Industry 4.0 Technologies as Drivers for Eliminating Waste in Lean Production: A French-Norwegian Study

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide insights about the operational performance improvements that may arise from the combination of Industry 4.0 technologies with the tools of Lean Production. Indeed, companies and their decision makers are looking for actionable knowledge around the usefulness of Industry 4.0 technologies and their inclusion in existing operational excellence programs. Lean is a tried and tested means of promoting better thinking in organizations, contributing to an increase in customer satisfaction and business performance. The emergent technologies of industry 4.0 are also influencing performance improvement in both the development and delivery of products and services. Yet actionable knowledge of the combination of Lean Production and Industry 4.0 is relatively immature and requires deeper analysis. This paper presents insights into the possible integration of Lean Production and Industry 4.0 technologies by analyzing multiple case studies in France and Norway. We suggest an approach that depicts the way in which such integration can reduce and ultimately eliminate waste.