The link between Industry 4.0 and lean manufacturing: mapping current research and establishing a research agenda

Abstract

In recent years, Industry 4.0 has emerged as one of the most discussed concepts and has gained significant popularity in both academia and the industrial sector. Both Industry 4.0 and lean manufacturing utilise decentralised control and aim to increase productivity and flexibility. However, there have been few studies investigating the link between these two domains. This article explores this novel area and maps the current literature. This is achieved through a systematic literature review methodology, investigating literature published up to and including August 2017. This article identifies four main research streams concerning the link between Industry 4.0 and lean manufacturing, and a research agenda for future studies is proposed.

Keywords:

• Industry 4.0
• smart manufacturing
• lean manufacturing
• cyber-physical systems
• Internet of things
• literature review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the assistance of the anonymous reviewers at IJPR who helped improve this paper.