Bundles of Lean Automation practices and principles and their impact on operational performance

Abstract

The objective of this paper is two-fold. First, it aims at empirically validating bundles of Lean Automation (LA) practices and principles. Second, it verifies their impact on operational performance improvement. For that, we surveyed 110 manufacturers who have been concomitantly implementing Lean Production (LP) and Industry 4.0 (I4.0). The collected responses were examined using multivariate data analysis techniques. We identified three bundles of LA named according to the focus of the corresponding practices (i.e. workplace, value stream and extended value stream), and two bundles of LA principles (sociocultural- and technology-oriented). Our findings indicated that LA practices positively mediate the relationship between LA principles and the company's operational performance, especially when considering practices applied at a workplace or value stream level. As the integration of I4.0 into LP becomes widespread, the LA paradigm tends to be a more relevant topic in the operations management field. Hence, more profound comprehension of LA practices and principles, and their implications on companies' operations may help achieve higher performance, setting the proper managerial expectations.