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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the contributions of total productive maintenance (TPM) initiatives towards improving manufacturing performance in Indian Manufacturing Industry.

In this study, a large number of manufacturing organizations have been extensively surveyed, to ascertain contributions made by TPM initiatives in the Indian manufacturing industries towards realizing manufacturing performance improvements. The correlations between various TPM implementation dimensions and manufacturing performance improvements have been evaluated and validated by employing various statistical tools.

The research focuses upon the significant contributions of TPM implementation success factors like top management leadership and involvement, traditional maintenance practices and holistic TPM implementation initiatives, towards affecting improvements in manufacturing performance in the Indian industry. The inter‐relationships between various TPM implementation success factors with the manufacturing performance improvement parameters have been evaluated, to efficiently manage the TPM implementation program to realize organizational objectives of growth and sustainability.

The study establishes that focused TPM implementation over a reasonable time period can strategically contribute towards realization of significant manufacturing performance enhancements.

The study stresses upon the need for improving the synergy between maintenance function and other organizational quality improvement initiatives in the organizations, to establish maintenance as a competitive strategy for meeting the challenges of highly competitive environments.

The study highlights the strong potential of TPM implementation initiatives in affecting organizational performance improvements. The achievements of Indian manufacturing organizations through proactive TPM initiatives have been evaluated and critical TPM success factors identified for enhancing the effectiveness of TPM implementation programs in the Indian context.

This study has analyzed strategic issues in implementing advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) in manufacturing organizations in India and their relative importance.

A survey of manufacturing organizations was conducted, and the data were analyzed using statistical tools (one-sample t-tests, correlation and regression analyses).

Improvement in product quality and flexibility of operations are the motivation for AMTs implementation. Top management support and sound financial conditions are essential for implementing AMTs. Successful implementation of AMTs helps in reducing the lead time and improving overall business performance.

The findings of this study will help organizations in the implementation of AMTs for improving productivity and business performance. The study is limited to manufacturing organizations in India.

Organizations should allocate sufficient funds for AMT applications. Organizational culture should be made conducive to the adoption of new technologies. Employees should be provided adequate training for its successful implementation.

The main contribution of this paper is that it provides a detailed analysis of strategic issues for implementing AMTs in manufacturing organizations.

The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between organizational structure and lean implementation success and to explore the impact of a lean implementation on the development of employee problem-solving skills. Organizations that implement lean manufacturing strategies experience widely differing results, with unexpected outcomes for some organizations.

This study was conducted using qualitative research methodologies. Specifically, a case study was performed at an electronics manufacturer in the northwestern USA over a three-month time period. The researchers collected data from a variety of sources at the manufacturing site.

Two significant findings emerged. First, the lack of dedicated personnel for the lean implementation inhibited the widespread adoption of lean practices. Second, evidence supported the role of the lean implementation in positively affecting employee problem-solving skills.

This paper is relevant to most manufacturing organizations; however, lean implementations are likely as unique as the organizations themselves. Given that the study used a single-site case study, utilizing qualitative methods, additional research is needed to confirm the findings for a larger range of manufacturing organizations. The results do indicate, however, that an organization with fewer resources to dedicate to the lean effort may find the transformation process slow and may experience fewer performance benefits. Likewise, further empirical study would help strengthen the findings regarding the relationship between the lean implementation and noticeable improvement in employee problem-solving skills.

The literature stream for lean manufacturing provides examples of how lean implementations have not only noticeably affected tangible metrics related to profits and expenses but have also helped positively influence factors such as employee safety, morale and empowerment. For some organizations, considering the effect of these intangible factors before committing to a new manufacturing approach may prove useful. This study focused on exploring, in a much deeper way, through qualitative methods, how organizational structure can impact a lean implementation and how it ultimately acts as a catalyst for the increased development of employee problem-solving skills.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, by reviewing the literature, the relationship between quality management and business performance with a comparison between manufacturing and service organizations.

This meta‐analytic study critically examines the literature and evaluates the business performance implications of adopting quality management principles in manufacturing and service organizations. Altogether, 14 published research studies were identified that focused on the relationship between quality management and business performance with a comparison between manufacturing and service organizations.

The results show several inconsistencies in previous research when it comes to the relationship between quality management and business performance when comparing manufacturing and service organizations. Some of these inconsistencies concern the principles of supplier relationships, leadership commitment and customer orientation. The inconsistencies can be explained by a number of factors: the difference in size of the organizations included in the studies, the cultural aspect and the research design. Regarding consistencies, two quality management principles stand out in several studies as being more central for service organizations: employee management and process orientation.

The results can provide guidance for service managers aiming to implement quality management. In addition, the paper provides guidance to researchers about methodological issues so that future research can provide more reliable and valid results.

The paper provides a critical review of previous research on what principles of quality management should be adopted in a service organization.

The purpose of this research paper is to evaluate the contributions of 5S implementation in the Indian manufacturing industries and its impact on the enhancement of their business performance.

The research study has been accomplished in the large number of manufacturing organizations that have successfully imbibed the 5S technique or are in the process of implementing 5S initiatives alone or along with other lean manufacturing practices. An elaborated “5S Questionnaire” has been designed to determine the contextual factors and their impact on the enhancement of business performance.

The results reveal that the majority of organizations have shown total commitment toward the implementation and objective realization of 5S quality policy at all levels in the organizations. The implementation of 5S has facilitated manufacturing organizations to accrue significant benefits such as improvement in overall organizational, productivity, quality, safety, employee morale values, effective workspace utilization, and cost optimizations. The results also show the elimination of serious chronic manufacturing system problems such as delays, breakdown, demoralized employees, declining profits, and dissatisfied customers through holistic 5S implementation.

The limitation of the study is that it encompasses only the manufacturing organizations, while a similar study can also be conducted in services sector also.

The study highlights the detailed contributions of 5S principles in the development of manufacturing organizations and its impact on the enhancement of business performance for remaining competitive in global market world.

This paper aims to deploy Lean Six Sigma (LSS) framework to facilitate defect reduction and enhance bottom line results of an automotive component manufacturing organization.

LSS is a business process improvement strategy widely used in the manufacturing field for enhancing manufacturing organization performance. The integration of Lean and Six Sigma will enable the attainment of defects reduction by eliminating non-value-adding activities from production line. LSS framework has been developed with the integration of define–measure–analysis–improve–control (DMAIC) tools and techniques.

The finding of this study is that the LSS framework has been successfully implemented in automotive component manufacturing organization, and non-value-adding activities and defects from assembly line have been reduced. The proposed LSS framework applies lean tools within Six Sigma DMAIC approach to facilitate waste elimination and defect reduction. The developed framework with linkage of DMAIC tools and techniques reduces defects and non-value-adding activities with enhanced bottom line results. The implementation of proposed LSS framework shows effective improvement in key metrics.

The developed framework has been test implemented in an automotive component manufacturing organization. In future, more number of studies could be conducted. Further, advanced lean tools and techniques could be included in the framework for increasing the effectiveness of production line.

The proposed LSS framework with linkage of DMAIC tools and techniques has been successfully implemented in an assembly line of automotive component manufacturing organization. This method is presently applied for an automotive component manufacturing organization; in future, the approach could be applied in different industrial sectors with addition of new tools and techniques for improving its effectiveness.

LSS framework has been designed and test implemented in an assembly line of an automotive component manufacturing organization. Hence, the inferences are practical and key results of the study.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the multidimensionality of total productive maintenance (TPM) and its relationship with manufacturing performance improvement in the Malaysian manufacturing sector. Specifically, this study evaluates the contribution of each TPM success factors in improving manufacturing performance.

Data from 89 employees who participated in the survey were used to test the proposed research framework. A structured questionnaire adopted from Ahuja and Khamba (2006) was used to assess the Malaysian context.

The analytical results reveal that traditional maintenance initiatives and TPM implementation initiatives significantly affect manufacturing performance, but not top management leadership and maintenance organisation. Top management roles and commitment are critical in the early stage to determine the master plan and initiate the implementation of the whole programme. However, traditional maintenance and TPM implementation initiatives gradually enable engagement, proper planning, right execution and continuous improvement, ultimately improving the manufacturing performance indicators significantly. The findings further unveil that TPM is not sustainable in Malaysia’s manufacturing organisations in the long run.

This analysis is vital for senior managers of manufacturing organisations that have implemented TPM or are considering introducing TPM in their organisations.

This study contributes to the literature by examining beyond the introduction and stabilisation phase of TPM to provide an insight of whether TPM is sustainable in the long run.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current level of supply chain practices (SCPs) in Indian manufacturing organizations.

The 15 SCPs are identified based on the literature support and opinion of industry experts and academia, and data were collected from 292 organizations. Data were analyzed using the statistical package for the social science software to see the current level/penetration of SCPs in Indian manufacturing organizations.

The practices, namely, organizational culture, customer relationship, information and communication technology, benchmarking and performance measurement, lean manufacturing, agile manufacturing, supplier relationship are highly penetrated practices in Indian manufacturing organizations. The practices, namely, outsourcing, information sharing, just in time manufacturing, green supply chain management are moderately penetrated practices, while the practices, namely, reverse logistics, postponement, vendor managed inventory, radio frequency are least penetrated practices in Indian manufacturing organizations.

Further study can be extended to see the of penetration practices applicable to service and agriculture sectors.

The result of this paper will enable the organizations to identify and direct their focus on the areas that requires improvement. Also, the organizations will become more aware of the SCPs that will help in boosting up their performance and competitiveness and indirectly boost the growth and contribute to India’s economic development.

This is the first kind of study which checked the level of selected SCPs in Indian manufacturing organizations.

The aim of this analysis is to review the Indian manufacturing organizations practicing Lean Six Sigma (LSS) tools/techniques with an objective of monitoring the performance of an organization and to develop recommendation for strategies to benchmark organizational operational efficiency.

This study offers insights of the LSS performance measurement aspects of the Indian manufacturing organizations based on Data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. The five inputs and two outputs are considered on the basis of literature review and discussed with the practitioners.

In this analysis, the relative efficiency score of 18 Indian manufacturing organizations has been determined in order to assist evaluation of the impact of monetary investment on the outputs. The present analysis not only investigates the optimum level of input variables but also lays down a significant observation that an organization having higher profit and inventory turnover ratio is not necessarily an efficient organization.

The results assist to determine the best practice units, potential source of inefficiency and deliver beneficial data for the consistent enhancement of the operational efficiency. The DEA results assist managers and decision makers to derive appropriate strategies to enhance their performance with reference to the efficient organization and to regard it as their role model.

This analysis renders a DEA based framework of LSS practicing Indian manufacturing organizations. The framework is unique in terms of its input-outputs variable selection and measurement procedure.

The purpose of this study is to identify, evaluate and develop a structured model to measure the interrelation between critical failure factors (CFFs) that affects the implementation of the sustainable Lean Six Sigma (SLSS) framework in a manufacturing organization. Further solution approaches have been provided that inhibit those CFFs and help in successful implementation of the framework.

To find the interrelation among the selected CFFs and develop a systematic structured model, a total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) approach has been used. A 13-level model for selected CFFs has been formed after the application of the TISM approach. Further classification of CFFs has been performed for a better understanding of their nature through MICMAC analysis.

A total of 26 SLSS CFFs have been identified through a detailed study of case organization, various literature reviews and experience of panel experts toward developing a systematic model of CFFs. The solution approach has been provided by panel experts based on their industrial experiences after observing the role of CFFs in the developed model. Based on the analysis, it was found that most dependent and dominant CFFs affect the implementation of the SLSS framework in the case organization.

This study helps SLSS practitioners, project managers, decision-makers and academicians of manufacturing industries to a better understanding of the failure factors and their interrelations while implementing the SLSS framework in manufacturing organizations. This study also guides the systematic solution approach which helps in tackling such problems that occurred in manufacturing organizations.

In this study, the TISM-based structural model of CFFs for implementing the SLSS framework in manufacturing organizations has been proposed which is a very new effort in the area of a manufacturing environment.