Track: Lean and Six Sigma

Abstract

Lean tools are useful for identifying and eliminating (or reducing) wastes, defined in terms of transportation, defect, over-production, over-processing, inventory, motion and waiting. The purpose of this research was to investigate and analyze the adoption of or usage of lean tools, as well as their perceived importance, in the context of medical laboratory industry, Namibia. A descriptive, cross-sectional, mixed study approach was used to gather data from seventy-two medical laboratory services in Namibia. Analysis of results showed that standard operating procedure as the most adopted tool in the medical laboratories, contrary to most extant studies which show that value stream mapping as the most frequently used lean tool in healthcare. The results also indicated that lean is commonly implemented for quality improvement in the industry, rather than for turnaround time improvement. In summary, the study revealed that lean is widely useful for eliminating wastes, in terms of transportation, defect, over-production, over-processing, inventory, motion and waiting.