Ranking critical success factors for implementation of lean-industry 4.0: a methodology based on DEMATEL and ANP

Many firms have been performing a variety of organizational reforms to achieve long-term manufacturing sustainability. Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and Lean techniques have attracted much attention in this context. Although the potential benefits of implementing Lean and I4.0 in an integrated manner (Lean-I4.0) have been recognized, the studies addressing the practical issues for their integrated implementation, in particular the factors affecting the successful implementation, are missing. Therefore, this study is to determine the critical success factors (CSFs) that will enable the manufacturing industry in India to successfully implement the Lean-I4.0, thus obtaining manufacturing sustainability. The CSFs identified through a literature review were first validated by industrial experts. The Decision-Making Trail and Evaluation Laboratory technique was subsequently adopted to analyze the interdependence of the factors and classify them as either cause or effect. Finally, the Analytical Network Process technique in SuperDecisions was employed to rank the factors considering their interdependence scores. The results stress that i) the maturity of I4.0 and its relationship with lean and ii) the skill level and experience of workers are very important in the successful implementation of the Lean-I4.0. Besides, the study highlights that all the factors affect, at varying degrees, the successful implementation of the Lean-I4.0.