The integration of Industry 4.0 and Lean Management: a systematic review and constituting elements perspective

Abstract

This paper explores the prevalent themes for integrating Industry 4.0 and Lean Management to provide a red thread concerning ‘what’ and ‘how’ to execute their integration. Furthermore, gaps in current literature are identified, and an agenda for future research is developed. The research is based on a systematic literature review of 111 papers that were published in academic journals between 2015 and 2021. In contrast to previous reviews, we focus on constituting elements of Lean Management and Industry 4.0 to offer a perspective closely related to practical implementations. The findings suggest Total Productive Maintenance as one exemplary constituting element representing the ‘what’ level and Change Management as a discipline with answers concerning the ‘how’ level. The paper offers a holistic view for practitioners facing the need for an integrated implementation of Industry 4.0 and Lean Management. Prevalent themes can be included in organisational transformation efforts to increase success rates in change projects. Deriving gaps in the current literature and developing an agenda for future research focused on operational concepts offers possibilities for further research with high practical relevance.