Examining the Lean Production Process in Industry 4.0

Abstract

The purpose of the present article is to examine the lean production process in Industry 4.0. In terms of its objective, the research is applied, and in terms of data collection, it adopts a mixed-methods (qualitative–quantitative) approach. The statistical population in the qualitative phase consisted of university faculty members, experts in the fields of technology and production, and senior research and development managers in the dairy industry, from whom 10 participants were selected using purposive sampling. The quantitative phase of the study included all managers and employees working in the production and information technology departments of dairy manufacturing companies in Tehran, from whom 361 respondents were selected as the sample using stratified random sampling. Data collection instruments included interviews in the qualitative phase and a researcher-developed questionnaire in the quantitative phase. The face and content validity of the questionnaire were confirmed by several experts, convergent validity was assessed by calculating the Average Variance Extracted (AVE), and discriminant validity was confirmed by calculating the square root of AVE. The reliability of the questionnaire, assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, was 0.86 for the entire instrument. Data analysis was conducted using Cronbach’s alpha, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, and confirmatory factor analysis. Among the 29 indicators (items), five main components were identified. The results showed that the primary dimensions of the lean production process in Industry 4.0, in order of importance, include lean quality management, smart supply chain, lean process management, smart customer orientation, and smart human resources. In addition, the model fit was also examined.