Lean supply chain practices: an exploratory study on their relationship

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationships among the implementation of LSC practices. Particularly, the authors examine the adoption level of 27 LSC practices, which were identified in a literature review, within 113 manufacturing companies from different sectors located in Southern Brazil. Design/methodology/approach - Data collected were analyzed by means of multivariate techniques (partial correlation analysis) and two control variables were used: level of onshore suppliers and company's experience on lean manufacturing implementation. Findings - The results showed that the relationship among practices may not always be synergic, since there are pairs of practices that, when concurrently implemented they tend to conflict, hindering their benefits. Originality/value - The use of partial correlations between pairs of LSC practices provides means to better understand specific associations, disregarding the implementation effect of the whole set of practices. The research also provides managers and practitioners arguments to better comprehend how practices interact with each other under specific contexts.