Barriers and enablers of lean tools in medical laboratory industry: A case of Namibia

Turnaround time covers activities involving ordering, collection, transportation, preparation, analysis, interpretation, and provision of medical test results to clinicians and patients. Considered as the most important key performance indicator in the medical laboratory industry, turnaround time is influenced by various forms of lean wastes, which are, transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, over production, over processing, and defects. Elimination of these wastes will improve the operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the medical laboratory industry. Given the widespread awareness of what lean can do in the healthcare industry, it worthwhile investigating the factors behind the adoption of non-adoption of lean in the medical laboratory industry. This paper investigates the barriers to and enablers of lean adoption and implementation in the context of medical laboratories in Namibia. Findings from this research indicate that management support plays an important role in enabling lean adoption. On the other hand, lack of support from management is the strongest inhibiting barrier to the successful adoption of lean.