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Lean thinking (LT) has been implemented in various manufacturing and service sectors. But, only a few published research articles have developed a framework describing the procedure for implementing LT in an educational institute. The purpose of this paper is to develop and demonstrate a framework that can provide a structured procedure for the implementation of LT in an educational institute.

Various LT tools and techniques applicable in educational institute were identified by reviewing the relevant literature. By adopting an action research methodology (ARM) for a time period of 28 months, the processes in a case institute were studied; wastes in the process were identified and various solutions were proposed and implemented.

A comparison of the performance measures before (Batch 1) and after (Batch 2) implementation of solutions provided interesting insights into the effectiveness of LT. In both the batches, absenteeism in the class was found to increase across the terms. But the magnitude of increase was lesser in Batch 2. Results also showed that the number of unfilled seats (poor utilization) in an elective course in the second year of the program drastically reduced in Batch 2. Finally, a framework that can guide LT implementation in educational institutes was proposed.

The current study describes only the initial stages of implementation in an educational institute. Hence, some of the benefits discussed are expected in the long run which can be assessed by carrying out a longitudinal study. Future study can attempt to empirically validate the proposed framework in multiple educational institutes and theoretically explain the reasons behind the results obtained.

ARM can be used as a tool by practitioners to study the behavioral aspects of employees of educational institutes toward LT implementation. The proposed framework and its demonstration can assist employees in educational institutes to implement LT. Positive results obtained in this study can further motivate the educational institutes to consider LT as a potential tool for improving the processes.

This is the first study to develop and validate a framework for structured implementation of LT in the processes of an educational institute. The study is also unique in empirically capturing the impact of LT implementation of an educational institute by analyzing the archived data.

The purpose of this work is to gain insights about Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the Indian context by reviewing the related literature for one decade based on various perspectives, such as author profile, year of publication, type of firm, type of methodology used, type of industry for which the research work is carried out and the key findings from the research.

This study reviews the research related to LSS from the articles published in the reputed journals. The literature used for reviewing is derived from the sources, including Science direct, Google scholar, IEEE, Taylor and Francis Group, Emerald Insight, Springer, Inderscience and Elsevier during the period between 2010 and 2021. Totally, the authors have included 141 LSS-related research articles that are published in the Indian context. The keywords used are Lean Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma in the Indian context, Lean Sigma and LSS to identify and consolidate the research papers published during this timeframe.

The research papers collected from various reputed journals, including Scopus and non- Scopus enlisted, are classified and grouped under various categories to identify the class of author who publishes more in this field, research trend over the years, the type of firm which implements LSS, the research methodology which is commonly used in LSS and related research and also the key takeaway from these articles are highlighted. Further, the authors have also identified the major contributions of researchers in various sectors during this period in India.

This classification framework and the systematic review help in identifying the research gap and in giving directions for future researchers. It will be useful for researchers and practitioners working on the area of LSS, rural and urban entrepreneurs, start-up managers, professionals working in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and executives of the Make in India Project to make India as Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. Further, the clear direction of progress over the current decade in manufacturing industries, service sectors and processing industries can help the professionals working in these sectors.

This research aims to conduct a literature review of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the Indian context and related research publications and apply bibliometric analysis and the author's visualization to map research trends in this area.

This article conducts a bibliometric analysis of LSS-related research in the Indian context using data gathered from Scopus and Web of Science databases from 2011 to 2022. The review provides information on LSS-related research in the Indian context and evaluates performance based on primary sources, authors, keywords, countries, affiliations, and documents. The analysis employs the Biblioshiny app and Bibliometrix R-tool for data analysis and scientific mapping.

The results of the bibliometric analysis indicate that the LSS culture has widely spread in India. The International Journal of Lean Six Sigma and Production Planning and Control were found to be the most productive sources for publishing LSS-related research articles. Antony J. was identified as the most active author in this field, contributing the most over the years. Among all organizations, NITs have conducted the most comprehensive research on LSS, indicating their significant investment of resources and efforts in studying this methodology and its applications in India. Additionally, the study examined the intellectual, social, and conceptual structures to identify implicit gaps and future research opportunities.

The findings of this study can inform academicians, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers about the state-of-the-art and the specifics of the most prolific studies. This study will facilitate their exploration of emerging research areas in LSS.

To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first bibliometric analysis of LSS in the Indian context, providing an overview of relevant publications published between 2011 and 2022. This study analyzed 194 articles on LSS in India, which can help researchers and academics identify emerging research areas, suitable collaborators, and relevant journals for future publications.

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is often perceived as a foundation for implementing Industry 4.0 (I4.0) within an organization, with the two strengthening each other in different ways. The purpose of this article is to examine the evolution, trends and motivation for merging LSS and I4.0 and to gain insights into LSS 4.0 in both manufacturing and service sectors. This article also explores the effective methods for integrating and implementing LSS 4.0 in both manufacturing and service sectors, along with conducting a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis of LSS 4.0.

By conducting a systematic literature review in compliance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, relevant literature from 2010 to 2023 was reviewed using appropriate keywords and research criteria. The objective was to identify, select and evaluate research articles related to LSS 4.0. Consequently, 159 relevant papers were located in databases, including Elsevier, Taylor and Francis Group, IEEE, Springer, Emerald Insights, Scopus and non-Scopus databases. Additionally, this review aimed to understand the progress of LSS 4.0 from the manufacturing and service sector context and to perform a SWOT analysis of LSS 4.0.

This review reveals a significant surge in the literature on LSS and I4.0 over the past three years. The research articles were categorized based on various themes, including the publisher, journals, types of articles and geographical factors such as country and continent. Additionally, the review examined the progress of LSS 4.0 in both manufacturing and service sectors. A SWOT analysis was also performed to identify the SWOT of LSS 4.0.

This is the first exclusive research work to conduct a SWOT analysis of LSS 4.0. This research article is highly valuable for academicians, researchers, policymakers and practitioners as it helps to identify the SWOT of LSS 4.0. Furthermore, it provides an overview of the progress of LSS 4.0 from both manufacturing and service sector perspectives, and significant case studies are discussed.

The purpose of this research paper is to optimize the process parameters of selective laser sintering process, and the sintered parts of PA2200 prototypes are built with minimum surface roughness within the range of 10-12 microns using the Taguchi design of experiments approach.

In this research paper, a 3D model is created using catia V5 and exported to rapid prototype machine, and the 3D model file was repaired by using Magics software to remove the facets and saved with file extension .stl (standard triangulation language).Taguchi design of experiments approach L9 orthogonal array was selected with three factors at three levels each and total nine experiments were conducted with the quality index lower-the-better signal-to-noise ratio to produced better quality prototypes by optimizing the process parameters like laser power, layer thickness and temperature and tested on surface tester for surface roughness. The experimental results of surface roughness were compared with Regression Analysis, S/N Ratio, Analysis of Mean and predicted model on sintered prototypes.

The experimental results obtained after testing on the surface tester compared with mathematical model for the quality index lower-the-better signal-noise ratio with optimal process parameters operating at Temperature at level 3, Layer thickness at level 3, and Laser power at level 3, regression analysis, and predictive model the output response variable surface roughness, is with in the range of 9-10.5 microns are all most same and from ANOM (Analysis of Mean), temperature at leve1, layer thickness at level 2, laser power at level 2 is 9 -9.6 microns.

The process parameters such as beam diameter and table speed were not considered on output response variable surface roughness in this research paper.

All the experiments were conducted and the parts are produced by using the material PA2200 in the powder from and sintered by Co₂ laser by varying the process parameters with optimal settings to produce minimum surface roughness the out put from this paper is the influence of process parameters on surface roughness can be predicted at optimal settings with in less time and cost.

Liquid crystal display (LCD)-based stereolithography (SLA) technique has been used in drug delivery and fabrication of microfluidic devices and piezoelectric materials. It is an additive manufacturing technique where an LCD source has been used as a mask to project the image onto the tank filled with photo curable resin. This resin, when interacted with light, becomes solid. However, critical information regarding the energy absorption during the compression analysis of different components three-dimensional (3D) printed by SLA process is still limited. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of different process parameters on the compressive properties.

In the present study, the influence of layer thickness, infill density and build orientation on the compression properties is investigated. Four infill densities, that is, 20%, 40%, 60% and 80%; five-layer thicknesses, that is, 50 µm, 75 µm, 100 µm, 150 µm and 200 µm; and two different orientations, that is, YXZ and ZXY, have been selected for this study.

It is observed that the samples printed with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) absorbed higher energy than the flexible polyurethane (FPU). Higher infill density and sample oriented on ZXY absorbed higher energy than sample printed on YXZ orientation, in both the ABS and FPU materials. Parts printed with 80% infill density and 200 µm layer thickness resulted into maximum energy for both the materials.

In this study, two different types of materials are used for the compression analysis using LCD-SLA-based 3D printer. Specific energy absorbed by the samples during compression testing is measured to compare the influence of parameters. The investigation of infill parameters particularly the infill density is very limited for the SLA-based 3D printing process. Also, the results of this study provide a database to select the print parameters to obtain the required properties. The results also compare the specific energy for hard and flexible material for the same combination of the process parameters.

Stereolithography (SLA) is a broadly used technology in the field of rapid prototyping. One of the disadvantages of SLA is poor mechanical properties of its products. To approach the mechanical properties of original part, the mechanical properties of SLA part, such as tensile strength, should be optimized. In this process, there are many parameters that affect the tensile strength of parts. However, the “layer thickness”, “fabrication orientation” and “post curing time” are the most significant ones. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of these parameters on tensile strength of SLA parts.

According to the obtained results from experiments based on the “full factorial” method, an empirical equation was developed for the tensile strength in terms of the effective parameters by using regression analysis. Considering this empirical equation, the process parameters were optimized to maximize the tensile strength by using genetic algorithm. Finally, the tensile tests of the specimens were simulated via the general-purpose finite element package of ABAQUS.

The outputs of the numerical simulations were in good agreement with experimental results. Both experimental and numerical results show that the increase of layer thickness and the decrease in post curing time increase the tensile strength. Furthermore, the tensile strength of parts produced in vertical orientation is higher than that of parts produced in horizontal orientation.

This is a complete study about the tensile strength of the SLA parts from experimental and analytical viewpoints.

Masked stereolithography (MSLA) or resin three-dimensional (3D) printing is one of the most extensively used high-resolution additive manufacturing technologies. Even though, the quality of 3D printing is determined by several factors, including the equipment, materials and slicer. Besides, the layer height, print orientation and exposure time are important processing parameters in determining the quality of the 3D printed green state specimen. The purpose of the paper is to optimize the printing parameters of the Masked Stereolithography apparatus for its dimensional correctness of 3D printed parts using the Taguchi method.

The acrylate-based photopolymer resin is used to produce the parts using liquid crystal display (LCD)-type resin 3D printer. This study is mainly focused on optimizing the processing parameters by using Taguchi analysis, L-9 orthogonal array in Minitab software. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the most influencing factors, and a regression equation was built to predict the best potential outcomes for the given set of parameters and levels. The signal-to-noise ratios were calculated by using the smaller the better characteristic as the deviations from the nominal value should be minimum. The optimal levels for each factor were determined with the help of mean plots.

Based on the findings of ANOVA, it was observed that exposure time plays an important role in most of the output measures. The model’s goodness was tested using a confirmation test and the findings were found to be within the confidence limit. Also, a similar specimen was printed using the fused filament fabrication (FFF) technique; it was compared with the quality and features of MSLA 3D printing technology.

The study presents the statistical analysis of experimental results of MSLA and made a comparison with FFF in terms of dimensional accuracy and print quality.

Many previous studies reported the results based on earlier 3D printing technology such as stereolithography but LCD-based MSLA is not yet reported for its dimensional accuracy and part quality. The presented paper proposes the use of statistical models to optimize the printing parameters to get dimensional accuracy and the good quality of the 3D printed green part.

This paper aims to identify the readiness factors (RFs) required for the deployment of lean initiatives within the context of higher education (HE), a field not yet significantly explored.

This research employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to thoroughly identify and consolidate all relevant scholarly literature concerning lean practices and readiness in the context of HE. Subsequently, a three-phase Delphi study was conducted to evaluate and enhance the findings of the SLR.

The results indicate the following seven RFs for use in HE: leadership/top management, changing environment and organisational culture, lean initiatives linked with the strategic agenda of the educational institute, employee empowerment and engagement, student value, supplier relations and continuous improvement.

By identifying such factors, the present study acknowledges the strategic nature of lean and recognises that its full strategic benefits can only be realised when properly implemented at a macro-level.

The authors believe that this is the first attempt to provide a consolidated list of RFs in the context of HE validated by a group of experts. This study expands the knowledge of lean in HE contexts, benefiting both researchers and professionals. For researchers, it provides a valuable foundation for further study of the implementation of lean programs. For professionals and practitioners, it offers insights for better preparation that are crucial for the sustainability of lean initiatives leading to overall improved performance.

The purpose of this paper is to decrease musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) problems using a combined approach including design for Six Sigma, generic product development process, and ergonomic-safety philosophies.

A total of 550 students voluntarily participated in this study. Kolmogorov–Smirnov and t-tests were used to analyze the collected anthropometry. A cause-and-effect diagram, Pareto’s chart, a brainstorming session, and a priority matrix were also used to extract the 22 design parameters of the product. Moreover, Cronbach’s alpha values were determined to verify the validity of qualitative and quantitative data.

Results showed that students are at a high risk of developing MSD issues. The most serious MSD problems among the students were neck pain (74%), back pain (73%), muscle and joint pain (67%), knee pain (57%), leg pain (54%), etc. Besides, all anthropometrics of males are higher than females except Hip Breadth. Among 12 anthropometries, two measurements and one measurement showed statistical significance at p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively. Six design parameters of the mounted desktop (Seat Height, Desk Height, Seat to Desk Clearance, Seat Width, Seat Depth, and Backrest Height) are the most crucial design parameters to design and develop the product.

The proposed design of the mounted desktop can be used in different tertiary educational institutes to reduce MSDs among students.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt that introduces a combined approach to reduce MSD issues by applying Six Sigma, a generic product development process, and ergonomics-safety philosophy to design and measurement of 22 design parameters of mounted desktop for university students.