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Quality management practitioners have yet to cease the potential of digitalisation. Furthermore, there is a lack of tools such as frameworks guiding practitioners in the digital transformation of their organisations. The purpose of this study is to provide a framework to guide quality practitioners with the implementation of digitalisation in their existing practices.

A review of literature assessed how quality management and digitalisation have been integrated. Findings from the literature review highlighted the success of the integration of Lean manufacturing with digitalisation. A comprehensive list of Lean Six Sigma tools were then reviewed in terms of their effectiveness and relevance for the hybrid digitisation approach to process improvement (HyDAPI) framework.

The implementation of the proposed HyDAPI framework in an industrial case study led to increased efficiency, reduction of waste, standardised work, mistake proofing and the ability to root cause non-conformance products.

The activities and tools in the HyDAPI framework are not inclusive of all techniques from Lean Six Sigma.

The HyDAPI framework is a flexible guide for quality practitioners to digitalise key information from manufacturing processes. The framework allows organisations to select the appropriate tools as needed. This is required because of the varying and complex nature of organisation processes and the challenge of adapting to the continually evolving Industry 4.0.

This research proposes the HyDAPI framework as a flexible and adaptable approach for quality management practitioners to implement digitalisation. This was developed because of the gap in research regarding the lack of procedures guiding organisations in their digital transition to Industry 4.0.

In Decolonizing Methodologies (1999), Linda Tuhiwai Smith asserted that “the master’s tools of colonization will not work to decolonize what the master built.” Smith challenged Indigenous researchers to fashion “new tools for the purpose of decolonizing and Indigenous tools that can revitalize Indigenous knowledge” (p. 22). A quarter of a century later, this paper reflects on the powerful impact that Smith’s call to action has had upon recent generations of bright, politically active and culturally grounded Native Hawaiian researchers, many of whom are innovatively turning to the Native epistemologies embedded in our traditional cultural practices to craft (k)new research tools and methodologies.

This paper features three Native Hawaiian scholars who are simultaneously hula and mele (traditional Hawaiian dance and song) practitioners and who instinctively turned to their hula training to guide and indigenize their research practice.

Each of these three scholars describes how they creatively applied the Hawaiian epistemologies embedded in their hula and mele training to fashion (k)new, Indigenous methodologies to guide (1) their research conduct, (2) their data analyses or interpretations and (3) the presentation of their research findings, respectively.

These three Hawaiian scholars and hula practitioners represent a larger groundswell of Native Hawaiian researchers who are bravely and creatively drawing upon the traditional wisdom and sensitivities embedded in our cultural practices to craft and wield (k)new research tools to “dismantle the master’s house” (Lorde, 1981) and build an Indigenous hale (house) of our own.

Business and operational excellence models are frequently employed by organisations as self-assessment tools for ensuring continued performance improvement. This paper presents an integrated methodology for excellence self-assessment that is applicable at organisational and functional levels.

The self-assessment methodology was sequentially developed, based on a theoretical and practical perspective, and a case study was presented.

This study develops: (1) a framework of excellence enablers and results criteria for each of the organisational, functional (core and supportive processes) and operational levels; (2) a framework of the characteristics of maturity levels of excellence according to enablers, results, organisational context, in addition to other assessment components; (3) a framework of the assessment and improvement steps for achieving excellence.

Although several proposed methodologies are available for the self-assessment of business and operational excellence, these only partially focus on various organisational aspects (such as the organisational and functional level, and organisational context) and are primarily used as business excellence models by non-large organisations. This study aims to fill the research gap in this regard.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors facilitating and influencing the adoption of DevOps practices specifically tailored to mobile software development, with a focus on understanding the influence of mobile-specific requirements on DevOps integration.

The study employs a qualitative methodology, including a literature review, exploratory case research and partial quantitative assessments through DORA metrics and survey applications. This approach, guided by the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, prioritizes in-depth insights into the adoption of DevOps practices and explores strategies for integrating DevOps in mobile software development.

The research identifies several key themes specific to Mobile DevOps adoption, including tool integration issues, testing complexities, deployment challenges and security concerns. These findings underscore the necessity for tailored DevOps solutions that can effectively address the unique demands of mobile software development. The study also proposes actionable strategies to overcome these challenges, thereby enhancing the efficiency, quality and security of mobile applications.

The insights gained from this study provide valuable guidance for practitioners in the mobile software development sector. By understanding and addressing the specific challenges of Mobile DevOps, organizations can improve their DevOps practices and achieve better outcomes in terms of project delivery speed, quality and security. For example, implementing robust testing strategies, investing in compatible tools and developing well-defined rollback procedures can significantly enhance Mobile DevOps effectiveness. Furthermore, incorporating continuous security measures and improving cross-functional collaboration can lead to more secure and efficient mobile application deployments.

This study offers valuable starting points for researching Mobile DevOps in real-world settings, based on insights from practical DevOps implementations in a single-case organization. Organizations can use this information to compare their own DevOps approaches with those of the studied organization, and can facilitate self-assessment and improvement.

This study contributes to the limited literature on Mobile DevOps adoption and proposing actionable strategies. By incorporating the TOE framework, it provides a comprehensive guide that enhances understanding and management of DevOps practices throughout the mobile application development lifecycle and offers significant value to practitioners and researchers alike.

Healthcare organizations have been facing challenges due to high costs and low efficiency in health services. The growth of costs and losses caused by avoidable mistakes lead to the search for solutions, and Health Lean Management appears as a potential solution to help in solving service quality problems, as well as reducing risks. This study aims to analyse the state of the art in the literature centred on the Lean approach in the context of risk management in healthcare organizations, and to identify new research opportunities, highlighting possible lines of future research.

Following a systematic literature review approach, 51 papers were considered relevant for this research, and reviewed to explore the development of literature in this area.

Based on the results, five main research streams were identified: (1) risk management oriented towards patient safety; (2) risk management oriented towards employee safety; (3) importance of attitudes and behaviours in risk reduction projects; (4) Lean tools used in healthcare risk management and (5) Integration of approaches. Moreover, several shortcomings were identified in literature.

Identified shortcomings represent significant opportunities for further research development.

This paper aims to highlight how the six sigma methods helped the medical equipment manufacturing company in finding and analysing the root causes that lead to the reduction in production rate, rejection rates, quality and other major causes that lead to the reduction in productivity of the blood bags manufacturing unit.

Given the critical nature of blood bag manufacturing Six Sigma was chosen as the primary methodology for this research since Six Sigma’s data-driven approach provides a structured framework to identify, analyse and rectify inefficiencies in the production processes. This study proposes the Six Sigma DMAIC (D-Define, M-Measure, A-Analyse, I-Improve, C-Control) encompassing rigorous problem definition, precise measurement, thorough analysis, improvement and vigilant control mechanisms for effectively attaining predetermined objectives.

The paper demonstrates how the Six Sigma principles were executed in a blood bag manufacturing unit. After a detailed and thorough data analysis, it was found that a total of 40 critical-to-quality factors under the five drivers such as Machine, Components, Inspection and Testing, People and Workspace were influential factors affecting the manufacturing of blood bags. From the study, it is identified that the drivers such as inspection and testing, components and machines contribute significantly to increasing productivity.

The paper offers valuable strategic insights into implementing Six Sigma methodologies within the specific context of a blood bag manufacturing unit. The Six Sigma tools and techniques used by the project team to solve issues within the blood bag manufacturing unit can be used for similar healthcare organizations to successfully deploy Six Sigma. The insights from this research might not be directly applicable to other manufacturing facilities or industries but can be used as a guiding reference for researchers and managers.

The current state of scholarly literature indicates a significant absence in the examination of Six Sigma methodologies designed specifically to improve production output in healthcare equipment manufacturing. This paper highlights the application of Six Sigma principles to enhance efficiency in the specific context of blood bag manufacturing.

Health-care organisations face many challenges in delivering safe, high-quality services while experiencing significant pressure to increase productivity and reduce costs. In this context, hospitals have implemented lean six sigma (LSS) programmes to improve their performance. This study aims to explore the application of LSS in three different non-profit Ecuadorian hospitals to comprehend the effectiveness of the methodology under this context.

A multiple-case analysis was performed in four phases: selecting the cases, defining a data collection protocol, performing a within-case analysis of each case and performing a cross-case analysis.

This research found that the LSS application positively impacts hospital performance indicators by reducing service time. The most frequently used tools include the supplier input process output customer diagram, value stream mapping, cause-and-effect diagram, five-why analysis, Gemba walk and paired two-sample test. Lastly, the results show that the most common challenges faced were lack of top management engagement, technical training and data availability.

The study is limited by the constraint of a single Latin American country from which the cases were analysed. Collaboration with external partners, like universities, and government policies promoting training in continuous improvement methodologies are crucial for success. Academic implications stress the importance of integrating soft skills in LSS implementation and engineering education.

This study shows a multiple-case analysis of LSS in a Latin American country highlighting the most commonly used tools, their impact on performance and the challenges of implementing LSS in health-care organisations in non-profit Ecuadorian hospitals.

Quality management (QM) can support organisations in contributing to sustainable development. As a result of an expanding focus from customers towards stakeholders within QM, the perspectives to consider multiply. Understanding how practices and tools for process management are specifically affected by this increase in perspectives is key to creating the right conditions for improvement initiatives that support sustainable development.

This paper constructs a typology wherein the use of process management practices and tools is described in nine distinguished system contexts. Inductive discrimination is used to differentiate the system contexts and different use cases for process practices and tools.

Using the system of systems grid (SOSG), mainstream business process management (BPM) practices are positioned in a simple unitary context, whilst sustainability challenges also involve more complex contexts. Addressing these challenges requires integrating new tools and methods from paradigms outside of traditional functionalist business process management practices.

This paper highlights the necessity to consider system contexts when developing feasible practices and tools for effective process management.

Practical implications are that quality practitioners aiming to exploit the potential in process management to support sustainability get support for planning and conducting process improvement initiatives aiming to consider several stakeholder perspectives.

This paper presents a new typology for understanding the context of QM process initiatives and BPM in light of a contemporary sustainability focus.

This paper aims to curate open research knowledge graph (ORKG) with papers related to ontology learning and define an approach using ORKG as a computer-assisted tool to organize key-insights extracted from research papers.

Action research was used to explore, test and evaluate the use of the Open Research Knowledge Graph as a computer assistant tool for knowledge acquisition from scientific papers.

To extract, structure and describe research contributions, the granularity of information should be decided; to facilitate the comparison of scientific papers, one should design a common template that will be used to describe the state of the art of a domain.

This approach is currently used to document “food information engineering,” “tabular data to knowledge graph matching” and “question answering” research problems and the “neurosymbolic AI” domain. More than 200 papers are ingested in ORKG. From these papers, more than 800 contributions are documented and these contributions are used to build over 100 comparison tables. At the end of this work, we found that ORKG is a valuable tool that can reduce the working curve of state-of-the-art research.

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study the application of lean six sigma combined with mining transportation overall vehicle effectiveness (MTOVE) to improve mining transportation performance. MTOVE is a newly developed model to measure the overall effectiveness of mining transportation.

The method used is case study combines the MTOVE and LSS methodologies. Data were collected from the hauling operation during a three-month period. Various lean six-sigma tools, such as the Pareto chart, ANOVA, two sample t-tests, one sample t-test, cause-and-effect analysis and time study, have been used.

The case study resulted in improvement of vehicle overall effectiveness; a 35% increase in MTOVE value, a 17% improvement in productivity and a 9% increment in truck utilization. Statistical tests confirmed the significance of reducing the mean and variation in the hauling process cycle time, which led to productivity improvement.

This study provides practitioners with additional quantitative evidence of the potential benefits of LSS methods in the coal mining industry.

This paper practically and unquestionably has contributed to the LSS body of knowledge focused on the mining sector, which is recently still far behind the manufacturing sector. The study has demonstrated that some challenges in the mining environment can be solved through the effective implementation of LSS tools. Hence, this paper could be used as a reference for both researchers and practitioners.

The study contributes in the field of LSS spread in mining industries using a case study. This study shows practical evidence of improving overall vehicle effectiveness using LSS. Practitioners can refer to this study to understand the benefits of LSS in mining sector. Since the mining industry should also adopt the LSS principle into the mining business process due to its ability to improve business performance (Valente et al., 2020; Tupamahu et al., 2019; Zanon et al., 2021).

There has been little scientific study of the LSS implementation in the mining industry. This research provides detailed evidence of LSS implementation in the mining sector. The main contribution is the implementation framework, which shows the combination of newly developed indicators (MTOVE and LSS) to enhance hauling operation effectiveness. This paper demonstrates how LSS tools and methods can be applied in the mining transportation industry.