A domain model for capturing knowledge of the Lean approach
Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management
JIEM
2013-0953
A Domain Model for Capturing Knowledge of the Lean Approach
Younes Tiamaz 0
Nissrine Souissi 1
0 Mohammed V University , Morocco
1 Mines-Rabat School , Morocco
Purpose: The literature offers many definitions of the Lean but it lacks a standard definition that would facilitate its implementation. These definitions are closely related to the specificities of the domain, sector or problem studied. The purpose of this paper is to capture the concepts of the Lean to propose a generic definition independent of the application domain. Design/methodology/approach: Eighteen Lean systematic literature reviews in different domains have been studied in this paper to understand the Lean and capture the concepts thoroughly. These reviews reviewed a total of more than 2171 articles. Findings: This paper presents a new reading of the Lean. A Lean domain model has been established to represent the concepts and their interactions. Research limitations/implications: This research is limited by the papers indexed in the Scopus database and presenting a systematic literature review. Originality/value: A reference model of the Lean lacks in the literature. The proposed domain model clarifies the Lean and provides a holistic view that is valid in all domains.
Lean approach; process management; improvement; domain model; knowledge; UML
1. Introduction
Lean manufacturing was originally developed in Japan by Toyota, where it was known as the Toyota Production
System (Herron & Hicks, 2008).
Krafcik (1988)
is the first who used the term Lean in an attempt to generalize
Toyota?s work but it was thanks to Womack, Jones and Roos (1990), the term ?Lean manufacturing? or ?Lean
production? became favorite for designating the Toyota production system as a new manufacturing paradigm unlike
Fordism
(Danese, Manf? & Romano, 2018; Henrique & Filho, 2018)
. Although the Lean concept was born more
than 20 years ago, the attraction of the Lean as a field of research continues to grow (Danese et al., 2018).
The primary objective of the Lean approach is to produce better quality products at the lowest cost and in less time
by eliminating waste
(Dennis, 2007; Liker, 1997)
. Lean is a process improvement approach used to deliver products
and services more efficiently, faster and at a lower cost (Laureani & Antony, 2017). It is considered the new most
influential paradigm in the industrial domain (Forrester, Kazumi-Shimizu, Soriano?Meier, -Garza?Reyes &
Cruz-Basso, 2010). Lean research, application and thinking have evolved from the Japanese automotive industry
into a holistic value system applicable to all business sectors, both private and public
(Samuel, Found & Williams,
2015)
.
Lean is based on five main principles: defining the value, identifying the value chain for each product/service,
identifying waste, promoting continuous flows, introducing pull flow, seeking perfection (Womack & Jones, 2003).
Afterwards,
Liker (2004)
proposed 14 Lean principles and grouped them into 4Ps: ?Philosophy?; ?Process?;
?People and Partners?; and ?Problem Solving?.
There are over a hundred Lean practices available and practiced by industries
(Pavnaskar, Gershenson & Jambekar,
2003; Rose, Deros, Rahman & Nordin, 2011)
. Various interpretations have explicitly evolved to ?lean? and its
philosophy, principles, and related measures
(Stone, 2012a)
. Hines, Holweg and Rich (2004) pointed out that the
researchers use various definitions for the Lean term, so there is no standard terminology.
Literature presents significant studies on the Lean
(Belayutham, Gonz?lez & Yiu, 2016; Collar, Shuman, Feiner,
McGonegal, Heidel, Duck et al., 2012; Duska, Mueller, Lothamer, Pelkofski & Novicoff, 2015; Rohani &
Zahraee, 2015; Sutari, 2015)
. Many companies can successfully implement the Lean approach, but others have
not achieved the expected results
(Bhasin & Burcher, 2006; Staats, Brunner & Upton, 2011)
. Dombrowski and
Mielke (2013),
Liker, Convis and Meskimen (2014
) and
Orr (2005)
also reported that the businesses achieve
significant results by implementing the Lean tools only in Lean?s early years, and improvements stagnate sooner
or later.
Casey (2009)
reported that the traditional Lean paradigm is reflected in nearly two-thirds of failed
implementations, while only 16.67% of implementations can achieve sustainable results - less than twelve
months though.
This failure is due mainly to the definition of the Lean, which is very elusive and the lack of a clear definition has
many consequences for practitioners seeking to implement Lean as well as researchers attempting to capture its
essence
(Pettersen, 2009)
. Also,
Mostafa, Dumrak and Soltan (2013
) highlighted that the main reason of
unattainability of the lean benefits is the incomplete understanding of the lean concepts and the purpose of the
lean practices.
Lean has evolved in the industry and has subsequently been adopte (...truncated)