A Review of Lean Adoption in the Irish MedTech Industry

Abstract

There have been many literature reviews carried out on Lean implementation in larger organisations with specific focus on the automobile industry. Lean implementation in the medical device industry has not been extensively investigated. Thus, this research endeavored to analyse the benefits of Lean, tools utilised and challenges and results of Lean implementation in Medtech companies. This article aims to bridge a gap in the literature by reviewing the literature that discusses Lean implementation in MedTech companies in Ireland with a perspective of identifying the benefits and challenges faced. The quantitative methodology allows us to review the comprehensive numbers and data which were collected from 20 Enterprise Ireland MedTech case studies. There are very few published case studies in the literature on Lean due to the highly regulated nature of MedTech sector and the vast array of medical devices, which are often under privacy and confidentiality constraints. The results showed that integration of Lean has brought benefits to companies by increasing productivity and product quality, optimised cost, and time. An inclusive discussion of Lean tools for Lean implementation within MedTech was established and suggestions for future research orientations are thus provided.