Do repetitive and non-repetitive companies equally benefit from Lean 4.0?
Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management
ISSN: 1741-038X
Article publication date: 7 September 2021
Issue publication date: 3 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The integration between the traditional lean management and Industry 4.0, namely called Lean 4.0, is under the spotlight of both academia and practitioners. While we agree on the benefits Lean 4.0 may bring to companies performance, we still lack a deep understanding of the characteristics of this paradigm, such as its effective application space. Recalling traditional lean better suits repetitive companies, we are keen to understand whether the anew Lean 4.0 will enlarge its application space.
Design/methodology/approach
We performed an exploratory study, using a quantitative analysis based on Bayesian network approach to investigate whether Lean 4.0 results to be as effective in repetitive companies as in non-repetitive ones, in terms of operational performance.
Findings
While our findings confirm that Lean 4.0 will enhance companies' performance regardless their production strategies, companies adopting a repetitive strategy do benefit from a much higher improvement. Our findings provide an insight on the true applicability space of Lean 4.0, which seems to be the same as the traditional lean.
Originality/value
We contribute to the ongoing debate of Lean 4.0 providing initial empirical evidence on how to improve the operational performance in non-repetitive companies, seeing that Lean 4.0 might not be the best choice in its current format.
Keywords
Citation
Cifone, F.D. and Portioli Staudacher, A. (2022), "Do repetitive and non-repetitive companies equally benefit from Lean 4.0?", Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 84-102. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-12-2020-0500
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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