Description

This theme examines the convergence of Lean Manufacturing with digital, connected and intelligent manufacturing technologies while retaining waste elimination, customer value, flow, quality and continuous improvement as the governing objectives. It covers Digital Lean, Lean 4.0 and Lean 5.0, Industry 4.0/5.0, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cyber-physical systems, smart sensors, digital twins, artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, big-data analytics, cloud/edge computing, intelligent automation, decision-support systems and human–AI collaboration. The central research principle is that digitalization should not automatically be treated as Lean improvement: researchers must demonstrate how a technology addresses a verified Lean problem and produces measurable value without introducing unnecessary technological complexity or new forms of waste. The uploaded literature strongly supports this integration. Industry 4.0 incorporates technologies such as IoT, AI, big-data analytics and cyber-physical systems, while evidence indicates that their potential is strengthened when combined with complementary manufacturing approaches such as Lean.