Decision making process in lean assessment and implementation: a review

Lean manufacturing (LM), by providing significant advancement in systems performance and efficiency, has recently come to a wide use in industrial environments. LM, providing tools that can target types of waste and improve various aspects of manufacturing systems implementation, uses the application of such tools to improve operational and financial aspects of organizations. Critical decisions with multiple contradictory criteria are associated with lean implementation (LI), leading to a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem. A great deal of work has been directed toward understanding the decision-making process involved in LI process, but with little focus on the role of MCDM involving a LI chain. More than two hundred articles were reviewed and categorized, and the decision-making process as related to LI is structured into three main levels. First, the leanness level should be determined to describe the need for lean tools. Second, based on the leanness level, lean tools can be selected for implementation. Finally, appropriate parameters for the selected tools should be determined. The result of this categorization is a platform providing a comprehensive understanding of full-chain decision-making in LI. In general, adequate quality of decisions should be realized through all levels to ensure efficient LI.