Assessing the maturity of future-proof production systems: the design of a maturity model for lean, digital, and sustainable production systems

Global competitive trends, technological disruptions, sustainability regulations, and an increasingly complex and dynamic environment are threatening the future viability of production systems. These factors are increasing the need for adaptability, technological advancement, and sustainable operations. In order to remain competitive, producing companies must adapt themselves to these conditions while taking target dimensions, such as quality and costs, into account. The three paradigms of lean, digitalization, and sustainability provide solutions for designing a production system, which is fit for the future. However, there is currently a shortage of transparent information on the degree of implementation and the specific measures required to achieve the objective of a future-proof production system (FPPS). A maturity model (MM) for FPPSs provides producing companies with a means of assessment and, therefore, is a valuable tool for addressing these challenges. In this article, an MM for FPPSs is designed that enables a holistic, multidimensional assessment of a production system in relation to the three paradigms of lean, digitalization, and sustainability. The resulting MM comprises nine areas, 25 overarching elements, and 86 elements. Consequently, the design of the MM allows the three paradigms to be assessed at different abstraction levels, using five maturity levels, thus enabling the derivation of specific measures. Furthermore, transparency of the maturity stages is achieved through the visualization of the assessment results using radar charts. Future work should focus on the industrial evaluation and application of the MM.