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Analyzing the Implementation of Lean Methodologies and Practices in the Portuguese Industry: A Survey

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  • Carla M. A. Pinto

    (ISEP—School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
    CMUP—Center for Mathematics, University of Porto, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal)

  • Jorge Mendonça

    (ISEP—School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal)

  • Lurdes Babo

    (CEOS.PP and Porto Accounting and Business School, Polytechnic of Porto, 4265-004 São Mamede de Infesta, Portugal)

  • Francisco J. G. Silva

    (ISEP—School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
    INEGI—Instituto de Ciência e Inovação em Engenharia Mecânica e Engenharia Industrial, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

  • José L. R. Fernandes

    (ISEP—School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal)

Abstract

The mass production paradigm on which much of the industry was based has changed. The market is increasingly demanding, requesting diversity and products that are more and more adapted to personal wishes and requirements. This implies producing a greater diversity of products in smaller quantities. Competitiveness is enormous, which forces most companies to be truly effective and efficient, taking care of product quality, delivery time, and final cost. Lean methodologies have been a valuable aid in this field. The diversity of Lean tools has been shown to have answers to the most diverse challenges, and companies are aware of this, increasingly adopting methodologies and processes that aim to progressively reduce waste and adapting their production paradigm to what the market requires. This work intends to provide a vision, as global as possible, of the pathway of Lean implementation in the Portuguese industry. For this purpose, a survey was carried out with a significant sample of Portuguese industrial companies from a wide range of activity sectors. The data collected through the survey were treated statistically, and then a SWOT analysis of the results was performed, which provided a collection of precious information on the evolution of industrial companies in Portugal.

Suggested Citation

  • Carla M. A. Pinto & Jorge Mendonça & Lurdes Babo & Francisco J. G. Silva & José L. R. Fernandes, 2022. "Analyzing the Implementation of Lean Methodologies and Practices in the Portuguese Industry: A Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-24, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1929-:d:744562
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Arun Bhiva Rane & Vivek K. Sunnapwar & Santosh Rane, 2016. "Strategies to overcome the HR barriers in successful lean implementation," International Journal of Procurement Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(2), pages 223-247.
    2. Phadermrod, Boonyarat & Crowder, Richard M. & Wills, Gary B., 2019. "Importance-Performance Analysis based SWOT analysis," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 194-203.
    3. De, Debashree & Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Dey, Prasanta Kumar & Ghosh, Sadhan Kumar, 2020. "Impact of Lean and Sustainability Oriented Innovation on Sustainability Performance of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: A Data Envelopment Analysis-based framework," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 416-430.
    4. Hardcopf, Rick & Liu, Gensheng (Jason) & Shah, Rachna, 2021. "Lean production and operational performance: The influence of organizational culture," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. David Ferreira & Pedro Cunha, 2022. "Ranking Critical Tools in the Implementation of Lean Six Sigma as an Integrated Management System in Portugal," Papers 2212.00088, arXiv.org.
    2. Catherine Maware & David M. Parsley, 2022. "The Challenges of Lean Transformation and Implementation in the Manufacturing Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-24, May.
    3. Pedro Marques & Lígia Conceição & André M. Carvalho & João Reis, 2025. "Driving Sustainable Operations: Aligning Lean Six Sigma Practices with Sustainability Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-23, October.
    4. Abdullah Emre Keleş & Hatice Kübra Yılmaz, 2022. "Investigation of Lean Production Knowledge among Employees in Building Inspection Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-18, November.
    5. Fu-Kwun Wang & Benedictus Rahardjo & Pol Rifa Rovira, 2022. "Lean Six Sigma with Value Stream Mapping in Industry 4.0 for Human-Centered Workstation Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-19, September.

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