Industry 4.0 & LSS Adoption in Indian MSMEs for Sustainable Operations

Abstract

Brundtland Commission s report of 1987 put focus on sustainable production. It called for an environmentally, socially sustainable green practices to achieve the economic growth for the organization. The technological advancement through internet revolution is on the cards, also called as Industry 4.0 ; is expected to make a profound impact on the decision making and response time of the organizations. The objective of making an organization sustainable needs development on the economic, environmental, and social fronts. Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises are facing the competition posed by rising technological advances in the market. Thus, Industry 4.0 intervention shall be highly useful in this context with cyber-physical systems, internet; smart factories expected to emerge as assisting tools for physical process enabled industries. In view of many organizations, successfully implementing lean six-sigma (LSS) has objectives of removal of waste, enhancing green practices and creating value for enterprise stakeholders. The concept of circular economy has come from the objective of putting least amount of load on the environmental resources. Circular economy thus aids in sustainability of operations. This is more so important from the Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises perspective because of their significance in the Indian economy.The study-1 of this thesis identified fourteen (14) enablers of Lean Six Sigma for sustainable operations in the light of Industry 4.0 implementation in Indian MSMEs using the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory method. The outcome of this study enumerated the causal relationships existing between the enablers identified. It unveiled some interesting managerial and policy implications. The driving enablers were Productivity Improvement , Reduction in Manufacturing Lead Time and driven enablers are Increase in Business Reputation and Scope of New Business Generation and Increased Customer Satisfaction . The other enablers in causa