Integration of Industry 4.0 with Lean Management in large German manufacturing firms - a dynamic capabilities perspective

Abstract

This research is concerned with how large German manufacturing firms can realise the integration of Lean Management and Industry 4.0. This is relevant for companies that are engaged in a semi-matured Lean transformation and have not yet realised all key principles but, at the same time, are confronted with a fourth industrial revolution. Building on mature but primarily separate research streams of Lean and Industry 4.0, this study employs an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design to derive a framework for integrating these important themes of Operations Management and to support firms that are unwilling to approach a sequential integration of Lean or Industry 4.0 first, as typically advised by previous research and seeking advice on concurrent integrations. Based on a review of existing academic literature, the main themes of Operations Management as the setting for this research, Dynamic Capabilities as the theoretical lens, and Lean and Industry 4.0 as the subject focus are synthesised, research questions derived and a conceptual framework formulated. The research design utilised an exploratory qualitative strand, which derived major integration themes and 201 potential modes of action through a Thematic Analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews with German subject matter experts. The subsequent quantitative strand evaluated and prioritised six dimensions and 43 potential modes of action through a triangulating exploratory survey with 256 subject matter experts from Germany. Finally, the validating strand utilised a Delphi study with 15 subject matter experts. It derived a refined and validated framework consisting of 50 items organised in the six dimensions of ‘initiating’, ‘sensing’, ‘seizing’, ‘transforming’, ‘resources’, and ‘capabilities’ to execute an integration of Lean and Industry 4.0. Consequently, the findings are influenced by the geographical focus, firm size, theoretical lens of Dynamic Capabilities, and methodological design, which opens up exciting possibilities for future research contributions. This research contributes practically to the field of Operations Management by proposing executable modes of action and a concurrent pathway as an alternative for firms intending to integrate Lean and Industry 4.0. It theoretically contributes to advancing Dynamic Capabilities theory by proposing a novel dimension derived from an application and concretisation in a new research area