Are New Technologies Empowering Workers? Digital Lean Production and the Reorganization of Work in Manufacturing
Mathieu Dupuis, Alexis Massicotte
Abstract
While Lean production is the dominant productive system in manufacturing, recent debates over digitalization have given rise to predictions of a new wave of work reorganization with potential benefits for workers. To what extent are Lean production and digitalization making headway in corporations and workplaces, and are they doing so in tandem? The present article argues that contradictions between distinct organizational levels follow the deployment of ‘Digital Lean’ practices. At the corporate level, these principles have spread within firms and managerial beliefs, yet their integration within workplaces has been far from unilateral. An analysis of the aluminum and rubber manufacturing sectors identifies two models of work organization, Empowered Digital Lean and Taylorized Digital Lean systems. The study shows that differences between the two regimes result from differing product markets, production characteristics and levels of workers’ power, while highlighting potential points of resistance for labor.