Lean Digitalization Solutions for SMEs in China

Lean management, as a strategy to enhance a company's competitiveness, has been widely promoted in the manufacturing sector. however, SMEs in China often encounter obstacles or even failures in its implementation. Industry 4.0 technologies have been proven to share a close connection with lean management. Nevertheless, research on integrating lean management with digitalization to advance its implementation remains limited. The purpose of this study is to develop practical lean digitalization strategies for SMEs in China, addressing the gaps in research and practice, and aiding these enterprises in enhancing their competitiveness. This research conducted a fouryear case study to track the lean digitization process of a Chinese SME and developed an implementation plan through participatory academic research. The study reveals that appropriate digitalization fosters the implementation of lean management, though certain performance indicators exhibit a pattern of initial decline followed by subsequent improvement. Based on the research findings, we developed a continuous improvement model centered around key performance indicators and goal orientation, and established a lean digitization control system by identifying 80 control metrics and 35 control objectives for production floor management. The effective implementation of this approach has led to a significant enhancement in the level of on-site management within the enterprise. This study holds both theoretical and practical significance, bridging gaps in engineering management literature and offering insights for enterprises to achieve lean digitalization.