Exploiting lean benefits through smart manufacturing: A comprehensive perspective

Lean Production has proven to be a valuable methodology to improve productivity while reducing costs. Notwithstanding the countless successful lean implementations in the extant literature, others highlight its limitations, especially in production environments characterized by demand volatility, high product mix and reduced lot sizes. Technology is seen by many as a potential solution to such limitations, especially in the last years, with Industry 4.0 becoming an emerging frontier for the smart factories of the future. However, studies about the relationship between lean and smart manufacturing are scarce and often anecdotal. Therefore, the proposed work aims to fill this gap by developing a comprehensive model that links these two perspectives and serves practitioners to achieve lean’s core goals in smart factories.