This study aims at examining the impact of the interrelation between Industry 4.0 technologies implementation and the adoption of Lean Production (LP) practices on the improvement level of manufacturers' operational performance. Further, it investigates how this connection might occur under the effect of four contextual factors deemed as influential by previous literature, such as company size, LP implementation experience, type of ownership and business operating model. To achieve that, we carried out a survey with 108 European manufacturers that have been implementing LP practices and already started to approach Industry 4.0 technologies. The collected data was analyzed through multivariate techniques. Results underpin the idea of a wide applicability of both approaches, regardless of the contextual factors involved. Further, findings evidence that higher adoption levels of Industry 4.0 may be easier to achieve when LP practices are extensively implemented in the company. In opposition, when processes are not robustly designed and continuous improvement practices are not established, companies may not be ready on adopting novel technologies either. By comprehending that Industry 4.0 technologies are highly related to LP practices, disregarding the context, managers from EU manufacturers can address the implementation of both approaches in a more assertive way.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the lean production (LP) practices applied in healthcare supply chain and the existing barriers related to their implementation. Design/methodology/approach To achieve that, a scoping review was carried out in order to consolidate the main practices and barriers, and also to evidence research gaps and directions according to different theoretical lenses. Findings The findings show that there is a consensus on the potential of LP practices implementation in healthcare supply chain, but most studies still report such implementation restricted to specific unit or value stream within a hospital. Originality/value Healthcare organizations are under constant pressure to reduce costs and wastes, while improving services and patient safety. Further, its supply chain usually presents great opportunities for improvement, both in terms of cost reduction and quality of care increase. In this sense, the adaptation of LP practices and principles has been widely accepted in healthcare. However, studies show that most implementations fall far short from their goals because they are done in a fragmented way, and not from a system-wide perspective.

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PurposeIndustry 4.0 and Lean Production are a successful match in terms of performance improvement. While we understand the combined potential, there is still poor understanding of how companies should embrace digital transformation to make it successful and sustainable, and the role that lean plays in it. In this paper, we investigate how manufacturing companies embark upon digital transformation and how being lean might affect it.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted multiple case studies with 19 manufacturing companies. We identified two clusters of companies according to their Lean maturity, and we assessed digital transformation patterns by analyzing insights coming both from cases and from the literature. Integrating cross-case analysis results, we developed a framework that shows two different digital transformation patterns according to companies’ commitment to Lean.FindingsOur findings first and foremost show the significant role of lean in driving digital transformation. We identify two patterns, namely Sustaining digital transformation pattern, characterized by the pervasive role of lean culture with small and horizontal digital changes, involvement of people and willingness to maintain continuous process improvement, and Disruptive digital transformation pattern, characterized by few and large digital steps that imply a disruptive and radical change in the company system.Practical implicationsEmpirical evidence supports the relevance of the proposed model and its practical usefulness. It can be used to design digital transformation, prepare properly the introduction of Industry 4.0 through a lean approach, and plan the future desired state, identifying the Industry 4.0 technologies that should be implemented.Originality/valueIt is widely recognized that the relationship between Industry 4.0 and lean is significant and positive, yet little evidence was presented to back that. We aim at bringing this debate forward by providing initial empirical evidence of the significant role that lean has on digital transformation, showing how lean drives the digital transformation pattern of companies.