Lean manufacturing impacts several operational performances. The
usefulness of JIT links with suppliers is also well known. However, literature
lacks strong empirical evidences to exhibit the relationship between lean
manufacturing, operational performances and JIT linkages with suppliers. This
paper aims to investigate this relationship. A questionnaire-based international
survey was used to obtain the main purpose of the research. Data from a sample
of 200 companies were analyzed using a multiple regression methodology. The
analysis demonstrates that JIT linkages with suppliers positively moderate the
impact of lean manufacturing on punctuality, while the moderating effect is
absent when considering efficiency and throughput time performance.
