A conceptual framework for lean supply chain and its implementation

The field of Supply Chain Management (SCM) is growing rapidly. Since its introduction, two paradigms have emerged, called the Lean Supply Chain (LSC) and Agile Supply Chain (ASC). Researchers are heading towards developing a third paradigm, called the LeAgile Supply Chain (LASC). But it is our opinion that the theoretical concepts of earlier paradigms (such as LSC) are not yet fully developed. Hence, in this paper, the theoretical basis of LSC is revisited, apart from proposing a conceptual framework and an implementation framework, to assist organisations in transforming their existing Supply Chain (SC) into an LSC. To accomplish these objectives, a literature review is undertaken to support our arguments, which were developed using the judgemental process and domain knowledge. One of the drawbacks of the proposed frameworks for LSC is that they are highly conceptual and need to be validated empirically by conducting a survey or a clinical approach through case studies to study their acceptability.