Lean Manufacturing has been extensively applied inside companies during the past decades and it has successfully changed production and organizational practices towards “leaner” processes, i.e., more straightforward and with less waste. The emergence of Industry 4.0 in the last few years, along with its approach inspiring a technological change of manufacturing, has captured the attention of researchers and of managers seeking to find answers to questions that arise about the synergy between this new concept and the well-established role of Lean within the ongoing Industrial Revolution. The purpose of this paper is to aim at identifying the interrelationships between Lean Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 in order to provide an overview of the current state of research concerning their key aspects and main implications, pointing out research gaps to encourage future works, too. For this, a Systematic Literature Review has been conducted for the identification, selection and evaluation of the published articles. A total of 75 papers obtained from the most relevant scientific databases, namely Scopus, Science Direct and Web of Science, and published between 2012 and 2021, has been analyzed and synthesized. The analysis of these papers has enabled an innovative classification of the reviewed literature based on several hints. In particular, the dynamics regarding Lean and the Fourth Industrial Revolution have been classified according to their mutual support, whether the former enables the latter and vice versa, to their integration, as well as to the barriers or difficulties to their integration. In doing so, three dissertation perspectives have been adopted: operational, tactical and strategic. Moreover, a mapping of the pushes of Industry 4.0 has been carried out according to three dimensions, including automation, digitalization and interconnection, together with another tripartite mapping of Lean Manufacturing activities, which are assessment, improvement and performance monitoring. This classification also includes a concern for performance resulting from the integration of the two domains under investigation, with an eye on sustainability, for which it has been exploited the Triple Bottom Line notion with its environmental, social and economic pillars, carefully holding Covid-19 in high esteem. Nevertheless, it has been kept record of the cited LM tools and I4.0 technologies, along with synergies among them. Findings indicate that a positive integration between Lean and Industry 4.0 is indeed possible, as they seem to be mutually supportive, but to a different extent and on different levels. Synergies between these two domains, and other various touchpoints, exist as well, and some Industry 4.0 digital technologies could offer ways for improving outdated Lean Manufacturing tools, since digitalization represents the most relevant push of I4.0 and improvement the most observed LM activity. There is little empirical evidence of performance results, as just a few manufacturers have jointly applied LM practices and I4.0 artefacts in their organizations, even if there is certified certainty that environmental sustainability has been given top priority by the Manufacturing Industry. The paper presents a series of implications intended to be useful from an academic point of view and from a managerial one, with specific recommendations for researchers and industrial managers, who might receive help in addressing manufacturing companies’ traditional and additional challenges brought by Covid-19.
La filosofia Lean è stata ampiamente applicata all'interno delle aziende negli ultimi decenni e ha cambiato con successo le pratiche produttive e organizzative verso processi "più snelli", cioè più semplici e con meno sprechi. L’affermazione dell’Industria 4.0 negli ultimi anni, insieme al suo approccio ispiratore di un cambiamento tecnologico della manifattura, ha catturato l'attenzione di ricercatori e managers che cercano di trovare risposte alle domande che sorgono in merito alla sinergia tra questo nuovo concetto e il ben consolidato ruolo della mentalità Lean nell’ottica della Rivoluzione Industriale in corso. Lo scopo di questo elaborato è di mirare a identificare le interrelazioni tra il Lean e l’Industria 4.0 al fine di fornire una panoramica dello stato attuale della ricerca riguardo ai loro aspetti chiave e alle loro principali implicazioni, evidenziando anche le lacune nella ricerca per indirizzare i lavori futuri. A tal proposito è stata condotta una Systematic Literature Review per l'identificazione, la selezione e la valutazione degli articoli pubblicati. Sono stati analizzati e sintetizzati in totale 75 articoli ottenuti dai database scientifici più rilevanti, ovvero Scopus, Science Direct e Web of Science, e pubblicati tra il 2012 e il 2021. L'analisi di questi documenti ha consentito una classificazione innovativa della letteratura recensita basata su diversi spunti. In particolare, le dinamiche relative al Lean e alla Quarta Rivoluzione Industriale sono state classificate in base al loro reciproco sostegno, sia nel caso che il primo supporti la seconda sia nel caso opposto, in base alla loro integrazione, e in base alle barriere o alle difficoltà rispetto alla loro integrazione. Nel fare ciò, sono state adottate tre prospettive di discussione: operativa, tattica e strategica. Inoltre, è stata effettuata una mappatura delle spinte dell'Industria 4.0 secondo tre dimensioni, ossia automazione, digitalizzazione e interconnessione, insieme ad un'altra triplice mappatura delle attività della Produzione Lean, che sono valutazione, miglioramento e monitoraggio delle prestazioni. Questa classificazione rivela anche un interesse per le prestazioni derivanti dall'integrazione dei due domini in esame, con un particolare occhio di riguardo per la sostenibilità, per la quale è stata sfruttata la nozione di Triple Bottom Line con i suoi tre pilastri ambientale, sociale ed economico, tenendo sempre l’aspetto Covid-19 in grande considerazione. Si è anche tenuta traccia degli strumenti citati del Lean e delle tecnologie citate dell’Industria 4.0, insieme alle sinergie presenti tra di loro. I risultati indicano come un'integrazione di successo tra il Lean e l’Industria 4.0 sia effettivamente possibile, poiché i due concetti sembrano supportarsi a vicenda, anche se in misura diversa e su livelli diversi. Esistono pure sinergie tra questi due domini così come altri vari punti di contatto e alcune tecnologie digitali dell’Industria 4.0 potrebbero offrire modi per migliorare strumenti datati del Lean, essendo la digitalizzazione la spinta più rilevante dell’Industria 4.0 ed essendo il miglioramento l'attività più osservata del Lean. Sono disponibili poche prove empiriche circa le prestazioni registrate, poiché soltanto pochi produttori hanno applicato congiuntamente le pratiche del Lean e le tecnologie delI’Industria 4.0 nelle loro aziende, anche se vi è la certezza comprovata che la sostenibilità ambientale abbia ricevuto la massima priorità dall'Industria Manifatturiera. L’elaborato presenta una serie di implicazioni destinate ad essere utili da un punto di vista accademico e da uno manageriale, con raccomandazioni specifiche per ricercatori e managers d’industria, i quali potrebbero ricevere aiuto nell'affrontare, per le rispettive aziende manifatturiere, le classiche e le nuove sfide portate dal Covid-19.
Lean manufacturing and Industry 4.0 : synergies and touchpoints. A systematic state-of-the-art literature review
Seneca, Tommaso
2020/2021
Abstract
Lean Manufacturing has been extensively applied inside companies during the past decades and it has successfully changed production and organizational practices towards “leaner” processes, i.e., more straightforward and with less waste. The emergence of Industry 4.0 in the last few years, along with its approach inspiring a technological change of manufacturing, has captured the attention of researchers and of managers seeking to find answers to questions that arise about the synergy between this new concept and the well-established role of Lean within the ongoing Industrial Revolution. The purpose of this paper is to aim at identifying the interrelationships between Lean Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 in order to provide an overview of the current state of research concerning their key aspects and main implications, pointing out research gaps to encourage future works, too. For this, a Systematic Literature Review has been conducted for the identification, selection and evaluation of the published articles. A total of 75 papers obtained from the most relevant scientific databases, namely Scopus, Science Direct and Web of Science, and published between 2012 and 2021, has been analyzed and synthesized. The analysis of these papers has enabled an innovative classification of the reviewed literature based on several hints. In particular, the dynamics regarding Lean and the Fourth Industrial Revolution have been classified according to their mutual support, whether the former enables the latter and vice versa, to their integration, as well as to the barriers or difficulties to their integration. In doing so, three dissertation perspectives have been adopted: operational, tactical and strategic. Moreover, a mapping of the pushes of Industry 4.0 has been carried out according to three dimensions, including automation, digitalization and interconnection, together with another tripartite mapping of Lean Manufacturing activities, which are assessment, improvement and performance monitoring. This classification also includes a concern for performance resulting from the integration of the two domains under investigation, with an eye on sustainability, for which it has been exploited the Triple Bottom Line notion with its environmental, social and economic pillars, carefully holding Covid-19 in high esteem. Nevertheless, it has been kept record of the cited LM tools and I4.0 technologies, along with synergies among them. Findings indicate that a positive integration between Lean and Industry 4.0 is indeed possible, as they seem to be mutually supportive, but to a different extent and on different levels. Synergies between these two domains, and other various touchpoints, exist as well, and some Industry 4.0 digital technologies could offer ways for improving outdated Lean Manufacturing tools, since digitalization represents the most relevant push of I4.0 and improvement the most observed LM activity. There is little empirical evidence of performance results, as just a few manufacturers have jointly applied LM practices and I4.0 artefacts in their organizations, even if there is certified certainty that environmental sustainability has been given top priority by the Manufacturing Industry. The paper presents a series of implications intended to be useful from an academic point of view and from a managerial one, with specific recommendations for researchers and industrial managers, who might receive help in addressing manufacturing companies’ traditional and additional challenges brought by Covid-19.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/178998