Purpose This paper aims to propose a collaborative approach model developed based on observations of two aerospace manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) pursuing their digital transformation toward Industry 4.0. Design/methodology/approach This research focuses on two manufacturing SMEs in North America, and data were collected using longitudinal case study and research intervention

Purpose The rising public concern for the natural environment is compelling business entities to revise their business models toward green management. Most manufacturing firms have realized that green innovation is a critical factor that drives their success. However, green human resource scholars have overlooked this research line despite the potential contribution it can advance in green management

Purpose The purpose of this research is to develop a better understanding of the hurdles in implementing Lean Six Sigma (LSS) for operational excellence in digital emerging technology companies. Design/methodology/approach We have conducted case studies of LSS implementations in six US-based companies in the digital emerging technology industry. Findings Critical success factors (CSF) for LSS implementations

Purpose The research aims to investigate how firms can develop their sensing capabilities for Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technology adoption through reframing their opportunity perceptions related to learnings from I4.0 initiatives. Design/methodology/approach The research follows a design science research approach. Following the case of I4.0 technology introduction at a large food manufacturer, the paper

Purpose This paper explores the nexus between lean operations, eco-product innovativeness, social performance, green performance and business performance. Both direct and indirect effects are tested among the variables under consideration in this study. Design/methodology/approach Data is garnered from 166 Ghanaian small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) manufacturers. All hypothesized relationships

Purpose The purpose of the study is to describe the implications of strategic lead times (SLTs) for return on investment (ROI). Design/methodology/approach This study was part of an interactive research project and is based on the logic of theory application leading to theory building. It uses a multiple case study with five holistic single cases. Empirical data (ED) have mainly been collected from

Purpose The paper attempts to address the following research questions (RQs): RQ1: What are the main research topics within PSS research? RQ2: What are future trends for PSS research? Design/methodology/approach Twenty years of research (1999–2018) on product-service systems (PSS) produced a significant amount of scientific literature on the topic. As the PSS field is relatively new and fragmented

Purpose Industry 4.0 and Lean Production are a successful match in terms of performance improvement. While we understand the combined potential, there is still poor understanding of how companies should embrace digital transformation to make it successful and sustainable, and the role that lean plays in it. In this paper, we investigate how manufacturing companies embark upon digital transformation

Purpose This research aims to identify and organise the conditions of organisational readiness for digital transformation. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study comprises three case studies within manufacturing companies from different sizes and industries located in Sweden. Plant visits and in-depth interviews bring to light companies' experiences with initial steps towards digital transformation

Purpose We investigate the impact of Absorptive Capacity (ACAP) for SMEs embedded in Collaborative Networks (CNs) on innovation performance, considering the network stages and the influence of partnership quality. Design/methodology/approach We use a mixed methodology consisting of a qualitative than a quantitative phase. The first stage relies on an in-depth literature review and 22 interviews with

Purpose The need to engage in manufacturing practices that promote environmental sustainability has shifted from being optional to mandatory. From the perspectives of institutional and stakeholder theories, this paper captures the efficacy of isomorphic pressures on the adoption of green procurement, green product and process innovations and their respective influence on organizational legitimacy and

Purpose This paper aims to present a dual-perspective framework for maintenance service delivery that should be used by manufacturing companies to structure and manage their maintenance service delivery process, using aggregated historical and real-time data to improve operational decision-making. The framework, built for continuous improvement, allows the exploitation of maintenance data to improve

Purpose Technological advancements are reshaping the manufacturing industry toward digitalized manufacturing. Despite the importance of top-class maintenance in such systems, many industrial companies lack a clear strategy for maintenance in digitalized manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to facilitate the implementation of maintenance in digitalized manufacturing by proposing a strategy development

Purpose The lean philosophy has demonstrated its effectiveness to improve firms' operational performance. However, the impact of lean practices on financial performance is still unclear due to the poor understanding of the link between operational and financial measures and the conflictive results obtained by previous research. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review

Purpose Rapid response is often the cornerstone of success in many industries, especially manufacturing. In the authors’ opinion, organizational structure will also affect the construction of a fast-response supply chain system. The main purpose of this research examines whether different levels of organizational structure have different effects on the relationship between external integration and

Purpose The study explores the role of green human capital in the implementation of green logistics practices to build green competitiveness and achieve improved social performance and financial performance. Design/methodology/approach This study employs structured questionnaires to gather data from 152 managers from manufacturing small and medium enterprises in Ghana. The data are analyzed and the

Purpose This paper develops a contingency based model to understand how green technologies and green manufacturing performance measures evolve with the green manufacturing maturity levels of the firms. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual research model is developed by synthesizing extant literature. An illustrative case study of a paint manufacturing company is conducted, analyzing its five key

Purpose The coordination of a manufacturing network is a challenging task and may be contingent upon the manufacturing environment. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and manufacturing network coordination relate. Design/methodology/approach Based on a single case study, the paper at hand provides insights on IIoT enablers and the relationship to manufacturing

Purpose The digital transformation under Industry 4.0 is complex and resource-intensive, making a strategic digitalization guideline vital to small and medium-sized enterprises' success in the Industry 4.0 transition. The present study aims to provide manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a guideline for digital transformation success under Industry 4.0. Design/methodology/approach

Purpose This paper aims to empirically investigate how cognitive biases influence employees' product creativity (EPC) and related product performance. In particular, the paper primarily studies (1) the direct effect of employees' implicit creativity – based on five cognitive biases – and explicit creativity on EPC; and (2) the mediating role of coworkers' heuristic transfer between shared leadership

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to synthesize a manufacturing value network for digital multinationals that combines the global reach of multinationals, the power of platform business models and digitalization. Toward this, the authors assess the critical roles platform ecosystems, and Industry 4.0 play in resolving the key challenges associated with asset specificity, location specificity and

Purpose This paper explores growth opportunities for a contract manufacturer (CM), which operates a global virtual manufacturing network (GVMN). The Swiss factory should play a profitable role in the holding's competitive strategy, in spite of lower-cost alternatives within its network. Design/methodology/approach The study applied a design science method over a period of two years of collaboration

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of process quality management (PQM) activities on firm's operational performance (OP) through the mediation of firm's absorptive capacity (AC). Design/methodology/approach This research builds on the theory of knowledge-based view to conduct a survey of 294 manufacturing companies in India. With the use of Hayes' PROCESS Macro in SPSS, the collected

Purpose This study is to compare the impact of organizational agility and flexibility on performance of each type of product innovation (radical vs incremental innovation). Additionally, the moderating effect of technological turbulence on the relationship between the two types of organization is examined. Design/methodology/approach Based on gaps in the existing literature, the survey data are collected

Purpose Sustainability failures have increased the pressure for manufacturing firms to come up with innovative solutions to resolve the sustainable matters. Drawing on the resource-based theory, the purpose of this study is to examine how supply chain visibility moderates the effects of sustainable practices on sustainable performance. Design/methodology/approach The data employed in the current work

Purpose Whilst capabilities in exploiting existing assets and simultaneously exploring new opportunities have proven essential in today's organisations, an understanding of how these so-called ambidextrous capabilities are deployed remains elusive. Thus, the authors aim to investigate the role of better management practices (BMP), as organisational routines, in deploying ambidextrous capabilities in

Purpose Environmental sustainability is one of the most pressing issues faced by the electric and electronics industry today. Industries are being challenged to incorporate environmental initiatives in their corporate strategies. Thus, this study aims to investigate the impact of stakeholder pressures (regulatory, internal and market) on green supply chain management and green corporate resources as

Purpose This study examines the motives and enabling factors regarding reverse factoring (RF) adoption in the automobile industry's supply chain. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative case study based on in-depth interviews with financial institutions in two countries having different statuses within the automobile industry global value chain: Mexico as a peripheral and Spain as a semi-peripheral

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyse the effect of different forms of service supplier involvement on the service business dimensions necessary for servitisation and on the resulting servitisation performance. Design/methodology/approach Three different configurations of service supplier involvement are considered in this study: black box (service design and execution driven by the service

Purpose This study proposes the Smart SME Technology Readiness Assessment (SSTRA) methodology which aims to enable practitioners to assess the SMEs Industry 4.0 technology readiness throughout the end-to-end engineering across the entire value chain; the smart product design phase is the focus in this paper. Design/methodology/approach The proposed SSTRA utilises the analytic hierarchy process to prioritise

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of rational culture in the relationship between lean manufacturing practices and operational productivity in the machinery and equipment industry. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a cross-sectional quantitative approach to conduct the research. Using an online survey questionnaire, 118 responses were collected. SPSS was used to assess validity

Purpose Recent research has shown that the implementation of Industry 4.0 requires companies to (re)adjust their human resource (HR) policies. This article focuses on the relationship between Industry 4.0 and three HR practices: i.e. employee involvement, job design and skill development. Design/methodology/approach We use data of the European Company Survey (ECS) (2019). This nationally representative

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of operational stickiness on product quality. Particularly, it analyzes the moderating effect of product diversification on the relationship between operational stickiness and product quality of exporting firms from China. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 3,567 exporting firms between 2002 and 2012 in China, this paper develops

Purpose The concept of robustness in manufacturing is not easy to capture and even harder to quantify. This paper elaborates an approach to assess robustness in production systems from a holistic input-throughput-output perspective using a pragmatic robustness indicator. Design/methodology/approach First, in order to have a precise understanding of what needs to be measured, a concept of robustness

Purpose Although additive manufacturing (AM) has been demonstrated to have significant potential in improving spare part delivery operations and has been adopted to a degree in the aviation and automotive industries, its use in spare part production is still limited in other fields due to a variety of implementation barriers. The purpose of this article is to assess the significance of previously reported

Purpose This paper presents an exploratory investigation of myths on lean production (LP), by identifying, dispelling and assessing their pervasiveness. Design/methodology/approach A list of myths was proposed mostly based on seminal LP texts and our rich experience from researching, teaching and consulting in lean journeys. Complexity thinking was adopted as a lens for dispelling the myths, as it

Purpose This paper reviews research on the intersection between additive manufacturing technologies (AMTs) and business models (BM). The purpose of the review is to synthesize past research for the benefit of researchers, to describe the dominant research themes and aggregated research questions and to identify research gaps in the literature. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review

Purpose This research empirically builds a manufacturing firm's power construct that can be used to assess the changes suppliers are willing to make in their operations decision areas, such as quality systems, product management, process management, material management systems and information systems. This approach has not been empirically explored in the operations and supply chain management literature

Purpose The Toyota Production System has been studied for its business success for several decades. Many companies have tried to imitate but have not achieved Toyota-like results. Failure in the ability to replicate Toyota's supportive culture has been suggested as a cause for the lack of success. Studies on lean implementation have been conducted from external views focusing on visible indicators

Purpose This paper aims to investigate if the world top manufacturing corporations' cost structures are moving from tangible to intangible activities and their impact on profitability. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical approach is interdisciplinary, combining global value chains, international manufacturing networks, cost management literatures. The empirical approach has a sample out of

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the mediation effect of volatile economic conditions on performance benefits of successful kean manufacturing implementation (LMI). The mediating factor of economic volatility (EV) is constructed based on four macroeconomic dimensions – supplier uncertainty, market demand fluctuations, governmental policy changes and peer competition. Design/methodology/approach

Purpose This paper addresses the most important factors for the selection of additive manufacturing (AM) technology as a method of production of metal parts. AM creates objects by adding material layer by layer based on 3D models. At present, interest in AM is high as it is hoped that AM contributes to the competitiveness of Western manufacturing industries. Design/methodology/approach A literature

Purpose Three-dimensional (3D) printing (3DP) offers a promising value proposition across multiple manufacturing industries. Despite the variety of production benefits the technology entails, its rate of adoption is still low compared to industry forecasts. In face of this challenge, industry as well as academia requires more information and guidance. This review aims to examine the characteristics

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic caused global supply disruptions and shortages that resulted in countries battling over desperately needed (medical) supplies In this mayhem, additive manufacturing (AM) provided relief to the strained healthcare systems and manufacturing environments by offering an alternative way to rapidly produce desired products This study sheds light on how AM was used globally

Purpose Although prior studies have identified several technologies related to Industry 4.0 and their individual potential, it is still unclear how these technologies could be integrated to achieve better results. Based on this, we propose several collaborative networks combining technologies associated with Industry 4.0. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was performed using a research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of five dimensions of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices (i.e. internal environmental management, green purchasing, cooperation with customers, eco-design, and investment recovery) on three dimensions of organizational performance (i.e. environmental, economic and operational performance). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected

Purpose This paper analyzes the effects on local suppliers of the adoption of a modular platform, taking into account different supply-chain relations. Design/methodology/approach The authors’ research follows an interpretive case study methodology based on a theoretical approach that seeks to validate the approach while making conclusions about the case study. Findings The traditional pyramidal structure

Purpose Additive manufacturing (AM) is one technology among the many under the umbrella of Industry 4.0 technologies. AM is developing rapidly, and extant research reveals that the technology contains possibilities for firms to develop competitive advantages, but that it also poses several challenges to overcome before such benefits can be achieved. To provide further insight into this topic, this

This paper introduces interactive research as an emerging approach within a broad family of collaborative research approaches in management and organization research. Interactive research is a way to contribute to the dual tasks of long-term theory development and innovation and change processes in organizations. One of the distinguishing features of interactive research is a focus on continuous joint

Purpose The objective of this study is to propose a sequence of implementation of the core characteristics of reconfigurability: modularity, integrability, diagnosability, adaptability and customization. For this purpose, the relationships among the core characteristics and Industry 4.0 technologies are analyzed as well as the impacts of one core characteristic on another. Design/methodology/approach

Purpose This study investigates business model innovation in small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) and its impact on firm growth. Design/methodology/approach The study was based on analyzing data collected through a questionnaire survey. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the hypotheses. Findings Business model innovation has a positive effect on SME growth in the manufacturing

Purpose While manufacturing digitalization is currently considered an important enabler of competitive advantage, its applicability across the industrial spectrum is unclear. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the use of digital technologies and different production environments and company sizes. The focus is on three aspects of digitalization: shop floor digitalization, technologies

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the moderating effects of the role a plant plays in a manufacturing network on the relationships between its level of integration with other plants in the same manufacturing network (referred as “internal manufacturing network integration” in this paper), its interactions with suppliers/customers (referred as “external supply chain integration” in this paper)

Purpose This study aims to suggest that firms and stock market investors are more sensitive about inventory leanness when industry information technology (IT) usage is high. First, when industry IT usage is high, a firm's inventory leanness is more responsive to information inputs (cash holding and sales efficiency). Second, when industry IT usage is high, the price-to-earnings ratio (indicative of

Purpose – The research purpose is to analyse when and how innovation support programmes (ISPs) can affect collaboration between universities and established small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The paper specifically considers SME’s absorptive capacity. Design/methodology/approach – A Swedish research centre is studied in the context of innovation support and two of its SME-ISPs are examined

The aim of this paper is to explore how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan employ technology to participate in global supply chains so as to respond to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.,This study chose four small to medium textile SMEs using qualitative exploratory multiple case studies to examine their participation in the global value chain (GVC) and under the context of Industry 4.0

Purpose The purpose of this study aims to develop and test a motives-mass customization (MC) capability-performance model by dividing MC capability into product-oriented MC capability and service-oriented MC capability. Design/methodology/approach This research tests the hypothesized relationships using survey data from 277 Chinese manufacturing firms. Findings The results indicate that instrumental

PurposeProduct configurators are expert systems that support product customization by defining how predefined entities and their properties may be combined. Developers of configuration systems act as designers, although they do not often recognize that they are performing as such. Moreover, exploring solution spaces is typically not integral to configuration projects, as this task is typically perceived

Purpose Smart manufacturing can lead to disruptive changes in production technologies and business models in the manufacturing industry. This paper aims to identify technological topics in smart manufacturing by using patent data, investigating technological trends and exploring potential opportunities. Design/methodology/approach The latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling technique was used

Purpose Exploring ways to sustain competitive positions as well as improve firm performance through environmental production initiatives has been a major preoccupying topic for mostly practitioners and researchers. Despite several studies on the influence of environmental initiatives on firm performance, many questions remain unanswered as to how to further extract more gains from environmental production