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Access Type
WSU Access
Date of Award
January 2022
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
First Advisor
Ratna Babu Chinnam
Abstract
ABSTRACT
FRAMEWORK TO INTEGRATE INDUSTRY 4.0 AND LEAN METHODOLOGIES: OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
byVENKATESAN BALARAMAN December 2022
Advisor: Dr. Ratna Babu Chinnam Major: Industrial Engineering Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Industry 4.0 is characterized as the fourth wave of the industrial revolution promoting technological advancements in the manufacturing and other sectors. It helps enhance the automation, flexibility, and individualization of products, production, and business processes. Industry 4.0 is based on applying the principles of Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS), future-oriented technologies, and intelligent factory systems. This is a period of unprecedented growth and opportunity, and technology is truly the most leveraged way to solve chronic problems faced in today’s manufacturing. While lean manufacturing is in existence for decades and is still considered the leading methodology for operational excellence, research shows that lean efforts are regressing, and lean practices alone are inadequate to meet the customers’ ever-changing demands let alone the supply chain challenges due to natural disasters and pandemics. While Industry 4.0-driven smart manufacturing is still emerging, the decades-old lean and traditional manufacturing approaches are trying to integrate and leverage the emerging technologies to reach the next level of operational excellence and competitiveness. As the Lean and Industry 4.0 integration is still evolving, the current research mostly focused on tools and technologies than a principles-based integration. Many manufacturers are uncertain about how to integrate Lean and Industry 4.0 resolutely that can create scalable and sustainable competitiveness for maximum benefit to the enterprise. It is essential that companies think of Lean Industry 4.0 as an optimal combination of strong Lean and Industry 4.0 Principles and not just tools and techniques. This study focuses on understanding the core principles of Lean and Industry 4.0 methodologies to effectively integrate them to improve operational excellence. Lean is a long-term focused socio-technical system to create value and reduce waste, whereas Industry 4.0 is an integrative system of value creation. Based on these core values and the context, a principles-based robust framework that can be applied in automotive and many other fields has been developed. From a practical perspective, the framework created by this study, called TPSMaP can be used by managers as a roadmap to improve the success rate in integrating Lean and Industry 4.0 methodologies. The principles-based framework has been validated using practical use cases and Industry 4. 0 Lighthouse examples from the automotive industry. The case study validation yielded additional lessons and potential blind spots to avoid in selecting the right technologies to integrate with Lean for specific use cases. As part of the study, the critical factors for a successful Lean Industry 4.0 transformation using the framework were provided. This study also finds that for a successful implementation of the framework, certain critical enablers such as culture readiness, sociotechnical-economical systems, technology fitness, and a proven scientific (Think Big – Start Small – Scale Fast) iterative method are pre-requisites to scale the integration across the enterprise. Finally, the study recommends an organizational shift to execute the framework and suggests ways to manage the transformation change effectively to realize the full potential of both methodologies.
Recommended Citation
Balaraman, Venkatesan, "Framework To Integrate Industry 4.0 And Lean Methodologies: Operational Excellence In The Automotive Industry" (2022). Wayne State University Dissertations. 3728.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/3728