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In this study, we develop a new paradigm, Circular Lean Six Sigma 4.0 (CLSS4.0) to promote manufacturing sustainability. This paper aims to provide a practical and holistic view of the drivers and barriers that can help companies design an integrated CLSS4.0 model. The paper is based on a qualitative exploratory study using multiple case studies within 12 Moroccan manufacturing firms conducted through semi-structured interviews with top executive managers. The results show that the drivers are related to expected operational and environmental performance, increasing customer requirements, gaining competitive advantage and market growth while barriers are related to insufficient tangible (finance, human and equipment) and intangible (skills and techniques) resources, data privacy, technical issues and management support. The proposed framework identifies the assessment of drivers and barriers and their attributes as a starting point for managers to lead the CLSS4.0 transformation, thereby contributing to its successful implementation. To the best of our knowledge, this study is among the very first studies to discuss the CLSS4.0 drivers and barriers. It could be useful to managers as a diagnostic tool to assess their ability to implement CLSS4.0 before investing in the initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore the potential application of blockchain technology in Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project through a proposed blockchain-LSS (BLSS) model. The proposed model can tackle real-time problems in information sharing, transparency and traceability in every stage of the LSS project. Design/methodology/approach: The scoping review approach is used to develop the integrated model of the BLSS approach for operational excellence. The proposed model is validated through expert's input, which is collected by a questionnaire survey method. Findings: The prime function of the proposed BLSS model is the information sharing among the project team and real-time monitoring, transparency, traceability and immutability in the Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control phase. The proposed model also consists the information about the role of blockchain features at each phase of the LSS project. The project team and industry employees can trace the success of the project at every moment, resulting in trust buildup and the elimination of fake data. Moreover, there would be no disputes among various sections/shops of the plant and employees to share the real information. Practical implications: This paper provides guidelines to practitioners and managers for integrating the LSS approach and blockchain. The blockchain helps managers and practitioners in better data traceability and transparency, monitoring of data as well as more sustainable LSS project management. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first research attempt that developed an integrated model of blockchain and LSS approach to maintaining the immutable records of assets in projects and targeted Industry 4.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) 4.0 has been recommended by researchers and practitioners as an effective strategy to enhance the operational excellence of companies, especially in highly competitive environments given the complementarity of LSS with Industry 4.0 (I4.0). Moreover, evidence suggests that companies commonly face difficulties and perceive the implementation process as challenging. To the best of our knowledge, there is currently no comprehensive global model available that offers a step-by-step approach for implementing LSS4.0. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to develop a structured framework that directs organizations to successfully implement LSS4.0. This study follows a combined approach including a systematic literature review to identify existing gaps in recent research and an expert panel to provide valuable insights and validation during the development of the framework. Additionally, a case study was conducted in an automotive manufacturing company to validate the findings. The proposed LSS4.0 framework is based on the DMAIC approach subdivided into fifteen steps. It permits managers to seamlessly integrate LSS4.0 into their processes and selectively choose the relevant tools as required, avoiding digitalization without a clear purpose. Also, it offers a comprehensive solution for managers addressing contemporary industry challenges and enhancing operational processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to examine the trends in research published by the Quality Management Journal (QMJ) based on Scopus Indexed publications for a period ranging from 2013 to 2023. The paper intends to offer a bibliometric analysis of the journal by highlighting the contributions made by the journal through document citations, prominent authors, most frequent keywords, and publication trends for the last decade. The analysis provides insight into how the QMJ has contributed to the development of the field of quality management. The journal has remained unwavering in its commitment to uphold both quality and comprehensiveness, thereby leading to widespread acclaim and robust indexing As analyzed from the author keyword analysis the contributions made to the journal can be categorized into seven themes, i.e., Leadership Essentials for Quality Management, Six Sigma & Quality, Quality Management in Services, Stakeholder Involvement for Quality Management, TQM & Continuous Improvement in Manufacturing, and Service Quality and Quality Management in Healthcare. A key theme to emerge from this study is that future research and applications must be robustly framed in relevant theory, to recognize, understand, and articulate implications for practice. Experiential quality will move further along the spectrum of socio-technical or socio-materiality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the interplay linking Lean Six Sigma (LSS), the Circular Economy (CE) and Industry 4.0 technologies (I4.0T), and their impact alone or combined, on sustainable organizational performance (SOP) within manufacturing firms. Using the existing literature, six hypotheses are identified and then analyzed following the Structural Equation Modeling method with SmartPLS software. A survey was designed and administrated in the Moroccan context. Based on the results, it was found that LSS, CE and I4.0T have a positive effect on SOP. Moreover, I4.0T significantly impacts both LSS and SOP. However, I4.0T had no significant effect on CE. Furthermore, the results show that LSS has a positive mediation role as a driver for the successful implementation of I4.0T within the SOP. This study will enable manufacturing professionals to understand the determinants of sustainable performance helping them to define their future business strategies. Also, it sets the benchmark for companies looking to achieve sustainable objectives by integrating I4.0 technologies into CE practices and the LSS approach. This study is a first attempt to examine the link between LSS, CE and I4.0 to achieve high triple bottom line gains (environmental, social and economic) within companies considering Morocco, an emerging economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The healthcare industry is transforming into Healthcare 4.0 (H4.0), an era characterized by smart and connected healthcare systems. This study presents a conceptual framework that classifies H4.0 digital technologies into information and communication technology bundles within the healthcare value chain. It also identifies barriers and evaluates digital technologies' impact on quality measures through a systematic literature review and meta-analysis approach following the PRISMA protocol. The analysis reveals that digital technologies in the healthcare sector traditionally consist of sensing-communication and processing-actuation technologies. The findings highlight the significant influence of H4.0 digital technologies on three quality measures: patient safety, patient experience/satisfaction, and clinical effectiveness. While these technologies offer potential benefits, they pose challenges for patients and clinicians, including intellectual property and significance concerns, especially in North America. The proposed framework addresses these issues and enables stakeholders to prioritize, review, and analyze H4.0 digital technologies to enhance patient safety, experience, and clinical effectiveness. This research contributes to the existing literature by being the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of H4.0 technologies on the quality of care. The framework provided in this study offers valuable guidance for stakeholders in selecting appropriate technologies to improve patient outcomes and support the healthcare value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the literature on lean management (LM), Six Sigma (SS), Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and their relationship. A systematic literature review (SLR) combined with bibliometric analysis was conducted to identify, select and evaluate articles and was supported by content analysis to classify papers into group-discussed clusters. A total of 134 articles were retrieved from relevant databases and publisher engines between 2011 and June 2022. The analysis of these articles enabled us to identify the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies on Lean SS; the relationship between LM, SS and Industry 4.0 and the implications of their combination on operational excellence. The results show that while a majority of researchers consider Industry 4.0 to be a driver of LSS and a prerequisite for helping companies access the data and analytics needed, others find them to be complementary and synergistic. Similarly, various authors support the idea that LSS could be a facilitator of Industry 4.0. This study provides an overview of the main research streams in this field and its shortcomings and presents an LSS4.0 framework integrating Lean SS and Industry 4 which will be of great value to academics and practitioners working in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this project was to investigate operational benefits of the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology to reduce the scrap rate in an automated production line of a first tier supplier of automotive sector. This is an action research case study using LSS methodology in fully automated sub-process of the manufacturers. The implementation of LSS methodology had an effective and significant impact on the scrap rate reduction with increased first run yield and waste reduction leading to significant financial impact at this scale. The research investigation needs to be fully controlled by the team in order to correctly gauge the effect of any changes made to the process. This action research can be replicated in other sub-processes of the production line and other processes of the company. This project addresses novelty about effectiveness of LSS methodology to reduce scrap rate and add value to automated processes in first-tier manufacturing small to medium––sized enterprises supplying automotive sector. The project had greater saving than expected by the managers at £98k per annum. The approach of this research project combines proven statistical tools with some basic but effective lean tools to be applied in an original sequence in order to design robust product and match manufacturing capabilities. Article Classification: Focus on practice [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new optimisation approach for variance within a supply chain management process. The approach is presented by the variance cube of purchasing (VCP) that involves a lean method for variance optimisation, namely the cost and variance driver analysis. The approach focuses on the optimisation and the control of existing process variance within the supply chain. The application of the cube is presented by a case study involving a globally acting Tier 1 supplier, who produces steering systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. In this case, the sourcing process of this Tier 1 supplier will be analysed, evaluated and optimised regarding variance. The variance is presented in the form of the number of suppliers who are involved in the sourcing process. Unnecessary existing process variance, like an unnecessary huge number of suppliers within the sourcing process, is a type of waste. Time, money, quality and technology can be saved through a greater understanding of the optimal number of suppliers within a sourcing process. The results of the case study led to a generalised method to optimise the existing process variance, present cost improvements as well as optimising the key performance indicator to manage the number of suppliers in the sourcing process. The general approach can be used for other company departments like logistics and for different industries other than automotive. The insights of this article support the operative user and the strategic company management in order to reduce and improve unnecessary variance in different sections. The structured analysis of supply chain process variance via the VCP and the key performance indicator "optimal supplier number per sourcing process" are new to company management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The correlation between oxidation state and Lewis acidity is well established for hexaquairon complexes in the +II and +III oxidation state, in which the higher oxidation state leads to a lower pKa for the bound H2O ligand. This article addresses the Lewis acidity of the oxoiron(IV) complex [FeIV(O)(TMC)(OH2)]2+ (1‐OH2; TMC=1,4,8,11‐tetramethylcyclam) by determining the pKa of the H2O ligand. We establish that 1‐OH2 has a pKa of 6.9±0.5, a value that falls in between those found for [FeIII(OH2)6]3+ and [FeII(OH2)6]2+. This intermediate value can be readily rationalized by the presence of the highly basic oxide ligand that mitigates the Lewis acidity of the iron(IV) center. Although the oxo ligand occupies only one position in 1‐OH2, anti to all four methyl groups that protrude from the same face of the nonplanar TMC ligand, its conjugate base 1‐OH exists as a mixture of syn and anti tautomers, which are related by proton transfer between the oxo and the hydroxo ligands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimation of effective fracture-network permeability (EFNP) is an essential part of modeling transport processes in naturally fractured reservoirs. A practical way of doing this is to use correlations that consider the statistical and physical characteristics of the networks. Thus, selection of the proper parameters to be characterized and/or measured that are highly correlative to the network permeability is critical. In this study, we analyzed fractalbased correlations previously developed by Jafari and Babadagli (2011a, 2011b) to clarify the physical relationship among network properties and the correlation parameters. It was shown that the connectivity index is a more-powerful parameter to rely on in permeability estimation, especially at percolation ranges far from the threshold. Also, it was of high interest to inspect the effect of physical parameters of a fracture network on different fractal dimensions as well as their positive/negative correlation with permeability to make a distinction between the mathematical and physical contributions of variables. We explained the earlier observation of Jafari and Babadagli (2009) regarding the method to determine fractal dimensions and their observed differences, which were found to be related to the computational scheme. That is why the box-counting fractal dimension gives the highest correlation compared with other fractal dimensions, especially the sandbox fractal dimension. The conditions of a strong correlation among different fractal dimensions and the scale-dependency of correlations in natural and synthetic patterns were also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on three fundamental human-related behaviour factors associated with Lean Six Sigma (LSS) projects in German manufacturing small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the readiness of people (managers and their staff) to commence LSS projects. These are core personal competence, strategic vision of the people and the organisational culture of the specific organisation. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a thorough review of the academic literature a set of hypotheses were constructed to examine the level of association between people’s competence, vision and culture with LSS readiness within SMEs. This was done using correlation and regression analysis. Data collection were carried out in seven different German manufacturing SMEs involved in aerospace supply and agro-food manufacturing using a survey instrument. Findings – It was found that there is a strong positive association between the core competence of people and organisational culture with readiness for commencing LSS in the manufacturing SMEs studied. The core values of people, education level and the vision of making continuous quality improvement were identified as key variables in promoting LSS readiness in these manufacturing SMEs. This study indicates that these “softer” variables can be essential to successful LSS implementation and need to be explored further before undertaking the process. Practical implications – From the perspective of the implementers of LSS the results of this research could be of interest to different manufacturing SMEs intending to embark upon an LSS journey as it highlights the significance of human-related behavioural factors in the process. SME organisations may consider carrying out development or training with their managers and employees around personal and organisational values, addressing core competence and strengthening organisational culture in order to facilitate LSS readiness and enhance the prospect of its success. Originality/value – It would appear that this LSS research has not been carried out within the German manufacturing SME context before and although discrete in nature has surfaced the “softer” variables of core competence of staff and organisational culture as important readiness issues to address when undertaking LSS. This integrated approach of human behavioural factors, organisational culture, LSS and manufacturing SMEs demonstrates the originality of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible acyclic alcohols with one to five hydroxyl groups were bound to a chloride anion and these complexes were interrogated by negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy and companion density functional theory computations. The resulting vertical detachment energies are reproduced on average to 0.10 eV by M06-2X/aug-cc-pVTZ predictions and range from 4.45-5.96 eV. These values are 0.84-2.35 eV larger than the adiabatic detachment energy of Cl- as a result of the larger hydrogen bond networks in the bigger polyols. Adiabatic detachment energies of the alcohol-Cl- clusters are more difficult to determine both experimentally and computationally. This is due to the large geometry changes that occur upon photodetachment and the large bond dissociation energy of H-Cl which enables the resulting chlorine atom to abstract a hydrogen from any of the methylene (CH2) or methine (CH) positions. Both ionic and nonionic hydrogen bonds (i.e., OH···Cl- and OH···OH···Cl-) form in the larger polyols complexes and are found to be energetically comparable. Subtle structural differences, consequently can lead to the formation of different types of hydrogen bonds, and maximizing the ionic ones is not always preferred. Solution equilibrium binding constants between the alcohols and tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBACl) in acetonitrile at -24.2, +22.0, and +53.6 °C were also determined. The free energies of association are nearly identical for all of the substrates (i.e., ΔG° = -2.8 ± 0.7 kcal mol-1). Compensating enthalpy and entropy values reveal, contrary to expectation and the intrinsic gas-phase preferences, that the bigger systems with more hydroxyl groups are entropically favored and enthalpically disfavored relative to the smaller species. This suggests that more solvent molecules are released upon binding TBACl to alcohols with more hydroxyl groups and is consistent with the measured negative heat capacities. These quantities increase with molecular complexity of the substrate, however, contrary to common interpretation of these values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyanobacterial aldehyde-deformylating oxygenase (cADO) converts long-chain fatty aldehydes to alkanes via a proposed diferric-peroxo intermediate that carries out the oxidative deformylation of the substrate. Herein, we report that the synthetic iron(III)-peroxo complex [FeIII(η²-O2 )(TMC)]+ (TMC = tetramethylcyclam) causes a similar transformation in the presence of a suitable H atom donor, thus serving as a functional model for cADO. Mechanistic studies suggest that the H atom donor can intercept the incipient alkyl radical formed in the oxidative deformylation step in competition with the oxygen rebound step typically used by most oxygenases for forming C--O bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the feasibility of a systematic Lean Six Sigma (LSS) education through the curriculum of business schools to respond to the existing gap between the graduate’s expectation of employability and skill requirements by the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – A UK business school has been used as a case study to conduct extensive module and programme review followed by a semi-structured interview with potentially suitable core and programme-specific module tutors and comparative analysis. Findings – The result revealed a high potential of the existing modules in the business schools equivalent to the private sector training providers to increase the level of LSS problem-solving knowledge and skill for all graduates and improve their employability and productivity for the SMEs. Originality/value – The result of this study highlights the role of LSS to reduce the knowledge and skill gap between the business schools as the source of the explicit knowledge, graduates as the knowledge and skill bearer and SMEs as the knowledge and skill users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of concern and practice of sustainability development and also policy failure in the fast food supply chain. Design/methodology/approach -- A questionnaire using Likert scoring recorded variations in current practice and attitudes toward sustainable business. A two-stage cluster analysis was conducted to analyze the multi-attribute ordinal data obtained from the questionnaire. Findings -- Significant differences were found among clusters of fast food businesses in terms of their sustainability concern and practice, which is of interest to policy makers, consumers and supply chain partners. Medium-sized fast food dealers emerge with high environmental and social concern, but poor practice; larger retailers and fast food chains appear to have both fair social and environmental awareness and practice; and there is a cluster of small takeaway-specific outlets that have particularly low levels of knowledge of sustainability or sustainable practices. Policy failure is prevalent amongst these businesses and without regulation this represents a possible threat to the sector. Research limitations/implications -- Reliance on stated rather than revealed preferences of the study may limit the implications of this analysis but it is a major step forward in understanding what has in the past been a very difficult sector to investigate due to data paucity. Practical implications -- Fast food is a sector with a lack of transparency which has attracted little academic attention to date, due to the difficulties of empirical analysis rather than lack of interest in a key food consumption sector. The message for the sector is to monitor its act, across all business types or face regulatory and policy intervention. Originality/value -- The research conducts a three-dimensional sustainability analysis of fast food supply chains to investigate the differences and trade-offs between different sustainability dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a research which is conducted to evaluate the capability, key success factors and benefits of the use of Six Sigma in food distribution to small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Topics discussed include globalization of food industry to fulfill the demand of growing world population, competition within and between the food supply chains with increment in the consumer driven value and the use of quality improvement initiatives with less required capital investment.

We report quantifying the strengths of different types of hydrogen bonds in hydrogen-bond networks (HBNs) via measurement of the adiabatic electron detachment energy of the conjugate base of a small covalent polyol model compound (i.e., (HOCH2CH2CH(OH)CH2)2CHOH) in the gas phase and the pKa of the corresponding acid in DMSO. The latter result reveals that the hydrogen bonds to the charged center and those that are one solvation shell further away (i.e., primary and secondary) provide 5.3 and 2.5 pKa units of stabilization per hydrogen bond in DMSO. Computations indicate that these energies increase to 8.4 and 3.9 pKa units in benzene and that the total stabilizations are 16 (DMSO) and 25 (benzene) pKa units. Calculations on a larger linear heptaol (i.e., (HOCH2CH2CH(OH)CH2CH(OH)CH2)2CHOH) reveal that the terminal hydroxyl groups each contribute 0.6 pKa units of stabilization in DMSO and 1.1 pKa units in benzene. All of these results taken together indicate that the presence of a charged center can provide a powerful energetic driving force for enzyme catalysis and conformational changes such as in protein folding due to multiple hydrogen bonds in a HBN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like-chargeion pairing is commonly observed in protein structuresand plays a significant role in biochemical processes. Density functionalcalculations combined with the conductor-like polarizable continuummodel were employed to study the formation possibilities of doublycharged noncovalently linked complexes of a series of model compoundsand amino acids in the gas phase and in solution. Hydrogen bond interactionswere found to offset the Coulombic repulsion such that cation–cationclusters are minima on the potential energy surfaces and neither counterionsnor solvent molecules are needed to hold them together. In the gasphase the dissociation energies are exothermic, and the separationbarriers span from 1.7 to 15.6 kcal mol–1. Liquid-phasecomputations indicate that the separation enthalpies of the cation–cationcomplexes become endothermic in water and nonpolar solvents with dielectricconstants of ≥7 (i.e., the value for THF). These results revealthat electrostatically defying noncovalent complexes of like-chargedions can overcome their Coulombic repulsion even in low-polarity environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl groups were characterized in combination with hydrogen-bond interactions in three polyols (i.e., CF3CH(OH)CH2CH(OH)CF3, 1; (CF3)2C(OH)C(OH)(CF3)2, 2; ((CF3)2C(OH)CH2)2CHOH, 3) by pKa measurements in DMSO and H2O, negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy and binding constant determinations with Cl-. Their catalytic behavior in several reactions were also examined and compared to a Brønsted acid (HOAc) and a commonly employed thiourea ((3,5-(CF3)2C6H3NH)2CS). The combination of inductive stabilization and hydrogen bonds was found to afford potent acids which are effective catalysts. It also appears that hydrogen bonds can transmit the inductive effect over distance even in an aqueous environment, and this has far reaching implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature employs flexible molecules to bind anions in a variety of physiologically important processes whereas supramolecular chemists have been designing rigid substrates that minimize or eliminate intramolecular hydrogen bond interactions to carry out anion recognition. Herein, the association of a flexible polyhydroxy alkane with chloride ion is described and the bound receptor is characterized by infrared and photoelectron spectroscopy in the gas phase, computations, and its binding constant as a function of temperature in acetonitrile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pK, of an acyclic aliphatic heptaol ((HOCH2CH2CH(OH)CH2)3COH) was measured in DMSO, and its gas-phase acidity is reported as well. This tertiary alcohol was found to be 1O~ times more acidic than tert.butyl alcohol in DMSO and an order of magnitude more acidic than acetic acid (i.e., plC2 = 11.4 vs 12.3). This can be attributed to a 21.9 kcal mol' stabilization of the charged oxygen center in the conjugate base by three hydrogen bonds and another 6.3 kcal mol-1 stabilization resulting from an additional three hydrogen bonds between the uncharged I primary and secondary hydroxyl groups. Charge delocalization by both the first and second solvation shells may be used to facilitate enzymatic reactions. Acidity constants of a series of polyols were also computed, and the combination of hydrogen-bonding and electron-withdrawing substituents was found to afford acids that are predicted to be extremely acidic in DMSO (i.e., pK2< 0). These hydrogen bond enhanced acids represent an attractive class of Bronsted acid catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen bond interactions in small covalent model compounds (i.e., deprotonated polyhydroxy alcohols) were measured by negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy. The experimentally determined vertical and adiabatic electron detachment energies for (HOCH2CH2)2CHO-(2a), (HOCH2CH2)3CO- (3a), and (HOCH2CH2CH(OH)CH2)3CO- (4a)reveal that hydrogen-bonded networks can provide enormous stabilizations and that a single charge center not only can be stabilized by up to three hydrogen bonds but also can increase the interaction energy between noncharged OH groups by 5.8 kcal mol-1 or more per hydrogen bond. This can lead to pKa values that are very different from those in water and can provide some of the impetus for catalytic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anion recognition of two flexible diols in different solvents and binary mixtures were examined. Binding constants (K) in CD3CN and CDCl3 are surprisingly similar, and CD3CN–solvent mixtures led to reduced values of K that are smaller than in either pure solvent. A surprising U-shaped dependence is observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]