Digitalization as a catalyst for lean production: A learning factory approach for digital shop floor management

Digitalization and Industry 4.0 have a strong impact on today’s production environment. The established methods of lean production are also affected and can be further improved through new technologies. The following paper addresses how and whether digitalization enhances shop floor management (SFM) as a key element of the philosophy of lean production. Based on the Darmstadt shop floor management model, it will be discussed where digitalization is expected to be value-adding or bearing risks in which elements of SFM and how the transition to a digital system opens up new possibilities. The potential of digital SFM systems are evaluated through a literature review and interviews with experts. Based on the results a digital SFM prototype is evaluated and further developed and applied to the learning factory Center for industrial Productivity (CiP) and its underlying process control system. The versatile environment of the learning factory is consequently being used for evaluation of digital SFM in different working situations like manual labor or machining.