Implementation of Industry 4.0 Techniques in Lean Production Technology: A Literature Review

Abstract

Lean thinking and Industry 4.0 have been broadly investigated in recent years in intelligent manufacturing. Lean Production is still one of the most efficient industrial solutions in business and research, despite being implemented for a long time. On the other hand, Industry 4.0 has been introduced referring to the fourth industrial revolution. This study aims to analyze the combination of both Industry 4.0 and Lean production practices through a systematic literature review from a Lean Automation perspective. In this field, 189 articles are examined using VOSviewer for cluster analysis. Then, a more detailed analysis is provided to explore how Industry 4.0 and Lean techniques are integrated from a practical perspective. Results highlighted Big Data Analysis and Value Stream Mapping as the most common techniques, also emphasizing a growing trend toward new publications. Nevertheless, few practical applications are identified in the literature highlighting six gaps in the correlation of LA practices.