Abstract
Digitalization and the rapid development of emerging technologies have undoubtedly influenced numerous industries throughout the world. The recent studies in this sphere claim that such output enhancing techniques as Lean Six Sigma have become tremendously easier to conduct with the development of digital solutions. Although the Lean Six Sigma approach is extremely versatile and easily adaptable, it is recommended that companies and other organizations that utilize digital methods should always seek modification opportunities. As such, it is often claimed that Industry 4.0 includes the most advanced technological equipment and methods. Furthermore, it seems that the Industry 4.0 technologies might be the most prominent latest advancement in this sphere, as it promotes the simplification of evidence gathering and operational deficits’ prevention. The current paper focuses on the impact of digital technologies on the Lean Six Sigma usage, defining Industry.
Introduction
With the emergence of the digital era, various companies began to implement advanced technologies into their operations, leading to the introduction of progressive methods into the corporations’ activities. Such involvements typically yield higher production rates and better efficiency levels, improving the overall economic standing of the enterprise and allowing it to enhance its performance in the market (Saad & Khamkham, 2018). However, these developments have not only impacted the general organizational processes but also reshaped the traditional approaches to elevating a company’s productivity, leading to the advancements in the previously utilized principles of corporation improvement (Saad & Khamkham, 2016). As such, a well-recognized method of preventing organizational failures and enhancing conducted enterprise activities, Lean Six Sigma, was changed remarkably since the beginning of the digital era.
The benefits of utilizing Lean Six Sigma for organizational improvement have been frequently recognized in the recent decade. Based on data analysis and work standardization, Lean Six Sigma combines the methods of lean process improvement and the six Sigma strategies, integrating these principles into a united approach to company productivity (Saad & Khamkham, 2018). However, after the onset of the digital era, additional methods aimed at assessing clientele interests and reducing excessive resource consumption became available, rapidly transforming the typical Lean Six Sigma implementations (Purwanto et al., 2020). As the fourth industrial revolution grows closer, with more Industry 4.0 technologies becoming implemented into the daily activities of various corporations, the approaches to enhancing industrial outputs are also reshaped (Park, Dahlgaard-Park, & Kim, 2020). As a result, the Lean Six Sigma methodology, based on thorough data collection and analysis, benefits by becoming more versatile, adaptable, and efficient in locating and resolving production processes’ defects.
Literature Review
The incorporation of digital solutions to allow multiple companies to achieve exceptional growth in their performance levels is the core purpose of numerous scholarly investigations. Traditionally, Lean Six Sigma techniques were implemented to attain a continuous increase in growth and ensure that the relevant customer values are understood and considered during product development (Gupta, Modgil, & Gunasekaran, 2020). After that, any wasteful activities would be eliminated and incorporate novel solutions that would enhance the outputs of the procedure, creating a different approach to the established production process (Gupta et al., 2020). Nevertheless, as more advanced technological methods of conducting such practices emerge, it becomes easier for the professionals to analyze the efficiency of organizational procedures, as well as introduce strategies that enhance such activities.
Prominent research by Lameijer, Pereira, and Antony (2021) suggests that digital technologies and their adaptations are highly useful for the utilization of Lean Six Sigma processes in the company environment. As such, it is reported that adhering to the novel developments in the digital industry and applying them in accordance with the organizational context is more effective. Even though the authors note that several previous studies regarded the strict utilization of the Lean Six Sigma structure as highly beneficial, the current findings corroborate the idea that more agile practices can also be advantageous (Gupta et al., 2020). The authors conclude that Lean Six Sigma in the DE-TECH companies requires evaluating the organizational environment, necessitating the station of necessary adjustments for improving the productivity of the intervention.
Another valuable benefit of introducing emerging technologies together with Lean Six Sigma is the possibility to combine these methods with Digital Curation. Arcidiacono, De Luca, Fallucchi, and Alessandra (2016) report that the necessity to analyze vast amounts of data is a crucial task for many organizations that desire to improve their efficiency and secure additional output benefits by utilizing Lean Six Sigma. Nonetheless, to thoroughly use this technique, it is crucial to use the most advanced strategies that allow conducting numerous assessments of large scopes of information. Such methods have been impossible to implement before the digital era due to the lack of computerization and the devices’ capacity to examine such data (Gabriele Arcidiacono et al., 2016). Therefore, the analysis and resolution possibilities were limited to the exploration of less complicated and vast evidence.
Relying on the results of previous studies and carefully evaluating recent reports from scientific research and organizational settings, the authors investigate how the digital era developments have contributed to the establishment of such practices. Digital Curation methods, which are typically defined as the processes of establishing and developing long-term repositories of digital assets for research issues, have been shown to be extremely beneficial for productivity improvement. As such, rather than continuously collecting organization-specific data or having to fund tedious research activities that are aimed at gathering such evidence, companies can store this information using Digital Curation (Gabriele Arcidiacono et al., 2016). In the long term, these practices simplify data extraction and allow quick access to gathered knowledge.
After that, the authors also propose that Big Data usage is a critical advancement introduced with the onset of the digital era. The tendency to utilize Big Data in the Lean Six Sigma processes is claimed to be a vital advantage that allows the companies to progress their data analysis methods and promote innovation within the enterprise’s structure (Gabriele Arcidiacono et al., 2016). While traditionally corporations used a limited scope of information derived from their own business processs or other sources, in the contemporary age, it is possible to access evidence available due to the development of the Internet. Indeed, numerous recent studies report the connection between Big Data and Lean Six Sigma, explaining how a larger amount of data, as well as the use of wireless devices, have contributed to the advancements in Lean Six Sigma strategies (Chiarini & Kumar, 2020; Park et al., 2020; Valamede & Akkari, 2020). From this perspective, technological developments have significantly influenced the implementation of the described methodology, clearly enhancing its potential for company executives.
Research Method
The current study researches contemporary literature, gathering and evaluating recent scientific data on the impact of digitalization on Lean Six Sigma methods in various corporations. This method is especially beneficial for determining the core tendencies within the scientific community, ascertaining the overall scholarly perspective towards combining Lean Six Sigma and prominent technological developments of the present age (Lameijer et al., 2021). In addition, this methodology allows establishing the significance of this combination, outlining its core benefits according to evidence-based practices, and proposing how the latest digitalization developments might contribute to the growth of Lean Six Sigma.
In order to conduct the research, recent scientific articles no older than five years since their publication were collected and examined. The keywords used for the search included Lean Six Sigma, digitalization, digital age, lean management, and emerging technologies. The scope of the chosen articles was restricted to materials that were published incredible academic journals and peer-reviewed by a number of scholars possessing the necessary qualifications for conducting the assessment. Similarly, the article’s authors’ credentials were examined prior tool, including the publication into the research scope. Articles that did not correspond to the described criteria were eliminated from further assessment. A total of 15 studies were included in the final evaluation, and the core tendencies highlighted by the authors were explored. On the basis of the highlighted ideas, the technology claimed to be most prominent and frequently referred to as emerging was selected, resulting in the definition of one latest development. The chosen development was selected based on its recent introduction and the declared impact on Lean Six Sigma and Six Sigma.
The Latest Development
Following the research conducted, the technologies related to Industry 4.0 can be considered the latest technological developments that impacted the sphere of Lean Six Sigma implementation. The term Industry 4.0 refers to the upcoming 4th industrial revolution (Park et al., 2020). It is commonly defined as the process where cyber-physical and digital systems are massively incorporated into the production industry and services aimed at satisfying basic human needs (G. Arcidiacono & Pieroni, 2018; Park et al., 2020). Although the world is currently in the final stage of the third industrial revolution and the beginning of the 4th revolution is yet to be encountered, some of the digital technologies that herald the beginning of this era already exist. As such, a predominant majority of production companies and some services providers heavily rely on digital systems as a means of improving their productivity (Ganjavi & Fazlollahtabar, 2021). Thus, Industry 4.0 is a crucial concept for investigating technological developments in a variety of areas, including Lean Six Sigma.
The Impact of Digitalisation on the Six Sigma Implementation
Relying on the aforementioned evidence, it is evident that Industry 4.0 has significantly impacted the traditional processes of Lean Six Sigma. Scholars suggest that the fusion between Lean Six Sigma and Industry 4.0 technologies could be the latest advancement incorporated into the Lean Six Sigma methodology (G. Arcidiacono & Pieroni, 2018). For instance, Sordan, Oprime, Pimenta, Silva, and González (2021) delineate the points of contact between the two phenomena. The scholars propose a conceptual framework that considers what enhancements were implemented into the Lean Six Sigma practices and how they impacted the methodology. According to the research findings, there are critical correlations that include process mapping, performance measurement system updates, machine condition monitoring, optimization of handling and storage, real-time production control enhancements, and more (Sordan et al., 2021). As Lean Six Sigma methods hinge on improving business performance and elevating customer satisfaction, successfully conducting these procedures requires a variety of technologies that can easily process data and establish relevant connections.
Outlining the most prominent tendencies in customer values and statistically supporting the benefits of potential resolutions is critical for implementing Lean Six Sigma. The Industry 4.0 technologies allow for strong analysis possibilities even when a multitude of data is present (Rejikumar, Asokan, & Sreedharan, 2018). In comparison with other latest developments in the digital world, such as information transferability and robotics, it seems that proper analysis of information is most advantageous for enhancing the Lean Six Sigma procedures (Rejikumar et al., 2018). By including Industry 4.0 technologies into the working activities, an enterprise might improve its process mapping techniques, namely value stream mapping or swimlane chart, by using the novel development to monitor task execution in real-time (Sordan et al., 2021). The established algorithms will be able to drive data from the manufacturing execution systems, assess various factors that promote or decrease efficiency, and provide a comprehensive report for further examination (Tay & Loh, 2021). Overall, it is clear that Industry 4.0 technologies can be used as a means of improving a company’s output by gathering relevant data and providing an analysis of the evident trends.
Lessons Learned
Conducting this research allowed me to gain some vital ideas about using Lean Six Sigma together with emerging digital solutions. The various advantages of digitalization, from Big Data to the development of more efficient technologies, allowed numerous companies to analyze the procedural flow faster, saving invaluable time and resources. Furthermore, in the contemporary world, such concepts as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and 3D printing are becoming more common and are frequently utilized not only by large-scale manufacturers but even by small businesses (Jayaram, 2016). In the future, as the fourth industrial revolution commences, it is possible that further collaboration between Lean Six Sigma and digital technologies will occur, resulting in even more productive data analysis approaches.
Conclusion
To conclude, the onset of the digital era has tremendously impacted Lean Six Sigma methods for numerous industries, offering corporations a possibility to increase the outputs through incorporating novel technologies. Although Lean Six Sigma is a highly versatile approach for improving organizational processes in numerous working settings and industries, it also requires adaptation to the recent technological developments. Numerous scholarly studies report that Lean Six Sigma and the emerging digital solutions can be especially beneficial for the enterprises economic standing and productivity. By relying on such strategies as Big Data or Digital Curation, it is possible to use a diverse set of knowledge for subsequent analysis and evaluation.
References
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