Research gaps in Lean manufacturing: a systematic literature review

Purpose: Literature contributions to Lean manufacturing (LM) are fragmented and show some significant limitations. The purpose of this paper is to identify the existing research gaps in LM as well as to group them into respective themes. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review (SLR) of peer reviewed journal articles in LM was carried out by the authors, based on four major publishers, namely, Emerald Online, Science Direct, Springer Link and Taylor & Francis. In total, 120 articles published in 30 journals during 2005–2016 were collected which revealed LM research gaps. A simple affinity diagram was applied in order to group the research gaps into logical themes. Findings: A large number of research gaps are identified in the LM literature and meaningful themes of these gaps are also revealed. Research limitations/implications: The SLR carried out by the authors is based on only four academic journal publishers and some of other publishers might have been missed out in this search. Excluding articles focusing on an individual Lean principle or tool/technique is also a limitation of the present SLR. Practical implications: Researchers and practitioners can use the LM research gaps presented in this study for further development of LM methodology. Originality/value: Presenting LM research gaps analytically and grouping them into meaningful themes, significantly differentiates the present SLR study from those published so far.