A road map for the implementation of integrated JIT-lean practices in Indian manufacturing industries using the best-worst method approach

This paper aims at developing a road map to assist decision-makers to facilitate the successful implementation of the integrated Just-in-Time (JIT)-lean practices for improved performance of the Indian manufacturing industries. This study identifies twenty-six practices of the integrated JIT-lean manufacturing system through a comprehensive literature survey and experts' opinion and further classifies them into five main categories. The importance of these practices is established using a recently developed novel multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method i.e. Best-Worst method (BWM). Further, a sensitivity analysis is also carried out to ensure that the ranking of the various practices derived by the BWM is robust. The results of this study reveal that out of five categories, organizational factors (P1) and human factors (P5) are the most important and the least important practices respectively. While, among the twenty-six practices of the sub-category, management commitment (P11) and employee empowerment (P51) are the most and the least significant practices respectively. Finally, a road map for the integrated JIT-lean practices is developed to enable managers and practitioners to understand the influence of the various practices in the successful adoption of the JIT-lean manufacturing system.