(1) Background: Smart cities have been gaining attention in the community, both among researchers and professionals. Although this field of study is gaining some maturity, no academic manuscript yet offers a unique holistic view of the phenomenon. In fact, the existing systematic reviews make it possible to gather solid and relevant knowledge, but still dispersed; (2) Method: through a meta-review it was possible to provide a set of data, which allows the dissemination of the main theoretical and managerial contributions to enthusiasts and critics of the area; (3) Results: this research identified the most relevant topics for smart cities, namely, smart city dimensions, digital transformation, sustainability and resilience. In addition, this research emphasizes that the natural sciences have dominated scientific production, with greater attention being paid to megacities of developed nations. Recent empirical research also suggests that it is crucial to overcome key cybersecurity and privacy challenges in smart cities; (4) Conclusions: research on smart cities can be performed as multidisciplinary studies of small and medium-sized cities in developed or underdeveloped countries. Furthermore, future research should highlight the role played by cybersecurity in the development of smart cities and analyze the impact of smart city development on the link between the city and its stakeholders.

Ensuring on-shelf availability is essential for retailers to maintain high service levels for both in-store and E-Commerce consumers. The performance of this indicator largely depends on reorder planning decisions, as well as on the effectiveness of the replenishment process. This paper presents a case study that involved two Lean initiatives, which together have contributed to a significantly reduction in the number of out-of-stock events incurred by a retail store and an increase in the order fulfilment rate accomplished by the online commerce service. In the first initiative, a value stream management (VSM) methodology was adopted to redesign the existing replenishment process in the most relevant fresh food market: fruits and vegetables. The second initiative involved the implementation of a simple, but effective visual inventory management system in the warehouse of the E-Commerce division, where a wide set of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) is stored using kanban cards. This paper hence demonstrates, through practical application, that Lean tools can be employed to improve operational processes with positive impacts on both the physical store performance and on results regarding the online commerce business.

To remain competitive in the marketplace, organizations are seeking the adoption of management models and tools that will allow them to find better and more effective practices to reinvent themselves, and continuously improve their business processes and product’s quality in a sustainable way, hence pursuing the ultimate goal of reaching enterprise excellence. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model that relates the requirements of the ISO Management System Standards with the dimensions and guiding principles of the Shingo Model for Operational Excellence. The proposed approach allows an organization with and existing management system based on one or more ISO Management System Standards to adopt and perform an assessment tool to evaluate its level of maturity regarding the adoption of the best practices and behaviours prescribed by the Shingo Model, which is a novelty contribution of this research. The validation of the proposed assessment tool took place in a Portuguese organization from the automotive sector, having comprised two moments: in the first one, an external assessor performed a set of behavioural observations that acted as a base to assign a score, while in the second moment such score was internally obtained through a survey that was filled by the organization’s employees. The results reveal that these two methods converge to similar conclusions, hence confirming that the proposed model has the potential to enable an organization to assess the maturity level of its management system regarding the adoption of the guiding principles of the Shingo Model for Operational Excellence. A limitation of this research is that the model was only validated in a single company.

This paper presents a real application of a lean–green improvement initiative conducted at a large Portuguese hypermarket store. It explores how lean tools and techniques may be used to not only improve the operational performance, but also sustainability. A case study was carried out in one store of a multinational retail enterprise, with the aim of enhancing both the operational and sustainability performance in the cold meat section, one of the most relevant areas of the fresh food markets. The Gemba Kaizen event approach, which comprises three main stages, was adopted. During the workshop stage, the structured problem-solving methodology was followed, and was recorded in an A3 format. As a consequence of this project, food waste in the cold meat market was reduced by half, whereas the out-of-stock index decreased by a third. In addition, the pilot store hit top performance within all stores of the company in Portugal, ranking first in all key indicators for the cold meat market. The lean–green scope and performance improvement procedures developed and implemented in the pilot store were later deployed to other stores of the company. This is one of the first publications regarding the application of lean management in the food retail sector for improving both the operational and sustainability performance.

Purpose: By exploiting the relationships between Six Sigma and quality management systems (QMS) based on the ISO 9001 standard, this paper proposes a set of guidelines to combine and integrate both approaches in a systematic way. The guidelines are organised into integration topics, and each one is linked to the clauses of the ISO 9001 standard they refer to.Design/methodology/approach: Based on the literature review, Six Sigma and QMS based on the ISO 9001 standard are thoroughly discussed and compared and beneficial synergies between them are identified. Based on this study, and to take advantage of the compatibilities and logical linkages between both approaches, guidelines for the integration of Six Sigma with the ISO 9001 requirements are developed.Findings: Benefits resulting from the integration of Six Sigma with a QMS based on the ISO 9001 standard are mutual. The integration guidelines proposed in this paper provide a framework to unify process management practices, enhance the effectiveness of continual improvement efforts, facilitate the identification, evaluation and selection of Six Sigma projects, align the quality objectives defined for the QMS with Six Sigma project goals, establish relationships between the roles of a Six Sigma program and those inherent to an ISO 9001 QMS, and demonstrate how internal quality audits and management review benefit from a Six Sigma program.Research limitations/implications: The integration models and guidelines herein proposed can be further expanded to include other relevant normative references, particularly environmental management systems (ISO 14001) and safety and health management systems (OHSAS 18001).Originality/value: The set of guidelines proposed in this paper is original and will be of practical value to the increasing number of organisations adopting a process‐model for the ISO 9001 standard, that seek to incorporate Six Sigma principles, practices, methods and tools within their QMS. The guidelines cover a wide spectrum of relevant activities that usually take place in the context of both initiatives. In addition, because each guideline is accompanied by the identification of the applicable clauses of ISO 9001, they provide a useful framework to develop, implement, maintain, and improve a QMS in parallel with a Six Sigma program.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate an application of the Six Sigma define, measure, analyze, improve, control (DMAIC) problem-solving methodology in a Portuguese industrial enterprise, aimed at reducing the rejection rate of a specific manufactured product due to defects generated in an aluminum gravity die casting operation. Design/methodology/approach: Along the five-stage roadmap, a set of analytical and conceptual tools was systematically employed to better characterize the problem, define the product’s critical to quality characteristics, estimate the process baseline, determine the relevant cause-and-effect relationships, identify the root causes leading to the high rejection rate, implement an improvement plan, determine the effectiveness of the improvement actions, and put in place a control plan. Findings: The project team discovered that the high rejection rate was caused by factors inherent to the gravity die casting operation itself and by the mixing of rejected parts made of different types of alloys from other locations within the plant. Another key finding was that the successful execution of the project was only possible due to the belief and support of top management and to the active involvement of the team members. Practical implications: This case study illustrates a successful practical application of a Six Sigma project in a small-medium enterprise in Portugal, as well as the operational and financial benefits that derived from it; thus providing a good example for others to follow. Originality/value: Few cases of continual improvement initiatives, including Six Sigma projects, developed at a Portuguese company are available in the literature; this paper fills such void by describing a very successful application that demonstrates the advantages that other companies can learn in terms of adopting structured methodologies to improve the quality of their products and the efficiency of their processes. Moreover, the analysis and conclusions herein presented can be of great importance for companies using gravity die casting technology.