literature arena

Developing a blockchain framework for the automotive supply chain: A systematic review

Supply chains in general and last-mile logistics in particular, have been disrupted due to COVID-19. Though several innovative last-mile logistics solutions have been proposed in the past, they possess certain limitations, especially during COVID-19 motivating the need for an alternative last-mile logistics solution. We present a review of literature related to last-mile logistics and supply chain disruptions to identify the limitations of existing last-mile delivery practices during COVID-19. Using a stylized analytical model, we then propose that “mobile warehouse” can be an effective solution to last-mile logistics issues faced during COVID-19 and beyond under certain conditions. A mobile warehouse is a truck dedicated to a particular geographical location and carries the inventory of various products based on the estimated demand requirements for these products in that geographical location. We provide the condition under which the B2C e-commerce providers find it profitable to adopt a truck as a mobile warehouse to sell high demand items quickly.

Moving towards “mobile warehouse”: Last-mile logistics during COVID-19 and beyond

As the world moves forward, quality has evolved drastically to meet the growing demands in various organisations. As a result, various quality management procedures have been implemented in varied kinds of organisations. A review of the quality principles such as Total Quality Management, Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma is discussed in order to provide an understanding for implementing quality principles in different organisations, which includes manufacturing, service, healthcare, government, non-profit organisations, transportation and logistics, process industry, etc. With the introduction of quality techniques, the effectiveness of organisations has improved. And these techniques are generic in nature and can improve the efficiency of any organisation. But, the implementation policies in different organisations vary with the type of organisation. The consideration of different organisations provides useful guidelines for the application of these methods in unexplored sectors. Moreover, a brief summ...

A review of the quality evolution in various organisations

Optimization of process parameters in feed manufacturing using artificial neural network

Vehicle routing problem and driver behaviour: a review and framework for analysis

The spares distribution centre is an important member of a manufacturing supply chain where the automobile components are packaged and distributed to customers and retail units. Though the components do not undergo processing in a spare parts centre, various other operations are performed during distribution that contributes to component failures. The Six Sigma DMAIC framework is used for the analysis of the failures effectively. The different causes of rejections are generated using the cause and effect diagram and each of these causes are validated with the help of experiments and other tools. The root cause of this problem arising in the distribution centre is identified to be the packing method. An economic solution to the existing cause of the problem is implemented with minor variations in the current packing method and the results are discussed. A structured follow up plan for continuous improvement is also suggested.

S. Srivatsa Srinivas

Papers

Moving towards “mobile warehouse”: Last-mile logistics during COVID-19 and beyond

A review of the quality evolution in various organisations

Optimization of process parameters in feed manufacturing using artificial neural network

Vehicle routing problem and driver behaviour: a review and framework for analysis

Failure analysis of automobile spares in a manufacturing supply chain distribution centre using Six Sigma DMAIC framework