A Five-Stage Closed-Loop Lean Routine for Daily Factory Management: A Field Intervention in a UK Pharmaceutical Plant
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Lean implementations often deploy tools in isolation, leaving gaps in how abnormalities are exposed, resolved at the root cause, escalated when needed, and converted into organisational learning. This study proposes a five-stage closed-loop routine for daily factory management that integrates problem visibility, standardised shop-floor cadence, disciplined problem-solving, and tiered escalation within a single operating logic. The novelty lies not in the individual Lean tools, but in the specification of cadence, triggers, accountable roles, and verification steps that connect them into a replicable end-to-end routine. The model was evaluated through a 19-month longitudinal, single-site field intervention (quasi-experimental before–and–after) on the bottleneck production line of a pharmaceutical plant in Hengoed, Wales (UK). Line OEE increased by over 50% in relative terms. At factory level, total output increased by 20% year-on-year in 2024 (context indicator), alongside qualitative field observations of shorter time-to-resolution and improved cross-functional coordination. As a single-site study, external validity is context-dependent; nevertheless, the paper provides a specified closed-loop routine and field evidence on the operational effects of embedding an integrated Lean cycle into daily management. Practically, the study provides a specified routine that practitioners can replicate and adapt; academically, it contributes to Lean implementation research by showing how tool bundles can be operationalised as an end-to-end daily management routine with observable performance effects.
Source: Systems
Institution: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
Language: English
Subfield: Management Information Systems
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
OpenAlex ID: W7123892832