Industry 4.0 and Lean Manufacturing – a systematic review of the state-of-the-art literature and key recommendations for future research

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the current state of research to identify the link between Lean Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies to map out different research themes, to uncover research gaps and propose key recommendations for future research, including lessons to be learnt from the integration of lean and I4.0. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) is conducted to thematically analyse and synthesise existing literature on Lean Manufacturing–I4.0 integration. The review analysed 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Findings In total, five main research themes were identified, and a thematic map was created to explore the following: the relationship between Lean Manufacturing and I4.0; Lean Manufacturing and I4.0 implication on performance; Lean Manufacturing and I4.0 framework; Lean Manufacturing and I4.0 integration with other methodologies; and application of I4.0 technologies in Lean Manufacturing. Furthermore, various gaps in the literature were identified, and key recommendations for future directions were proposed. Research limitations/implications The integration of Lean Manufacturing and I4.0 will eventually bring many benefits and offers superior and long-term competitive advantages. This research reveals the need for more analysis to thoroughly examine how this can be achieved in real life and promote operational changes that ensure enterprises run more sustainably. Originality/value The development of Lean Manufacturing and I4.0 integration is still in its infancy, with most articles in this field published in the past two years. The five main research themes identified through thematic synthesis are provided in the original contribution. This provides scholars better insight into the existing literature related to Lean Manufacturing and I4.0, further contributing to defining clear topics for future research opportunities. It also has important implications for industrialists, who can develop more profound and richer knowledge than Lean and I4.0, which would, in turn, help them develop more effective deployment strategies and have a positive commercial impact.

SMED 4.0: a development of single minute exchange of die in the era of Industry 4.0 technologies to improve sustainability

“…(3) Regarding the addressed industry 4.0 technologies in the literature, such as IoT (Ciano et al, 2021;Saad et al, 2023;Sanders et al, 2016) and simulation (Narula et al, 2023;Rosin et al, 2020;R€ ußmann et al, 2015) which affect the conventional SMED implementation in changeover from former product to new one, SMED 4.0 uses IoT in an innovative way which leads to avoiding defect occurrence during the production of a defined product. In particular, SMED 4.0 employs IoT for condition monitoring of the manufacturing process and online data report during the production of a defined product.…”

“…In this regard, the mean score of experts' feedback and analysis of variance are used to assess the impact and the best-worst method is employed to assess the priority of addressed technologies for the digital transformation of lean manufacturing. Sanders et al (2016) propose workpiece-machine communication using IoT for reducing changeover time and achieving SMED goals, since, provides embedded information to the product that can be directly communicated to the machine that requires a changeover (Saad et al, 2023).…”

“…SMED 4.0 includes conventional SMED strategies, however is not limited to them, since it also employs predict-prevent strategies using industry 4.0 technologies in its evolutionary proposed stage. In particular, SMED 4.0 goes beyond the addressed application of industry 4.0 technologies in conventional SMED in the literature such as using IoT in workpiecemachine communication for reducing changeover time (Saad et al, 2023;Sanders et al, 2016). SMED 4.0 employs IoT sensors for condition monitoring of the machine and reporting the online data of effective parameters on the quality of product during production to be used in ML model for predicting the time of defect occurrence.…”

“…, 2022), SMED 4.0 also employs predict-prevent strategies to avoid defect occurrence during the production.Regarding the addressed industry 4.0 technologies in the literature, such as IoT (Ciano et al. , 2021; Saad et al. , 2023; Sanders et al.…”

“…Regarding the addressed industry 4.0 technologies in the literature, such as IoT (Ciano et al. , 2021; Saad et al. , 2023; Sanders et al.…”