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<p>Lean Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a well-established practice in developed economies, its application within the resource-constrained context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets remains poorly understood. Prevailing literature often employs monolithic frameworks, overlooking the critical roles of sectoral specificity, digital integration, and supply chain positioning. This study addresses these gaps through a mixed-methods empirical investigation of 350 + SMEs in India’s Hubli-Dharwad industrial cluster, a region characterized by high SME density and minimal large-firm influence. Our findings demonstrate that Lean SCM effectiveness is highly contingent. We quantify a 41% reduction in order fulfillment cycle times and a 37% decrease in working capital cycles, driven primarily by internal lean practices. Furthermore, digital-lean integration proved transformative, with advanced adopters achieving 53% faster cycle times than non-digital peers. Crucially, the research reveals a stratified adoption landscape and a 15-percentage-point performance gap between Tier 1 and Tier 3 suppliers, highlighting a previously underexplored boundary of lean efficacy: internal practices cannot fully mitigate externally-driven supply chain vulnerabilities. This study contributes a nuanced, evidence-based framework that moves beyond binary adoption metrics, offering tailored pathways for enhancing SME competitiveness in emerging economies.</p>

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Transforming India’s Small Manufacturers through Lean-Digital Integration

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月9日

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  • Rajat Acharya,
  • Channappa M. Javalagi

摘要

Lean Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a well-established practice in developed economies, its application within the resource-constrained context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets remains poorly understood. Prevailing literature often employs monolithic frameworks, overlooking the critical roles of sectoral specificity, digital integration, and supply chain positioning. This study addresses these gaps through a mixed-methods empirical investigation of 350 + SMEs in India’s Hubli-Dharwad industrial cluster, a region characterized by high SME density and minimal large-firm influence. Our findings demonstrate that Lean SCM effectiveness is highly contingent. We quantify a 41% reduction in order fulfillment cycle times and a 37% decrease in working capital cycles, driven primarily by internal lean practices. Furthermore, digital-lean integration proved transformative, with advanced adopters achieving 53% faster cycle times than non-digital peers. Crucially, the research reveals a stratified adoption landscape and a 15-percentage-point performance gap between Tier 1 and Tier 3 suppliers, highlighting a previously underexplored boundary of lean efficacy: internal practices cannot fully mitigate externally-driven supply chain vulnerabilities. This study contributes a nuanced, evidence-based framework that moves beyond binary adoption metrics, offering tailored pathways for enhancing SME competitiveness in emerging economies.