The aim of this paper is to explore and evaluate previous work focusing on the relationship and links between Lean manufacturing and industrial work. This study reviews the literature on Lean Manufacturing Assessment (LMA) during the last decade; 2008–2017 and analyses the literature from different perspectives. This paper highlights various key words, scopes, objectives, case study, definitions, methodologies, tools and main results. A total of 126 research papers have been reviewed in this study to help the researchers in the evaluation of lean manufacturing practices to identify and benefit from these studies. This paper provides a quantitative descriptive analysis and qualitative thematic analysis to provide an analysis of impact of lean on performance. Consequently, this paper can be considered as a guide for researchers in LMA. It is expected to be a brief reference for future researchers that reduces effort and time consuming during their studies. Keywords