Abstract
Abstract Paper aims Highlight the practical implications of coupling collaborative robots with lean manufacturing techniques and understand mutual contributions towards enhanced operational performance. Originality Usage of an experimental approach, focusing on lean techniques as a differentiating skill to implement efficiently collaborative robots in a production representative environment. Research method Experimental case study, based on the gradual implementation of a collaborative robot within a manual assembly process in order to design a collaborative process. Main findings Guidelines for transition from manual to collaborative process, incorporating incremental improvement loops – and related skills – enabling enhanced performance. Implications for theory and practice Identification of a set of lean techniques contributing positively to collaborative robots’ usage, incorporated in a step by step operator driven implementation process.
Highlights
Industry 4.0 is largely presented as a leverage for increased operational efficiency, focusing on value added augmentation and increased process transparency, enabled by as set of innovative technologies
Though, rather promote method and organisation improvement to remove waste from their manufacturing processes. Both approaches consider human resource as key asset. Possible interactions between those two models have already been explored in the literature (Kolberg & Zühlke, 2015; Satoglu et al, 2018), and several potential scenarios have emerged, ranging from: ‘Industry 4.0 will make lean obsolete’ to ‘industry 4.0 is a support for lean manufacturing’, including ‘lean manufacturing is a prerequisite for Industry 4.0’, or ‘industry 4.0 is an extension for lean manufacturing’ (Dombrowski et al, 2017)
Industry 4.0 concept has emerged for several years. This industrial revolution enables usage of new technologies, such as cobot, contributing to transform an environment previously managed according to lean manufacturing methods
Summary
Industry 4.0 is largely presented as a leverage for increased operational efficiency, focusing on value added augmentation and increased process transparency, enabled by as set of innovative technologies. Both approaches consider human resource as key asset Possible interactions between those two models have already been explored in the literature (Kolberg & Zühlke, 2015; Satoglu et al, 2018), and several potential scenarios have emerged, ranging from: ‘Industry 4.0 will make lean obsolete’ to ‘industry 4.0 is a support for lean manufacturing’, including ‘lean manufacturing is a prerequisite for Industry 4.0’, or ‘industry 4.0 is an extension for lean manufacturing’ (Dombrowski et al, 2017). The experiment reported in this paper intends to offer a concrete view on the coupling opportunities between Industry 4.0 technology and lean techniques, and how to measure their output in terms of performance
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