Implementation of an Integrated Framework of Lean Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 toward Sustainability: A Case Study of the Indian Ceramic Industry

The paper aims to show through a case study of the semi-process sector (ceramic Industry) that Lean manufacturing and Industry 4.0 technologies eliminate waste and improve value irrespective of the type of industry. This case study illustrates how to implement the Lean and Industry 4.0 principles in a labor-intensive, order-based, medium-scale manufacturing environment. This study also aims to demonstrate the usefulness of Lean and Industry 4.0 in reducing defects that cause the organization's sustainable growth. For this purpose, ABC Ceramic Industry was selected, and analyzed the production process of tile manufacturing was analyzed. The industry needs help in fulfilling customer demand due to waste in the production system. To overcome some of these problems, Lean manufacturing and Industry 4.0 technologies are used to identify and reduce non-value-added activities from the production line. The study found that the processing time is reduced by 10%, the waiting time is reduced by 12.54%, and defects in pre-kiln, kiln, and post-kiln are reduced by 27.45%, 14.65%, and 21.83%, respectively. The broken tiles are minimized by 24.82%. At the same time, some qualitative benefits of skill upgradation, real-time information flow, value integration, and cultural changes were also noticed.