Industry 4.0 tools in lean production: A systematic literature review

Abstract The present article focuses its attention on the tools of the Industry 4.0 with the purpose to analyze how these tools can be useful for the companies to increase factors like efficiency and productivity. In the age of the fourth industrial revolution, companies try to know how they can approach to the Industry 4.0, keeping attention on the tools which will be able to increase their results over time. This it will be possible if the companies will be able to integrate, not only the concept of Industry 4.0 with Lean Production, but even the human factor with the tools of the fourth industrial revolution. This integration will allow to increase companies’ performance and to get higher results than competitors, increasing even their productivity and flexibility. The aim of the study is to know what tools of the Industry 4.0 are used by the companies, what are the reasons that push companies to use these tools and what advantages are from their use. The results achieved will show that the most important I4.0 tools integrated with lean production will be IoT and Big Data, which will allow companies to improve their flexibility and productivity. Finally, the human factor, as reported from some authors in the section 7, will be another important element which will allow companies to get great results.