PurposeAs the level of implementation of Industry 4.0 increases, misalignments between adopted technologies and organizational factors may result in benefits below expected. This paper aims to analyze how organizational factors can contribute to a higher level of adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. The paper uses a sociotechnical perspective lens to achieve this aim.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 231 manufacturing companies in Denmark, a leading country in Industry 4.0 readiness, the paper analyzes through cluster analysis and logistic regression whether the development of four sociotechnical dimensions – that is, Social, Technical, Work Organization and Environmental factors – in these companies can benefit the achievement of higher levels of Industry 4.0 technology adoption.FindingsThe results show that companies focused on the development of sociotechnical aspects generally present higher Industry 4.0 adoption levels. However, some sociotechnical factors are less supportive than others.Originality/valueBased on these results, practitioners can plan the adoption of advanced technologies, using a systemic organizational view. This study provides evidence on a growing field with few empirical studies available. The paper contributes by providing an analysis of a leading country in Industry 4.0 implementation, presenting a systemic view on technology adoption in the Industry 4.0 context.

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PurposeThis paper presents an exploratory investigation of myths on lean production (LP), by identifying, dispelling and assessing their pervasiveness.Design/methodology/approachA list of myths was proposed mostly based on seminal LP texts and our rich experience from researching, teaching and consulting in lean journeys. Complexity thinking was adopted as a lens for dispelling the myths, as it challenged generalizations implied in myths. An investigation of the pervasiveness of the myths was also conducted, based on a survey with 120 academics and practitioners.FindingsTen myths were identified and dispelled. Survey's results indicated that belief in lean myths was more common among less experienced practitioners (<10 years), while experience was not a relevant factor for academics.Research limitations/implicationsThe lean myths partly reflect the experience of the authors. Furthermore, a larger sample size is necessary for a full analysis of pervasiveness.Practical implicationsThe lean myths might be underlying barriers to LP implementation (e.g. lack of knowledge of managers and workers), and they might be proactively accounted for in lean training and education programs.Originality/valueThis is the first work to explicitly frame a set of lean myths.

Resumo: O Lean Healthcare tem se tornado uma tendência de investigação devido ao potencial de resultados que pode trazer para o contexto hospitalar. No entanto, a transposição dos conceitos Lean da manufatura para a saúde ainda encontra barreiras e dificuldades que não estão totalmente esclarecidas neste novo ambiente. Assim, esta pesquisa buscou responder ao seguinte questionamento: quais as barreiras e dificuldades enfrentadas por acadêmicos e praticantes do Lean Healthcare durante tentativas de melhoria de processos hospitalares? Entrevistas semiestruturadas foram realizadas com três acadêmicos e dois praticantes do assunto, juntamente com seis rodadas de observações participantes em dois hospitais de grande porte para a coleta de dados. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados com a literatura, mostrando diferentes níveis de similaridade e contrapontos, que podem estar atrelados a fatores de contexto e aos avanços na disseminação do Lean Healthcare. Foram revelados também outros três fatores que impactam na implementação do Lean na área da saúde, e que devem ser considerados: (i) Dificuldade de experimentação; (ii) Desequilíbrio na entrega de valor; e (iii) Abordagem inadequada. Através dos exemplos mostrados, espera-se contribuir com acadêmicos e praticantes do tema, evidenciando como diferentes fatores impactam nas tentativas de melhorias de processos hospitalares e como essas barreiras podem ser contornadas.Palavras-chave: Lean Healthcare. Barreiras. Dificuldades. Hospitais. Lean. Abstract:Lean Healthcare has become a research trend due to the potential results that it can bring to the hospital setting. However, the tuning of Lean concepts from manufacturing to healthcare still encounter barriers and difficulties that is not entirely clear in this new environment. Thus, this research sought to answer the following question: what are the barriers and difficulties faced by researchers and practitioners of Lean Healthcare during attempts for improving hospital processes? Semistructured interviews were conducted with three researchers and two practitioners of the subject, along with six rounds of participant observation in two large hospitals to collect data. The results were compared with literature, showing different levels of similarity and counterpoints, which may be linked to context factors and advances in the spread of Lean Healthcare. It was also revealed at least three other factors that impact the implementation of Lean in healthcare, and should be considered: (i) Difficulty of experimentation; (ii) Imbalance in the delivery of value; and (iii) Inadequate approach. Through the examples shown, we expect to contribute with researchers and practitioners, showing how different factors impact on attempts to hospital process improvements and how these barriers can be circumvented. BARREIRAS E DIFICULDADES EM LEAN HEALTHCARETornar processos enxutos é um desafio em qualquer ambiente. Embora muito já se saiba sobre as dificuldades de se aplicar Lean na manufatura (EMILIANI, 2000;ACHANGA et al., 2006;SIM;ROGER...

Lean production has been more and more applied in systems with various levels of complexity, which tends to create a gap between Lean-as-Imagined (LAI) in design and Lean-as-Done (LAD) in practice. This paper presents a framework for investigating the influence of complexity on that gap. The framework was applied in a nine-month study in a large plant of a transnational auto-parts manufacturer in Brazil. Three main sources of data were used: 21 interviews, around 196 hours of observations, and documents. Twenty-two examples of the gap are presented; each example is analysed in terms of what LAI and LAD look like, lean principles involved, mechanisms by which complexity influences the gap, and practical implications. Findings suggest that resilience arising from the self-organization of employees, which is a manifestation of complexity, plays an important role for the implementation of lean production. In addition, the framework's contribution to leanness assessment is discussed. Four research propositions to be tested in future studies are also presented.

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To promote knowledge management and operations improvement, companies and organizations use different tools to map and analyze their processes, such as Value Stream Mapping (MFV) and Business Process Modeling and Notation (BPMN). However, each of these techniques has advantages and limitations, often requiring the same process to be mapped in more than one notation. To overcome this issue, this research aimed to explore how VSM and BPMN can be integrated for improving process mapping. Initially, we selected a business process for case study and mapped it with both VSM and BPMN notations. Then, we drawn a new process map using a tentative hybrid notation proposed by the authors that combine elements from both BPMN and VSM in a single depiction. For each process instantiation, we analyzed how the selected notation influences comprehension, treatment of complex processes, continuous improvement, and the use of performance metrics. Results show that the hybrid BPMN‐VSM notation has the potential to overcome many limitations reported in literature regarding the individual use of VSM or BPMN, while preserving the most valued characteristics of both. Although further developments are still necessary, the use of the proposed hybrid notation proved to be a promising alternative for mapping complex processes. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to explore the possibility of a hybrid notation inspired from BPMN and VSM.