Lean Manufacturing and Sustainable Performance in Digital Era: Challenges and Opportunities

Dear Colleagues,

With increasing globalization and contemporary market demands, manufacturing efficiency is more and more often defined from the perspective of the dimensions of sustainable development. Manufacturing companies must offer a higher return on investment while reducing environmental impact. It is also necessary for them to offer an attractive workplace for people focusing on learning and developing competencies. In this context, manufacturing processes are very important, ensuring product quality while monitoring natural resource use and the safety of people and processes.

The literature recognizes that technological innovations and their applications are able to meet sustainable development challenges. Digital technologies allow organizations to improve their manufacturing processes to a more advanced level by leveraging emerging technologies. Enabling digital technologies can help organizations achieve more innovative and sustainable operations with data-driven decision-making and optimizing manufacturing operations.

This Special Issue aims to present the state-of-the-art theoretical developments, challenges, and opportunities of digital technologies in achieving sustainability in manufacturing processes across various industry sectors.

Authors are invited to submit full papers comprising original research work. Areas of interest include, but not limited to, the following:

1. Lean 4.0 and Its Implications on Sustainability in Manufacturing Processes

- The integration of lean, digitalization, and sustainability in manufacturing.

2. Advanced Data Analytics for Sustainable Manufacturing

- Utilizing advanced data analytics to improve efficiency and sustainability in production.

3. Digitalization as a Key Driver of Lean Operational Excellence

- The role of digitalization in driving operational excellence within lean and sustainable practices.

4. Lean 4.0: The Future of Smart Manufacturing

- The future of smart manufacturing through the convergence of Lean and Industry 4.0.

5. Data-Driven Lean

- Applying artificial intelligence and data analytics in Lean continuous improvement.

6. Lean Supply Chain 4.0: Using Digitalization for a More Agile and Resilient Supply Chain

- Leveraging digitalization to create more agile and resilient Lean supply chains.

7. Technology and Innovation in Sustainable Supply Chains

- Digital technologies supporting sustainability in supply chain operations.

8. Circular Supply Chains and Circular Business Models Development

- Sustainable business models and closed-loop supply chain approaches.

9. Automation and Intelligent Systems Supporting Operational Excellence

- The role of automation and intelligent systems in achieving operational excellence in Lean.

10. Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement

- Multi-stakeholder partnerships, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and sustainable supplier relationships.

Dr. José Dinis-Carvalho
Dr. Justyna Trojanowska
Prof. Dr. Malgorzata Jasiulewicz-Kaczmarek
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.