Lean and industry 4.0: A leading harmony
Lina Naciri, Zineb Mouhib, Maryam Gallab, Mohcine Nali, Rachida Abbou, A. Kebe
Abstract
Avoid waste, get rid of non-value-added operations, keep processes and equipment simple and easy to maintain, these are the major assets of the Lean Manufacturing philosophy of the Toyota Production System (TPS). If Industry 4.0 offers a whole new way of considering decision-making in terms of problem solving, Lean Manufacturing multiplies the opportunities to integrate into continuous improvement. Digitalization being the trend of this new era where everything is connected, a new version of Lean has emerged: Lean 4.0. It is a combination of Industry 4.0 technologies and Lean Manufacturing principles that allows the benefits of these two paradigms to be fully exploited. The objective of this article is therefore to present what Lean Manufacturing is and how it has adapted to new technologies to make way for Lean 4.0. It constitutes a literature review based on some authors statements regarding this new concept, and a reflection paper proposing some practical cases of Lean 4.0 concretized by a simulation based on the case study that shows time and productivity gains within a Moroccan company, serving as an example to demonstrate the power of Lean 4.0.