Implementation of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in supply chain management (SCM): an integrated management philosophy

Supply chain management (SCM) is essential for any company to survive the increasing pressures of global competition. There have been continuous changes in global manufacturing and service markets, causing supply chain (SC) members to reassess their effectiveness individually and as a whole. A new evolution in quality management (QM) is Lean Six Sigma (LSS), which is a continuous improvement (CI) methodology that aims at customer satisfaction and system waste reduction. SCM can utilise the QM concepts as well as the LSS tools and CI principles to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction regarding cost, quality and delivery. Researchers have considered the integration of Lean and Six Sigma with SCM. This research extends the previous works and proposes the implementation of LSS in SCM. A case study provides an example of how LSS, utilising value stream mapping (VSM), can be used to improve an SC.