Digital sustainability enabling lean manufacturing tools for total productive maintenance in advanced manufacturing systems

This study examines how digital sustainability enables three lean manufacturing tools—Jidoka, Kanban, and Andon—and, through them, enhances total productive maintenance (TPM) in advanced manufacturing systems. A structural equation model using three parallel mediation effects is suggested, in which digital sustainability enhances Jidoka, Kanban, and Andon, which then affects TPM. The model was tested with data from 834 employees of Mexican manufacturing companies who responded to a survey and estimated with nonlinear partial least squares with WarpPLS v.8 software. The results show that digital sustainability has a strong and balanced effect on the three lean tools (β ≈ 0.58). The model accounts for 61.7% of the variance in TPM and uncovers nonlinear patterns: increasing returns in Kanban, saturation in Jidoka, and implementation valleys in Andon. Mediation analysis confirmed complementary partial mediation (VAF = 61.2%). These findings empirically support the view of digital sustainability as a dynamic capability associated with lean operational mechanisms and provide pragmatic guidance for sequencing digital investments in advanced and intelligent manufacturing systems.