Statistical investigation of moderation on soft lean practices

As soft lean practices (SLP) we intend those lean practices that are related to people engagement and development, promoting the human side of lean. In this paper we intend to investigate the relationship between SLP and operational performance and in particular if these practices are more efficacious in manufacturing contexts with high degree of repetitiveness of production. Data were analysed from the High Performance Manufacturing (HPM) project dataset using hierarchical regression and structural equation modelling (SEM). The analyses suggest that the degree of repetitiveness of the production system significantly moderate the impact of SLP on operational performance.