These four papers with a balance of an empirical and case-based analysis approach gives a nuanced understanding about JIT environment and its applications, besides fulfilling the overarching goal towards adding understanding of the Kaizen aspects linked to the field of operations.

The first paper, �Combined Effect of Just-in-Time and Vendor Managed Inventory Elements in Hospitals�, by Amit Raman and Amit Kumar Dubey, highlights that hospitals must increasingly focus on gaining competitive advantage through effective management of their supply chains. The study indicates that inventory performance directly connects to the success of supply chain management. It focuses on various JIT and VMI elements which are important to both the customer and the manufacturer (vendor) in the Indian context, highlighting the relative importance and difficulties in the implementation of JIT and VMI elements in the hospital sector and verification of data with the help of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) technique. The unique contribution lies in identification of the JIT and VMI elements, which are most important and easy to implement in the hospital context.

The second paper, �Effect Analysis of Customer JIT Implementation on a Supply Die Casting Manufacturer�, by Mustafaa S Muhamed and Herman Tang, from Eastern Michigan University uses a case study to examine data collected from a primary die casting manufacturing organization and analyzes the impacts on a die casting manufacturer when the customer implements JIT. The methods used to analyze the data collected from the study are a Likert survey, Cronbach�s alpha coefficient, pie charts, a normal probability plot, and a one-way ANOVA from Minitab. The study also examines and analyzes the effects JIT implementation by customers has on manufacturing performance and the three constructs�production practices, efficiency, and delivery�and their interrelationship. The results show JIT production practices are implemented in various ways across the die casting industry, and those who communicate on a higher level have a more efficient and better outcome than those who do not.

The third paper, �Ranking of Performance Indicators in JIT-Based Manufacturing Systems Using TOPSIS�, by Mohit Tyagi and P C Tewari, discusses JIT and its applications in the context of ever-changing customer demands, manufacturing flexibility, quick delivery time and high productivity along with high profitability, where every industry is continuously striving for innovative and effective management techniques. The paper highlights JIT as one such management technique that increases the profit of the enterprise by eliminating all kind of wastes through continuous improvement. The paper ranks performance indicators on the basis of various JIT elements for successful implementation of JIT in various industries. Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is used for making a deterministic quantitative model for identification and ranking of the performance indicators. In this paper, six performance indicators are mainly used.

The fourth and final paper, �Modeling the Success Factors of Kaizen in the Manufacturing Industry of Northern India: An Empirical Investigation�, by Surjit Kumar Gandhi, Jagdeep Singh and Harwinder Singh, investigates the contributions of success factors of Continuous Improvement (CI) approach to competitive manufacturing. The paper also seeks to critically examine the level of importance of strategic CI implementation in Indian manufacturing organizations using a survey-based study to assess the contributions of CI success factors towards improving firm performance. The study involves hypotheses formation and statistical testing using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Z-test. Interesting highlights from the paper indicate that working continuously with suppliers and knowledge about implementation of success factors play a significant role in improving firm performance. The paper further emphasizes that CI success factor implementation can systematically contribute to the realization of significant manufacturing performance enhancements.