Warehouse Waste Reduction Level and Its Impact on Warehouse and Business Performance

Abstract

Warehouses considered as having a strategic role in supporting the overall competitiveness of the supply chain through achieving improved efficiency. Accordingly, lean thinking have recently found its way in the warehouse operations. The aim of this paper is to propose and test a model to assess the level of waste reduction practices and its impact on warehouse and business performance, and to encourage scholars to develop models to assess lean thinking and waste reduction in warehouse operations. A Delphi technique used in order to develop related questionnaires to measure the degree of waste reduction in the different warehouse activities. The results suggested the existence of a positive relationship between waste reduction activities and business performance and warehouse operational performance. Finally, this paper provides practical implications for warehouse and supply chains managers and directions for future researchers in this field.