Enablers for Lean Six Sigma and Agile Implementation: An Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach

Abstract

In recent decades, industries are going through a cut-throat competition and unexpected pitfall in growth rates has worsened it. In previous two decades, the synergy of Lean and Six Sigma seems to be a renowned continuous improvement (CI) business strategy in order to reduce the cost, increase the productivity, enhance the product quality in the manufacturing sector. Nowadays, the criteria for order winning are not only the low cost but it includes the availability, variety, best in class quality and customized products. Only the organizations nimble enough to react to the dynamic requirements from customers on every form can keep their foothold in the marketplace. It is the time when industry requires a new strategy in combinations with Lean and Six Sigma methodology, i.e., agile manufacturing (AM). It is the strategy by which the industry can quickly react according to the demands and expectations of its customers. AM, when applied in combination with Lean Six Sigma (LSS), can enable an organization to offer desired products and services quickly to its customers without compromising the quality at an optimum price. In this paper, 18 enablers for LSS and AM implementation are identified through vast literature review, the opinion of industry and academia experts and inter-relationships among the identified enablers are established by interpretive structural modeling (ISM). Implementation of such ISM-based model of enablers would give a clear understanding of these enablers so that researchers, decision makers, managers and practitioners will use their resources more effectively.