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Places research undertaken into a periodic order cycle inventory management system for repetitive batch manufacturers into the context of lean production and world class manufacturing. Describes the attributes of the current marketplace, and how approaches used by successful users of the world‐class manufacturing and lean production techniques can be applied to a repetitive batch environment. Proposes a methodology to help traditional repetitive batch manufacturers in a route to continual improvement by: highlighting those areas where change would bring the greatest benefits; modelling the effect of proposed changes; quantifying the benefits that could be gained through implementing the proposed changes; and simplifying the effort required to perform the modelling process. Concentrates on increasing flexibility through managed inventory reduction by rationally decreasing batch sizes, taking account of sequence dependent set‐ups and the identification and elimination of bottlenecks.

The advent of recession at the beginning of twenty-first century forced many organizations worldwide to reduce cost and to be more responsive to customer demands. Lean Manufacturing (LM) has been widely perceived by industry as an answer to these requirements because LM reduces waste without additional requirements of resources. This led to a spurt in LM research across the globe mostly through empirical and exploratory studies which resulted in a plethora of LM definitions with divergent scopes, objectives, performance indicators, tools/techniques/methodologies, and concepts/elements. The purpose of this paper is to review LM literature and report these divergent definitions, scopes, objectives, and tools/techniques/methodologies.

This paper highlights various definitions by various researchers and practitioners. A total of 209 research papers have been reviewed for the research contribution, research methodology adopted, tools/techniques/methodologies used, type of industry, author profile, country of research, and year of publication.

There are plethora of LM definitions with divergent objectives and scope. Theory verification through empirical and exploratory studies has been the focus of research in LM. Automotive industry has been the focus of LM research but LM has also been adopted by other types of industries also. One of the critical implementation factors of LM is simultaneous adoption of leanness in supply chain. LM has become an integrated system composed of highly integrated elements and a wide variety of management practices. There is lack of standard LM implementation process/framework.

The paper reviews 209 research papers for their research contribution, research methodology, author profile, type of industry, and tools/techniques/methodology used. Various characteristics of LM definitions are also reviewed.

Lean business ideology has been one of the recent dominant research areas in operations management. However, there is a dearth of research focusing on Lean in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by systematically reviewing the literature in relation to the implementation of Lean in SMEs.

Tranfield et al.’s (2003) systematic review methodology was employed covering three stages: planning, conducting and reporting/dissemination.

A descriptive analysis of the papers reviewed is provided. From the thematic analysis of the literature four main themes are identified: the scope/type of Lean being adopted by SMEs, how Lean is used in SMEs, the impact of Lean implementation on SMEs and the critical success factors for Lean implementation in SMEs. Key inhibitors and enablers related to firm size when implementing Lean are also identified in the concluding discussion.

Nine recommendations for future research are developed associated with Lean implementation in SMEs.

The authors suggest SMEs to integrate organisational factors such as employee empowerment and the development of a supportive strategy into their Lean implementation plans. A preliminary “Staircase Road Map” to guide SMEs in implementing Lean is also developed.

This paper goes beyond previous literature reviews of Lean by systematically and critically evaluating key themes of Lean implementation within an SME environment. It not only provides a road map for SME owners/managers who intend to implement Lean, but also provides the academic community with an agenda for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of research on lean production (LP) since the concept was developed at the end of the 1980s with the aim of developing a model that permits an extended and comprehensive understanding of LP.

A literature survey of peer reviewed journal articles and paradigmatic books with managerial impact is employed as the research methodology.

The findings derived from the evaluation of the publications analysed have led to the creation of an extended model of LP. Specifically, two new groups of factors to be taken into account in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of LP are presented. Apart from internal aspects at the shop floor level and value chain elements, the model provided includes work organisation and the impact that the geographical context has on LP. In addition, the critical assessment of publications has allowed a number of specific aspects to be identified for which there is no empirical evidence.

This paper puts forward a new classification of literature identifying key aspects that should be included for LP development and management. It might represent new opportunities for rigorous and relevant research that would contribute to more transparent knowledge of LP being gained.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how “lean” is viewed in academic literature and how it is operationalised. The paper also examines how evidence of lean is accounted for in practice.

This paper discusses a review of 105 international peer‐reviewed journals with the purpose of identifying what has been written about lean. All in all, 154 articles featuring lean in the article title are identified and reviewed.

Lean has moved from application only in production to being used in other sectors, such as the public and service sectors. Most contributions are still found in production and supply chain journals, however, and few contributions discuss the basis of lean or provide a clear definition of the meaning of lean. The literature review indicates that there is a low level of operationalisation of the concept of lean, making the concept seem unclear and vague. About one‐third of the reviewed articles apply a toolbox view on lean; and, in general, the positive effect of lean is documented in only a few of the articles reviewed.

Only those articles published in international, peer‐reviewed journals are examined. Discussion of lean, however, might be found in other sources, such as textbooks, conference proceedings and PhD dissertations.

Due to the indistinct definitions of lean that were discovered, one should use the concept of lean with care. It is especially important to specify the conditions and to describe the intentions of usage.

This paper is the first comprehensive literature review with regard to lean and evidence in relationship to definitions of and assumptions about lean.