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This empirical study aims to explore the relationship between Total quality management (TQM), Total productive/preventive maintenance (TPM) and Just-in time (JIT). It also seeks to examine the relationship between Just-in time (JIT) and agile manufacturing.

Data for the study were collected from a survey of 205 industrial companies and the relationships proposed in the framework were tested using structural equation modeling.

The results indicate that (1) TPM has a positive impact on TQM and JIT, (2) TQM has a positive effect on JIT and (3) JIT has a direct positive relationship with agile manufacturing. In addition, the results reveal an indirect effect of TPM and TQM on agile manufacturing through JIT.

The conceptual model proposed and tested in this study can be used by researchers for developing Lean manufacturing practices (TQM, TPM and JIT) and agile manufacturing theory. In addition, this model shows to practitioners the importance of integrating TQM, TPM and JIT in manufacturing firms. In other words, this study shows practitioners how firms can support their agile manufacturing system.

This research presents an innovative approach since it examines simultaneously the interdependencies between TQM, TPM and JIT and their direct and indirect link with agile manufacturing using structural equation modeling.

To propose a theoretical model of leagile manufacturing as it applies to a single corporate enterprise with multiple business units and to generate research questions stemming from the model that should be addressed in the future.

A case study company was analyzed to determine whether the concept of leagility could be applied to a single corporation with multiple business units and whether a decoupling point would be necessary to distinguish the lean and agile portions of the enterprise. The case study findings are used as the basis for describing a theoretical corporate leagile infrastructure and for stimulating new research questions.

It is possible for a corporation to simultaneously pursue both lean and agile manufacturing strategies by adopting a leagile infrastructure. The organizational structure consists of three main levels: a corporate headquarters, a sales and service group, and multiple lean production units. There is a decoupling point that separates the lean and agile portions of the enterprise. This organizational structure matches the front‐back approach, one of the large/small strategies defined by Lawler in 1997.

A single company was examined. Studying a broader range of companies would make the described theoretical leagile corporate infrastructure more robust.

Manufacturing corporations might find the infrastructure described to be a beneficial way to structure their own organizations in order to capitalize on the benefits of both the lean and agile manufacturing strategies.

This paper expands on the concept of leagility, previously discussed in the literature with respect to supply chains and individual manufacturing plants, by applying it to a single corporation with multiple business units. Similar to other characterizations of leagile manufacturing, it was found that the corporation operates with a decoupling point between the agile and lean portions of the business. Several new avenues for further research are outlined.

The concept of agile manufacturing is becoming critically important to manufacturing industry due to rapid industrialization, fluctuating customer demand, and turbulent business environment. The aim of this study is to prioritize the attributes for successful implementation of agile manufacturing using a combined analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach in Indian manufacturing industry.

The current study identifies eight agile manufacturing attributes through literature review and discussion with subject experts. The experts from different manufacturing industry have been asked to provide data for pairwise comparison of attributes. Afterward, an integrated AHP and TOPSIS approach is employed. The AHP is used to drive the priority weights of the attributes, and TOPSIS is used for prioritizing the attributes for successful implementation of agile manufacturing.

“Information technology,” “human resource management-related issues,” “customer-related issues,” “leadership support,” and “organizationalc related-issues” have been ranked as the top five significant and contributing attributes, which can pave the path for top management to concentrate on the critical areas and allocate significant resources to ensure successful implementation of agile manufacturing.

This research integrates AHP and TOPSIS to prioritize the attributes for successful implementation of agile manufacturing, which are further validated by comparing the ranks obtained through respective approach and sensitivity analysis.

This empirical study aims to explore the link between lean manufacturing practices (total quality management, just-in-time production, just-in-time purchasing, total productive/preventive maintenance), agile manufacturing, and operational and financial performance.

Data were collected from 205 Tunisian manufacturing firms, and the results were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The results indicate that (1) lean manufacturing practices have a direct positive relationship with agile manufacturing except for just-in-time production, (2) agile manufacturing has a positive impact on operational performance and (3) lean manufacturing practices did not seem to contribute directly to operational performance. However, this relationship is significant when it is mediated through agile manufacturing.

This paper shows practitioners the importance of lean manufacturing practices to support agile manufacturing and the key role of agile manufacturing to ensure operational performance.

This paper presents an innovative approach since it studies simultaneously the three dimensions of lean manufacturing and their relationship with agile manufacturing and organizational performance.

The study aims at empirically investigating and prioritizing the critical barriers for the successful implementation of agile manufacturing in the medium- and large-scale Indian manufacturing industries.

A literature review of peer-reviewed journals and discussion with experts is used to identify 17 barriers to the implementation of agile manufacturing. An empirical survey is then conducted to collect data regarding the agile manufacturing barriers and is further analyzed using the factor analysis and vlsekriterijumska optimizacija i kompromisno resenje (VIKOR).

Based on the survey of empirical data, the investigated critical barriers were reduced in five critical categories, as follows: Managerial constraints, technological constraints, human resource–related constraints, operational constraints and organizational culture-related constraints, which are further ranked in terms of their severity using VIKOR. This research advocates the development of a strategy for addressing the most critical barriers instead of focusing on all for the successful implementation of agile manufacturing.

This work contributes to agile manufacturing literature by the structured presentation of the barriers to implement agile manufacturing in the Indian manufacturing industry. It also extends the integrated factor analysis and VIKOR method to investigate and rank the barriers.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze in a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms the relationship between agile manufacturing and the firm’s management capacities related to innovation and production flexibility. Complementarily the survey addresses the implementation of agile production and its measurement.

For data collection, a survey through mail to operations and human resource managers of manufacturing firms and telephonic interviews with managers from 25 selective firms was carried out. The population of the study included firms from the Sistema de Análisis de Balances Ibéricos database with NACE codes 24–32 and at least 200 employees. Quantitative methods (linear hierarchical regression and mean differences) were used to test research hypotheses, and a qualitative method (interview analysis) was used to analyze an implementation and measurement model of agile production.

The results of the study show that high-agile firms use more intensively a comprehensive set of agile facilitators (design, manufacturing and supply). They also innovate and cooperate externally more on innovation than low-agile firms. The authors have found that external technological cooperation moderates the firm’s production flexibility.

The implications of this research indicate, on one hand, that firms interested in implementing agile production should focus on the agility management of supply chains, the skills and knowledge development of human resources and in the implementation of agile manufacturing technologies. On the other hand, firms in less cooperative environments should focus more on their internal manufacturing systems to reinforce the relationship between production flexibility and agility that offers broader scenarios to compete under this production paradigm. The main limitations of the research design are the use of cross-sectional data and the use of managerial perceptions to assess most of the variables.

This paper offers a model of agile production implementation that it is complemented with measurement indicators to analyze the firm’s evolution toward agility. The combination of multivariate analysis and managers’ interviews to obtain and validate results creates a value for managers interested in agile production.

Today's businesses are facing a world that is more complex, turbulent and unpredictable than in the past with increasing levels of environmental complexity. Rather than proposing environmental uncertainty as a mediator/moderator of the relationship between agility and performance as others have done, the authors offer an alternative view where supply chain agility is seen as mediating the relationship between environmental uncertainty and supply chain performance.

The authors propose that supply chain agility is a response to the effects of environmental uncertainty and, as such, environmental uncertainty should be seen as a driver of supply chain agility. Few studies test the direct relationship between uncertainty and supply chain performance, and none simultaneously test for agility's mediation and moderation effect between environmental uncertainty and agility.

The model was statistically assessed using partial-least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS/SEM) by analyzing survey data from manufacturing managers in 136 US firms. The study results did not indicate a significant relationship between environmental uncertainty and supply chain performance. However, the authors did find a significant positive relationship between agile manufacturing and supply chain performance using measures that were primarily operations-centered rather than financial. Additionally, the authors found that agile manufacturing fully mediates the relationship between environmental uncertainty and supply chain performance.

The authors’ model, though simple, provides a base for future research for them and other researchers who can incorporate other impacting variables into the model. The study results show that uncertainty can be a force for good and that utilizing agile manufacturing can be a new source of opportunity.

Agile manufacturing (AM) has evolved as a revolutionary way of manufacturing the products while managing the uncertainties, product introduction time, responsiveness, innovation, superior quality, etc. along the supply chain to satisfy the ever increasing customer demand and to maximize the profit. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the literature related to various dimensions of AM and to report the findings.

This paper presents the reviews of 300 scholarly articles from 1993 to 2016 by various researchers and practitioners on AM collected from different sources, i.e. Google Scholar and ResearchGate. The information related to AM is also captured during industrial visits to different Indian manufacturing plants.

AM definitions are reported along divergent scopes and objectives in the literature. The researchers have given importance on performance measurement and process analysis through empirical and descriptive analysis whereas its implementation issues are neglected. It is also observed that the effort made on AM is significant for manufacturing industries which is overlooked in service industries.

This literature review has identified many research gaps in AM which were not paid attention before. Researchers can address these research gaps for strengthening the AM implementation.

In total, 300 research papers are reviewed and analyzed to capture the various aspects of AM and its related issues but not restricted to research methodologies, author profiles, types of industries, tools/techniques/methodology used, etc.

Agile manufacturing (AM) has the new scenario in the business system and it is widely seen as a “New Revolution” in the manufacturing firms. AM, which continuously focusses on the adoption of new methodologies and quickly respond to the customer expectation. For this reason, many of the research studies are focussed on the AM environment and this system is mainly followed in large sector only and most of the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are not aware of it. Especially in the developing countries which are still lagging behind in the implementation of AM. Considering the above reason, the purpose of this paper is to assess the awareness of AM in Indian SMEs.

By means of researching many literature reviews and empirical data collected by using a self-administrated instrument distributed to the selected Indian SMEs and the awareness about the AM was investigated. The authors have selected 100 SMEs in Indian service sectors and sent the data sheets through by e-mail and also by directly visiting the company and collected the information. A total of 68 useable survey data’s were identified from the final analysis. The study data sample consists of a group of selected Indian SMEs, from different industries including the pump and foundry industries. The collected data were analyzed using the graphical representation method and by the statistical analysis.

The analysis revealed the significance and usage of AM in the Indian SMEs. The results also suggested that the Indian SMEs are well aware of the AM system, through more efforts need to be focussed on implementing this system properly and effectively to improve these standards. By the use of agile models and frameworks in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), would result in cost-effectiveness in their quality and services and can be continuously improving the ongoing agile practices.

Indian SMEs managers seem to be stronger familiar with the agile concepts and practices and they believe that agile environment would guaranteeing in their services and high-quality products. Therefore, SMEs should concentrate and invest in agile practices that would help them to improve their competitiveness in the global market. Further, Indian SMEs managers and practitioners would concentrate more about this maintenance of standards and with this dynamic approach it takes toward the agile environment to meet the future challenges.

The data collected and the results provided in this paper will help in understanding, the awareness about the AM environment in Indian SMEs. Also, suggest some additional improvements in the knowledge of agile to the managers and practitioners in the Indian SMEs, which could enhance the level of agile implementation.

The assessment of agile awareness in Indian SMEs, along with the concepts of understanding the AM environment, has been explained in the literature on AM in the Indian SMEs.

This study aims to examine the implementation of agile practices in Industry 4.0 to assess the financial performance measurements of manufacturing firms. It also investigates the relationship between supply chain performance and financial performance.

The study is based on an experimental research design by collecting data from 329 responses from key officials of manufacturing firms. The analyses are carried out to explore this modern concept with the help of the SPSS program, which is used to conduct a confirmatory factor and reliability analysis and Smart-partial least square (PLS) version 4.0 with structural equation modeling.

This research demonstrates the positive effect agile supply chain strategies in Industry 4.0 may have on manufacturing companies' financial performance as a whole. Everything throughout the supply chain in Industry 4.0, from the manufacturers to the end users, is taken into account as a potential performance booster. The values obtained from the model's study show that it is both dependable and effective, surpassing the threshold for such claims. The research is supported by factors like customer involvement (CUS), continuous improvement (CI), integration (INT), modularity (MOD), management style (MS) and supplier involvement (SI) but is undermined by factors including postponement (PPT).

According to the findings of the study, Industry 4.0 firms' financial performance and overall competitiveness are significantly improved when their supply chains are more agile. A more agile supply chain helps businesses to more rapidly adapt to shifts in consumer demand, shorten the amount of time it takes to produce a product, enhance product quality and boost customer happiness. As a consequence of this, there will be an increase in revenue, an improvement in profitability and continued sustainable growth.

There are literary works available on agile practices in various fields, but the current study outlines the need to understand how supply chains perform financially under the mediating effect of agile supply chains in Industry 4.0 which contribute most to the organization's success. The study will aid companies in understanding how agile practices will further the overall performance of the organization financially.