The manufacturing industry has undergone significant shifts over the years. The formulation of the lean philosophy was a key step in this series of changes, as it marked the first step to eliminating waste from manufacturing operations.
Soon after, the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) followed, which unlocked new value propositions with novel technologies. With this development, lean manufacturing has witnessed its next stage of evolution. By advancing the shift from manual to automated, and from historical to real-time data, Industry 4.0 brings accelerationism to the principles of conservation of lean manufacturing.
Mobilizing these visions in tandem can unlock a new beast in the manufacturing industry. In this article, read how lean principles link to the industry 4.0 vision, and how the sector can benefit from this synergy.
Linking lean principles with Industry 4.0
The lean philosophy is focused on minimizing waste in manufacturing operations while maximizing value. Thus, lean aims to save time, reduce costs, optimize resource usage, and ensure energy efficiency across manufacturing operations.
Industry 4.0 has further expanded the ambit of these possibilities with the application of new technologies such as AI, automation, cloud, and edge computing. Key use cases of Industry 4.0 can deliver unprecedented improvements in the very areas that lean principles sought to achieve.
These principles translate into actionable metrics such as Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Just-In-Time (JIT) for inventory and production alignment, continuous improvement for sustained operational excellence, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) for measuring productivity, and Lead Time, which affects production cycle velocity. The success of lean and Industry 4.0 can therefore be measured with these metrics.
The vision of the smart factory captured in Industry 4.0 can unlock differentiated outcomes when informed by the lean philosophy:
- Enhancing value identification and optimization: AI and advanced analytics refine the identification of value streams by predicting customer needs and dynamically optimizing production processes, thus maximizing value delivery.
- Continuous flow and bottleneck elimination: Real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance enable continuous flow by addressing production bottlenecks proactively. This reduces lead time and ensures optimal equipment usage.
- Digital visualization with value stream mapping: Integrating value stream mapping with digital twin technology provides a holistic, data-driven view of production. This ensures waste is identified and minimized for more optimal value streams.
- Enhanced pull systems: Cloud-based Kanban systems and AI-driven advanced forecasting improve the responsiveness and precision of pull systems. These tools allow real-time adjustments and embody lean’s demand-driven production model.
- TPM and Continuous Improvement: Predictive maintenance and AI-powered quality control strengthen TPM and foster continuous improvement, ensuring equipment reliability, reducing downtime, and boosting OEE.
- Optimized Just-In-Time: Real-time data, IoT, and advanced analytics synchronize inventory and production schedules, optimizing JIT delivery to reduce excess inventory, and support lean goals of just-in-time alignment.
Enabling the synergy between lean and smart manufacturing
Architecting the lean smart factory with Industry 4.0 framework
The integration of lean and smart manufacturing relies on a robust technological foundation that supports real-time connectivity, predictive intelligence, and dynamic decision-making. This convergence enables an ecosystem where lean principles of waste minimization and value optimization are amplified by the agility and precision of Industry 4.0.
However, to ensure the success of lean-smart manufacturing, aligning its framework with overarching business objectives is crucial. This ensures that production processes remain flexible to market demands, agile in execution, and centered on customer needs. This alignment is impossible to achieve without real-time visibility into operations, as mitigation of waste calls for optimal decisioning that is informed by evidence. By bridging data silos and enhancing contextual awareness, organizations can attain this efficiency while maintaining their focus on delivering maximum value.
A blueprint for building the lean smart factory
At the core of the lean smart factory are integrated IT (Information Technology) and OT (Operational Technology) domains. This integration enables seamless data flow across the ecosystem – it helps manufacturers collect real-time data from machinery, sensors, and operational systems and convert it into actionable insights that then inform decisions in real-time. This eliminates the need for manual record-keeping, reducing the potential for errors and delays, which are classic antagonists that the lean framework seeks to address.
Standardizing processes and metrics further enhance this integration. It ensures data accuracy and enables real-time monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs). With this foundation, organizations gain the ability to make informed decisions that optimize resource utilization and minimize waste.
In the Industry 4.0 framework, two key technological enablers of this integration are Digital Twins and Digital Threads. Digital Twins create virtual replicas of physical assets, allowing manufacturers to simulate, monitor, and optimize operations with precision. Meanwhile, Digital Threads connect data across the product lifecycle, facilitating synchronized planning, dynamic fulfilment, and lifecycle management. Together, these technologies provide a holistic, data-driven framework for achieving lean-smart manufacturing goals.
These are the outcomes that we sought to deliver with Birlasoft ProdWeaver, a comprehensive digital thread solution that connects diverse data points across the value chain. ProdWeaver marries lean principles with smart manufacturing by empowering organizations to track, monitor, and respond to changes in real-time, ensuring operational continuity and best-case decisions across every workflow, from engineering to the shop floor. Prodweaver enhances the agility and responsiveness of manufacturing organizations, delivering measurable benefits in productivity, quality, and cost-efficiency.
Lean and smart manufacturing integrated: key outcomes
Integrating lean principles with smart manufacturing technologies delivers significant improvements across manufacturing operations. Here are the key outcomes, supported by actionable insights:
- Holistic visibility and better decisioning: Real-time data integration through IoT devices and advanced analytics provides complete visibility into production workflows. This empowers decision-makers to identify inefficiencies and make decisions founded on trustworthy data. For instance, real-time dashboards can reveal the root cause of long cycle times at specific stages, which can inform immediate corrective actions and enable continuous improvement. Birlasoft is partnering with a leading auto-engine manufacturer in implementing manufacturing data platforms for real-time visibility and to improve their manufacturing and quality process efficiencies.
- Streamlined processes and bottleneck reduction: By mapping each value stream, organizations can eliminate non-value-adding activities and uncover bottlenecks in production. For example, integrating smart systems with automated workflows can eliminate delays caused by manual approvals and enhance throughput. Birlasoft is working with a wood processing company to improve their warehouse and logistics process efficiencies.
- Enhanced quality management: By analysing historical data, AI and analytics identify patterns linked to product quality issues and proactively recommend adjustments to mitigate them. Similarly, predictive algorithms can detect subtle temperature fluctuations that might cause a defect in a machine and help prevent issues before they occur – thus reducing downtime. Birlasoft worked with an auto manufacturer in enhancing end-to-end quality between suppliers and the product assembly shops.
- Cost and inventory optimization: Digital threads enable synchronized planning, improving inventory management. Organizations can avoid overstocking and shortages by leveraging predictive demand analytics, ensuring cost savings while maintaining operational agility. Birlasoft is working with tier 1 and 2 auto OEMs in real-time monitoring and track-and-trace of inventory across manufacturing and warehouse units for inventory optimization.
Lastly, cognitive automation can accelerate knowledge-based tasks when technologies are effectively interfaced in human-dependent workflows, thus enabling process innovation.
