Developing a Delphi assisted total interpretive structural model (D-TISM) for adopting the Industry 4.0 technologies within Lean Six Sigma framework

Abstract

Lean Six Sigma continues to be used by various industries to make their processes more efficient. The Lean Six Sigma approach is re-evaluated and possibly upgraded to enhance its suitability with Industry 4.0 technologies to provide maximum benefits for any organisation. However, the integration of Industry 4.0 within the lean six sigma framework is associated with various challenges like privacy issues and the non-availability of skilled labours which was not studied extensively in the existing literature. Hence, this study identifies the challenges in adopting the Industry 4.0 technologies within the lean six sigma framework and provides a detailed overview of their interrelationships and hierarchy. A Delphi-assisted total interpretive structural modelling was designed for this study in which the Delphi method was utilised to identify the challenges and the total interpretive structural modelling method was employed to process the challenges and decide the contextual interrelationships. The categorisation of the challenges was done by the application of cross-impact matrix multiplication to the classification. This study indicates the necessity for information technology infrastructure development specifically catering to data security and its important role in enhancing the intellectual capacity of an organisation through the development of its personnel. The finding of the study and the roadmap developed will help the practitioners and managers towards successful adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies within the lean six sigma framework for their operation excellence, and enhance the performance of the business and organisational efficiency.

Keywords:

• Lean Six Sigma framework
• Industry 4.0 technologies
• integration challenges
• interrelationship analysis
• digitalisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vimal K. E. K.

Vimal K. E. K. received the Ph.D. degree in Sustainable Manufacturing in 2016 and the M.Tech degree in Industrial Engineering in 2012 from National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, India, and the Production Engineering degree in 2010, from the PSG College of Technology, India. He has more than 12 years of teaching and research experience in Mechanical Engineering with special emphasis in supply chain management. He has worked as Guest Editor of the International Journal of Enterprise Network Management, and Polymer and Polymer composites Journal. Presently, acts as a reviewer for more than 30 prestigious Web of Science journals. In addition, he has also published as an author (and co-author) 4 books with International Publisher, 20 book chapters, and more than 100 articles in Journals and Conferences (Citations: 1700; H-Index: 24; I-Index: 38). He is one of the top researchers working in the area of Circular Economy and Life cycle assessment in India. He has delivered over 30 guest lectures in various FDPs (within India and Abroad) and conferences organised by reputed institutions. He has acted as session chair in many reputed international conferences. He has organised two Scopus indexed international conferences. He is currently working as Assistant Professor, Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, India.

Divya Rashmi

Divya Rashmi is working as an Operations Engineer in a Leadership rotational program (LEAD – Leadership Expertise & Accelerated Development) for Operations in Wabtec Corporation, India, gaining expertise in a wide range of functions across operations and driving various Operational Excellence and Quality-Cost-Time benefit projects. She is a certified Lean Six Sigma, Green Belt. She received her Master’s degree in Production Engineering from Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Patna in 2022 and her Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Karnataka in 2018. She has prior research exposure through her work with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research- CGCRI, Kolkata and publication in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy in the field of sustainable energy source.

Sivakumar K.

Sivakumar K. is Assistant Professor in the Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai, India. He received M.E and Ph.D. degrees from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai and National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirappalli, India. His area of research includes Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Sustainable Manufacturing, Circular Economy, Industry 4.0, Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Techniques and Two-Sided Assembly Line Balancing. He published over papers in many International Journals and Proceedings of the leading international conferences and Book chapters.

Jayakrishna Kandasmay

Dr. Jayakrishna is a Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at the Vellore Institute of Technology University, India. Dr. Jayakrishna’s research is focused on the design and management of manufacturing systems and supply chains to enhance efficiency, productivity, and sustainability performance. He has mentored doctoral students, graduate and undergraduate students (3 Ph.D, 3 M.Tech Thesis and 36 B.Tech Thesis) which have so far led to 91 journal publications in leading SCI/SCOPUS Indexed journals, 38 book chapters, and 92 refereed conference proceedings, 4 authored books, 12 edited books in CRC/Springer Series. Dr. Jayakrishna’s team has received numerous awards in recognition for the quality of the work that has been produced. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the manufacturing and industrial systems area and his initiatives to improve teaching effectiveness have been recognised through national awards. He has also been awarded Global Engineering Education Award from Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) Society International, U.S.A. in 2021, Institution of Engineers (India)-Young Engineer Award in 2019 and Distinguished Researcher Award in the field of Sustainable Systems Engineering in 2019 by International Institute of Organised Research, Best Faculty Researcher Award for the year(s) 2016-2021 consecutively. Coordinator -Circular Economy Club, VIT University, Academic Editor – Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Wiley-Hindawi Publications, and Editorial Board Member – Journal of Operational Research for Engineering Management Studies (JOREMS), Green and Low-Carbon Economy, Area Editor – Operations Management Research, Associate Editor – Circular Economy, Frontiers in Sustainability, Book Series Editor - Industrial Engineering, Systems, and Management, CRC Press.

Paranitharan K. P.

K. P. Paranitharan is serving as a Manager at TVS Sensing Solutions Private Limited, Tamil Nadu, India. He obtained his Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering, Master’s in Lean Manufacturing and PhD in Industrial Engineering from the CEG Campus, Anna University, Chennai. He received his Masters of Business Administration from the Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu State, India. He has published various papers in international journals including those published by Springer, Taylor and Francis, Inderscience and in reputed conferences. His areas of research interest are manufacturing management, data mining, data analytics and system engineering.

Balaji Venkataraman

Venkataraman Balaji is currently serving as the President at TVS Sensing Solutions Private Limited. He received his BE and ME degrees from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Tamilnadu, India in 1991 and 1997, respectively and PhD from Kalasalingam academy of Research and Education, India. His major areas of research interest are strategy, industrial engineering, industrial internet of things.