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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the lean six sigma implementation process and its quantified benefits for the recycling industry. Specifically, the goals of the project were to improve the processes and increase capacity for a government operated material recovery facility (MRF) in Toledo, Ohio, USA.

The six sigma DMAIC methodology was utilized for this study. This included aligning and optimizing processes and the removal of process‐generated defects and errors.

After comparison of the current and future states of the MRF, it is found that by reducing non‐value added activities, productivity was increased by 7.3 percent for paper bales, 12.8 percent for commingled bales and 1.6 percent for old corrugated container (OCC) bales. The project generated over $65,000 in annual savings for the facility.

The findings are limited due to the focused nature of the case study and further cost‐benefit analysis can be carried out.

This paper may be useful to researchers and practitioners for understanding lean six sigma implementations and its derived benefits for the recycling industry and government operated processing facilities.

The paper is a real case study showing lean six sigma implementation and its benefits for the recycling industry; a field that has not been explored to a high degree.

This project aims to address the problems facing a small printing company during the printing of sample boards. The company was unable to meet their projected yearly demand of 200,000 boards. During the study, the team found that the company's maximum output was 143,400 from two printing machines and thus faced the need to acquire new capital. The goal of this project is, therefore, to create a sustainable process that increased the client's competitive advantage in the printing industry.

By applying Six Sigma and Lean principles, the team identified the current situation that the printing company's operations were in as well as determining the maximum possible output. The team identified methods to increase production output while finding the optimum annual labor costs per unit for possible future situations.

Approximately 30 percent of the workers' activities were found to be non‐value added and there are numerous machine delays that decreased productivity. The project also investigated the optimal number of employees that are needed to staff additional machines, should the company wish to expand its operations.

This project is unique in that it looked at a printing process with a fixed cycle time. This project is useful for any company that is restrained by cycle time and needs to find the most cost‐efficient way to expand their resources.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and introduce comprehensive insights into the field of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) by reviewing the existing literature and identifying the research gap. The state of LSS research is assessed by critically examining the field, along with a number of dimensions, including time horizon, year, journal and publisher, university, country, author, geographic analysis, research design, research affairs, research methods, tools/techniques used, focus industries, major research area, benefits gained by LSS, critical success factors and barriers of LSS implementation.

This paper is based on a systematic literature review of 190 articles containing the word LSS in their title, which are published in a well-known database, such as Elsevier ScienceDirect, Taylor and Francis, Emerald Full Text, Springer Link, Wiley InterScience and Inderscience from January 2000 to September 2016.

This analysis reveals 15 significant dimensions to identify the state of LSS research. Authors find a noticeable rise in the attention of LSS research in the available literature. Major findings show that, the empirical research holds greater credibility. Statistics prove that the case study method scores the highest among all the research methods used in the discipline. The largest number of studies have investigated research issues related to implementation and process of LSS. The LSS uses a wide range of tools/techniques/methodologies: the choice of tools is situation-specific. Manufacturing and health-care sectors have been the focus of LSS research, but LSS has also been adopted by other types of industries. The organizations following LSS have improved bottom-line results, improved company profitability and growth and enhanced customer satisfaction. In general the research is more interpretive in nature; there is still a lack of standard in the LSS implementation framework.

This study is limited to reviewing those articles which contain the word LSS appeared in the title.

This study will help understand the current state of research on LSS, various trends in the field, its applicability and future prospects of investigation in the field.

The academic literature and research lines exploring the effect of quality improvement methods on environmental performance still remain in early stages. The purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate, through a systematic review of the existing academic literature, the environmental (green) impact of using quality and operations improvement methods such as Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma. This includes the impact on energy saving and the usage of natural resources.

This study follows a systematic literature review approach through which it analyses research papers published in top 16 operations and quality management journals. No specific time frame was established, but a set of keywords were used to short-list the articles. A sample of 70 articles was finally short-listed and analysed to provide a discussion on environmental concerns related to Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma.

The comprehensive review of short-listed articles indicates that both Lean and Six Sigma can be considered effective methods to support the conservation of resources, combat global warming and saving energy. Various scholars provide evidence of this, and as such, organisations should not only consider these methods to manage quality and improve operational performance but also meet environmental regulations. A set of research questions that demands further investigation has also been proposed based on the findings of this research.

This study is limited to a sample of 70 articles collected from top 16 operations and quality management journals. The search of journals is also limited to a set of key words (“Lean”, “Green”, “Six Sigma”, “environment”, “sustainable” and “sustainability”) used to short-list the sample size.

The study shows that organisations can consider the adoption of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma to meet environmental regulations, save costs and also meet quality management standards. This will contribute in helping organisations to formulate more effective and inclusive strategies which do not only consider the quality and operational dimensions but also the environmental dimension.

Literature exploring the environmental/green impact of quality management methods commonly used in industry is limited. There is also a lack of studies aiming to investigate the green impact of Lean and Six Sigma in top operations and quality management journals. The study focusing on investigating the green impact of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma methods altogether is also a research first of its kind.

The purpose of this paper is analysis of Green and Lean Six Sigma, based on the success factors in its use through a well thought-out literature review, is being planned; a framework has been integrated in a productive manner with the Green and Lean and Six Sigma methods so as to incorporate and actualize the execution.

The methodology consists of comparative investigation of Green, Lean management and Six Sigma using open written work, essential analysis at data and master experience of the researchers. To achieve this goal, a significant review of the existing literature of the subject area has been done to prepare a framework in view of the critical success factors. A study was arranged and flowed survey from various businesses utilizing John’s Macintosh Project (JMP) statistical software.

The paper establishes the distinguishing proof of five success factors with their situational importance and shows that the integrated Green and Lean Six Sigma can drive the organizations to optimize their resources and cost of services or productions.

A Green and Lean Six Sigma organization would take profits by the use of the proposed framework in an alternate extent of organizations should be dynamic. The organizations should assess their shortcomings and qualities, set needs and perceive objectives for fruitful implementation.

Suggestions are being made regarding thoughts and methods that would constitute a Green and Lean Six Sigma organization. The suggested framework compare the method for improvements that may occur in organizations while implementation of the Green and Lean management or Six Sigma.

Bioconcrete is widely believed to be environmentally beneficial over conventional concrete. However, the process of bioconcrete production involves several steps, such as waste recovery and treatment, that potentially present significant environmental impacts. Existing life-cycle assessments of bioconcrete are limited in the inventory and impact analysis; therefore, they do not consider all the steps involved in concrete production and the corresponding impacts. The purpose of this study is to extensively study the cradle-to-gate environmental impacts of all the production stages of two most common bioconcrete types (i.e. sludge-based bioconcrete and cement kiln dust-rice husk ash (CKD-RHA) bioconcrete) as opposed to conventional concrete.

A cradle-to-gate life-cycle assessment process model is implemented to systematically analyze and quantify the resources consumed and the environmental impacts caused by the production of bioconcrete as opposed to the production of conventional concrete. The impacts analyzed in this assessment include global warming potential, ozone depletion potential, eutrophication, acidification, ecotoxicity, smog, fossil fuel use, human toxicity, particulate air and water consumption.

The results indicated that sludge-based bioconcrete had higher levels of global warming potential, eutrophication, acidification, ecotoxicity, fossil fuel use, human toxicity and particulate air than both conventional concrete and CKD-RHA bioconcrete.

The contribution of this study to the state of knowledge is that it sheds light on the hidden impacts of bioconcrete. The contribution to the state of practice is that the results of this study inform the bioconcrete production designers about the production processes with the highest impact.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a comprehensive review and assessment of the extant Six Sigma healthcare literature, focusing on: application, process changes initiated and outcomes, including improvements in process metrics, cost and revenue.

Data were obtained from an extensive literature search. Healthcare Six Sigma applications were categorized by functional area and department, key process metric, cost savings and revenue generation (if any) and other key implementation characteristics.

Several inpatient care areas have seen most applications, including admission, discharge, medication administration, operating room (OR), cardiac and intensive care. About 42.1 percent of the applications have error rate as their driving metric, with the remainder focusing on process time (38 percent) and productivity (18.9 percent). While 67 percent had initial improvement in the key process metric, only 10 percent reported sustained improvement. Only 28 percent reported cost savings and 8 percent offered revenue enhancement. These results do not favorably assess Six Sigma's overall effectiveness and the value it offers healthcare. Results are based on reported applications. Future research can include directly surveying healthcare organizations to provide additional data for assessment.

Future application should emphasize obtaining improvements that lead to significant and sustainable value. Healthcare staff can use the results to target promising areas.

This article comprehensively assesses Six Sigma healthcare applications and impact.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of three strategic environmental options on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Namely, we examine the effects of pollution prevention and waste management (PPWM) practices, green supply chain (GSC) practices, and outsourcing on reducing local and supply chain GHG emissions.

Using ASSET4 and deploying first-differencing fixed-effects panel data models, the study conducts a large-scale empirical examination on the effects of these focal strategic environmental options on GHG emissions.

This study finds that PPWM practices reduce local GHG emissions and that GSC practices reduce supply chain GHG emissions. The results also show that outsourcing does not reduce local GHG emissions and has an adverse effect on supply chain GHG emissions.

The study findings indicate that environmental practices are effective in reducing GHG emissions. However, they are effective only in their corresponding domain. Further, outsourcing is not a viable strategic option, and managers should be mindful of its undesired environmental consequences.

Firms undertake strategic environmental options, such as implementing environmental practices and reallocating production activities, to improve their environmental performance. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these options on reducing GHG emissions has not been thoroughly examined.