Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Ph.D. Student of Industrial Management, Department of Management Science, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran
2 Professor, Department of Management Science, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.
3 Associate Professor, Department of Management Science, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.
Abstract
1- INTRODUCTION
Due to the contradictions of lean and agile approaches and meanwhile, their synergy, choosing, combining, and implementing these approaches with specific goals, strategies, and limitations is a key challenge for supply chain managers. The current research aimed to develop a dynamic system for implementing lean and agile approaches in the supply chain.
2- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Supply chain management includes the planning and management of all activities involved in the supply chain and is considered a vital factor in the competitiveness of organizations. Lean and agile approaches are among the popular approaches in supply chain management. Lean philosophy seeks to eliminate waste and reduce costs based on more output with fewer resources according to customers' needs. Governing lean thinking and principles in the value stream is called lean supply chain management. Quick response to changes in demand, in terms of volume and variety, is called agility. The concept of this approach refers to choosing the right strategy in conditions of uncertainty and providing products and services to customers at the right time and place. Empowering new competencies to respond quickly and effectively to the market is called agile supply chain management. These two approaches have different drivers, prerequisites, and strategies, and each one pursues a specific goal.
3- METHODOLOGY
The present study is in the category of qualitative-quantitative research. Based on the stages of research in the conceptual development stage, the model is placed in the category of qualitative research. At this stage, by content analysis of the research background, factors affecting the selection of agile and lean approaches have been identified. This stage includes four main steps: problem definition, data collection, analysis, and presentation of the final model. In the quantitative stage, using the system dynamics method, using the factors obtained from the first stage and lean and agile strategies, a model has been presented to evaluate the performance and choose the appropriate strategies in different conditions. Causal models and state flow have been drawn and model evaluation tests, structure evaluation, and sensitivity analysis have been done to confirm the model validity. Finally, different scenarios have been simulated and analyzed in this model. The information required for modeling and simulating the model has been collected from the Yazd Rubber Industries Complex.
4- RESULTS & DISCUSSION
In the qualitative stage and after content analysis by reviewing articles and zigzag coding, 106 codes from 31 studies were identified as open codes. In this study, it was done. By repeatedly reviewing the identified primary codes and comparing them, the codes with common content and concepts were classified under one concept. In this way, 40 subgroups were extracted. Finally, these codes were classified into 17 groups and 4 general levels of environmental, organization-related, product-related, and functional factors. After extracting the influencing factors on the selection of lean and agile approaches, the flow model has been presented and evaluated in Vansim software. After obtaining the valid model, by changing different variables and scenario analysis, approaches have been analyzed in three different scenarios. A comparison of selected scenarios and policies for each condition shows that, as a strategic strategy, eliminating waste is a priority in all scenarios.
5- CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS
The current research has theoretical and practical implications. This research is a response to the need for a systematic and comprehensive framework of vital factors in choosing appropriate agile and lean approaches. In this article, the knowledge available in the literature about the agile and lean approach in the supply chain is organized to develop a model for choosing appropriate approaches. On the other hand, organizations do not need fixed degrees of leanness or agility in different situations. The presented dynamic model can examine specific strategies of lean and agile approaches in different conditions and finally provide certain degrees of lean and agility. In the situation that in previous studies, the combination of these two approaches is usually discussed and less attention is paid to the effect of conditions on the level of leanness and agility. Although this study tried to present a dynamic model for choosing lean and agile strategies with a comprehensive look at all conditions, due to the existence of other approaches such as resilient and green, future studies may examine other effective factors and strategies to present a more comprehensive model.
Keywords
©2025 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
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