Nowadays, companies' first target is to build an intelligent, flexible, integrated and efficient processes, for higher industrial performance. According to this, a new concept emerged within the industrial firms by the name of Industry 4.0 (I4.0). This 4th industrial revolution covers four main aspects: intelligent factory, real-time communication, smart products and more satisfied customers. As strong as are the new technologies offered by this revolution, it is not entirely sufficient if not combined with lean principles. Combining these two paradigms created what is known today as Lean 4.0, a new concept presenting several opportunities for higher performance. Nevertheless, this combination is far from being as simple as it seems. A deep and structured risk analysis is required to ensure a smooth implementation of lean 4.0 system within a company. The purpose of this paper is to discuss I4.0, lean manufacturing and Lean 4.0 risks and opportunities through a systematic literature review, and to study the different barriers to its implementation through the modelling of a case study using sequence diagram and SWOT analysis. Its contribution consists of being a reflection paper to the companies aiming to develop their digital maturity by exploiting Lean 4.0 tools.
Smart technologies have been the subject of a growing interest for the past few years due to the growing market demand. They are believed to improve human life, existence, and companies’ performance. Considering the recent advances, X.0 concept has proven to be a mindset changing so that companies can now see that they can improve their competitiveness, ensure an innovative, sustainable and resilient environment, and smarten and develop their lean manufacturing tools. Nevertheless, if X.0 adoption is still not at its highest level, it is because of the relevant challenges and difficulties that occur during the implementation process. Within this scope, this paper aims, through a systematic literature review, to identify risks and opportunities of X.0 technologies to constitute a referential to be taken into consideration for a successful implementation. Results are validated by the modelling and simulation of an RFID system applied within the automotive industry, for which we identified risks and opportunities from one side and the system contribution in terms of smart Lean Manufacturing. From one hand, the value added of this paper, on the contrary of previous researches, is mainly regrouping risks and opportunities of most relevant digital technologies to conclude on those of X.0 revolution as a concept as described in following sections. From another hand, we were able to prove, through a real case study, that X.0 concept directly contribute in smartening and improving lean manufacturing principles.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.