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This article celebrates the 50th anniversary of IJPDLM, reflects on the contribution of IJPDLM to the field of logistics and supply chain management (LSCM) and discusses future directions for the journal.

Descriptive analysis of manuscripts received and accepted by IJPDLM during 2015–2019 is used to provide an overview of the journal. Content analysis of selected articles is used to highlight important contributions of the journal. Changes made since 2020 are highlighted to inform future directions of IJPDLM. Invited articles are discussed and used to clarify future directions.

IJPDLM has made tremendous progress in informing and shaping the field of LSCM. Key issues addressed include sustainability and reverse logistics, omni-channel, e-commerce, retail logistics, risk, resilience, volatility, and complexity and digital technology innovation. The journal has expanded the use of methods beyond the typical qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the use of design science, experiment, conjoint analysis, qualitative comparative analysis, narrative analysis. The invited articles provide (1) a historical reflection of the purpose of the journal when it was launched, (2) new guidance on how to develop theories using literature review and grounded theories and (3) understanding of startups and supply chain ecosystems.

Some exemplar articles are highlighted to explain how IJPDLM informs LSCM managers, companies and policy makers.

This article explains the recent development and sets future directions for the LSCM field.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among just-in-time (JIT), total quality management (TQM) and production operations performance (POP) based on the survey data from Chinese manufacturing firms, provide managerial implications of effectively implementing JIT and TQM for firms in developing countries.

Questionnaires were collected from 173 Chinese manufacturing firms. Three hypotheses on the relationships among JIT, TQM and POP were first established based on literature review. Empirical study method of structural equation modeling using SPSS and AMOS as data processing tools is employed to test the hypotheses.

The results show that, on one hand, JIT positively influences TQM and POP; on the other hand, although TQM also has positive relationship with POP, the relationship is not significant at a given significant level. Meanwhile, the author survey also shows that JIT and TQM have complementary relationship, i.e., JIT and TQM can benefit each other in a firm.

TQM is a base of implementing JIT, it is valuable to concurrently implement JIT and TQM in manufacturing firms in order to improve the POP.

It is believed that this research reveals new insights about the JIT and TQM implementation in Chinese manufacturing firms; it has practice value for firms to improve the implementation performance of JIT and TQM.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the adoption of Lean manufacturing (LM) contributes towards the sustainability performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India.

The study is based on a multi-case study approach conducted among five independent Indian manufacturing SMEs. The information from direct observation, structured questionnaire interviews with key persons and archival data are used to analyse and cross-check the relationship. An assessment tool, developed using the variables collected from the previous works, is used to measure the relationship.

The study provides a solid basis for the contribution and positive influence of LM towards the sustainability performance in SMEs. The manufacturing SMEs that have adopted Lean principles and practices are benefited more towards their economic, environmental and social sustainability performances, irrespective of their operational characteristics such as firm size and final product.

This is a limited study conducted in a particular state in India by selecting only five independent case companies with divergent operational characteristics such as size of the firms, product and manufacturing process.

The study contributes by authorising the contribution of LM towards sustainability performance of SMEs. The findings will inspire academic community and industrial practitioners to expend for the adoption of Lean principles looking forward the sustainable development of the SMEs.