Towards a future-proof holistic production system

Manufacturing companies face growing challenges from skills shortages and energy crises to increasing product complexity and variance. Three approaches have emerged to remain competitive: lean, digital, and sustainable production. Despite the relevance and the awareness of these approaches, they have yet to be widely implemented, which causes difficulties. One reason for this, besides the lack of tangibility of the paradigms, is the missing transparency regarding an objective assessment of the current and the target state, considering the interdependencies of the paradigms and the companys’ objectives. A holistic maturity model for future-prof production systems is a tool that can address this issue. This article presents a detailed analysis of the need for such a model and the related, pertinent requirements.