Title: Lean-resilience tipping point location in the supply chain

Authors: Marina Ivanova

Addresses: Chair of Factory Planning and Intralogistics, Chemnitz University of Technology, Erfenschlager Straße 73, 09125 Chemnitz, Germany

Abstract: Lean principles enhance supply chain efficiency but often cause vulnerabilities during disruptions. Recent studies highlight the importance to integrate redundancies when improving supply chain resilience. While these redundancies can protect against disruptions, they may compromise efficiency. This raises two critical questions: 1) how to allocate the tipping points between lean and resilience; 2) how can these two concepts complement each other? We seek to explore whether a supply chain can achieve both efficiency and resilience. In this paper, we expand the conceptual frameworks active usage of resilience assets (AURA) and low-certainty-need supply chain (LCN) to include the tipping point between lean and resilience. We introduce a formal model for locating the lean-resilience tipping point (LRTP), designed to identify the optimal blend of lean and resilience capabilities within the supply chain. Our approach is illustrated through a simulation-based practical example.

Keywords: supply chain resilience; lean management; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISM.2026.152995

International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, 2026 Vol.18 No.2, pp.113 - 131

Received: 25 Jun 2025
Accepted: 17 Dec 2025
Published online: 17 Apr 2026 *

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