Abstract Industry 4.0 technologies remain not effectively used in supporting the development of lean manufacturing skills through the physical simulation of production systems. This study investigates the impact of an Internet of Things (IoT)-based system on facilitating team members’ acquisition of lean manufacturing practices. Two experiments were conducted by physical simulation with separate samples of 15 participants each—one utilizing the IoT-based system and the other without it. Data analysis using Student’s t-test revealed that the system significantly enhanced the acquisition of both technical (p-value = 0.004) and non-technical (p-value = 0.003) lean manufacturing practices. Results also show that utilizing the system doubles participant’s skills acquisition regardless of the type of practice. In addition to recontextualizing lean manufacturing through digital technologies, this study offers practical insights for manufacturing firms seeking to support employee skill development and therefore, improve their productivity.
Tadja et al. (Wed,) studied this question.