Effects of Human Factors and Lean Techniques on Just in Time Benefits

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper "Effects of Human Factors and Lean Techniques on Just in Time Benefits" analyzes an interesting topic: The relationships between Human Factors and Lean with JIT.

The paper is well written, properly backed up by references, and of interest for the readers of Sustainability.

Please, consider the following comments to further improve it:

- Introduction is OK and states the contributions of the paper

-Section 2.1: Once MAC has been defined for Managerial Commitment, it could be used in the following text (Lines 132,134,139...)

- The same could also apply for Suppliers, Human Resources Integration...

- Figure 1: Please, avoid red underlining

- Line 309: missing reference for SPSS 24 software

- Figure 2: Please, avoid red underlining

- Solve minor format issues: Line 467 seems too close to Table 8

- State the limitations of the current study.

- Conclusions could be longer, based on the obtained results

- Supplementary file shows Annex 2. Is there also an Annex 1, or Annex 2 should be called Annex 1?

Author Response

Response to reviewer 1

Dear reviewer, below you will find an answer to all comments you have rightly made about the paper titled “Effects of Human Factors and Lean Techniques on Just in Time Benefits”. For a better understanding, your comments appear in bold and our answer in italics.

The current version of the paper has been edited with the track changes activated so that you can follow easily every modification. 

 

The paper "Effects of Human Factors and Lean Techniques on Just in Time Benefits" analyzes an interesting topic: The relationships between Human Factors and Lean with JIT.

We appreciate your comment.

 

The paper is well written, properly backed up by references, and of interest for the readers of Sustainability.

We appreciate your comment.

 

Introduction is OK and states the contributions of the paper

We appreciate your comment.

 

Section 2.1: Once MAC has been defined for Managerial Commitment, it could be used in the following text (Lines 132,134,139...)

Thanks a lot for your comment. In current version of the paper, the first time that a latent variable is declared, then the acronym is given and is used from there on.  However, we have decided to keep the whole variables names in abstract and hypotheses for a better understanding. 

 

The same could also apply for Suppliers, Human Resources Integration...

Thanks a lot for your comment. We have used the same criteria than in the previous point. 

 

Figure 1: Please, avoid red underlining

We glad your observation. In current version of the paper, Figure 1 has been replaced by other one that avoids underlining the names of the latent variables.

 

Line 309: missing reference for SPSS 24 software

Thanks for that observation. Current version reports the SPSS v.24 as reference 59 (in text) in line 314 and in line 793 (in references section).

 

Figure 2: Please, avoid red underlining

We glad your observation. In current version of the paper, Figure 2 has been replaced by other one that avoids underlining the names of the latent variables.

 

Solve minor format issues: Line 467 seems too close to Table 8

Thanks a lot for your comment. In current version of the paper, the template from editorial MDPI was used for getting a standard format in whole manuscript.

 

State the limitations of the current study

Thanks for your comment. Section 5 in current version is entitled Conclusions, limitations and future research, where conclusions have been increased, and limitations and future research have been added. These changes can be observed in line 553 to 585.

 

Supplementary file shows Annex 2. Is there also an Annex 1, or Annex 2 should be called Annex 1?

Thanks for that observation. We have realized that the name indicated in guide for authors is Supplementary material instead of Annex. The supplementary material 1 illustrates the questionnaire used and supplementary material 2 is related to statistical calculus.

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper “Effects of Human Factors and Lean Techniques on Just in Time Benefits” prove that the managerial commitment is the most important variable in the JIT implementation process. The content of the paper is adequate for the purposes of the journal.

Title: The title of the paper is informative. It includes important terms and the message of the article.

Abstract: The abstract describes the context and follow the structure: backgrounds, methods, results and conclusions. In line 17 write equation instead of equations!

Keywords: I suggest you to add keywords related to human factor and lean too.

Introduction. Introduction defines the focus and the research questions.

Literature review: The literature review supports to understand the correlation of presented research results with literature. I suggest you to read the article https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103692 which focuses on the analysis of human resource strategy with Markov chain simulation. As another approach, I suggest you the article https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201711206025 focusing on modelling of just-in-time and just-in-sequence supply. A summary table comparing the contributions could support the explanation.

Material and methods. The methodology is discussed, including questionnaire design and management, data analysis, validation and evaluation. Are there any differences between just-in-time and just-in-sequence solutions from the HR point of view.

Discussion and conclusions: In my opinion, this is the strongest part of the paper. Clear, adequate.

Author Response

Response to reviewer 2

Dear reviewer, below you will find an answer to all comments you have rightly made about the paper titled “Effects of Human Factors and Lean Techniques on Just in Time Benefits”. For a better understanding, your comments appear in bold and our answer in italics.

The current version of the paper has been edited with the track changes activated so that you can follow easily every modification.  

 

The content of the paper is adequate for the purposes of the journal.

Thanks a lot for your comment.

 

The title of the paper is informative. It includes important terms and the message of the article.

Thanks a lot for your comment.

 

The abstract describes the context and follow the structure: backgrounds, methods, results and conclusions. In line 17 write equation instead of equations!

Thanks a lot for your observation and comment. In current version, the word equation replaces to equations.

 

I suggest you add keywords related to human factor and lean too.

Thanks for that recommendation. We have changed the keyword accordingly to your indication.  

 

Introduction defines the focus and the research questions.

Thanks a lot for your comment.

 

The literature review supports to understand the correlation of presented research results with literature.

Thanks a lot for your comment.

 

I suggest you to read the article https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103692 which focuses on the analysis of human resource strategy with Markov chain simulation. As another approach, I suggest you the article https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201711206025 focusing on modelling of just-in-time and just-in-sequence supply.

The authors glad your recommendation. In current version, the paper illustrates the contributions and findings from those researches, and they are discussed and cited. Please check reference 24 in Table 1 (in text) and in line 676 and reference 40 in line 722. Furthermore, here is important to mention that other papers referencing human resources and JIT were cited.

 

A summary table comparing the contributions could support the explanation.

Thanks a lot for that suggestion. In this current version, Table 1 illustrates 8 authors that have contributed and supported the importance from human resources in JIT implementation, and they appear in line 131. The subsequent Tables have been renumbered in text and they appear as changes.

 

The methodology is discussed, including questionnaire design and management, data analysis, validation and evaluation. Are there any differences between just-in-time and just-in-sequence solutions from the HR point of view.

Thanks a lot for that question. We respond this in lines 54 to 56, indicating that JIS and SERU are part, or especial techniques, that represent JIT evolved in a supply chain. Also in subsection 2.3, focused in Human Resources Integration, JIT and JIS are discussed in their own context.

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors have made all required changes. Please check references 24 and 40. The correct references are the followings:

24. Bányai, T.; Bányai, Á. Modelling of just-in-sequence supply of manufacturing processes. 2017, 112, 655 06025.https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201711206025 

40. Bányai, T.; Landschützer, C.; Bányai, Á. Markov-Chain Simulation-Based Analysis of Human Resource 693 Structure: How Staff Deployment and Staffing Affect Sustainable Human Resource Strategy. 2018, 10, 3692. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103692

 

Author Response

(second) Response to reviewer 2

Dear reviewer,

Thank you very much for your review.

We have corrected both references.

Yours sincerely,

    The authors

Author Response File: Author Response.docx