Recent economic transformations have forced companies to redefine their value propositions, increasing traditional product offerings with supplementary services—the so-called Product-Service System (PSS). Among them, the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies is very common. However, the directions that companies are undertaking to offer new value to their customers in the Industry 4.0 have not yet been investigated in detail. Based on a focus group, this paper contributes to this understanding by identifying the main trajectories that would shape a future scenario in which PSS and Industry 4.0 would merge. In addition, future research directions addressing (a) the transformation of the PSS value chain into a PSS ecosystem, (b) the transformation inside a single company towards becoming a PSS provider, and (c) the digital transformation of the traditional PSS business model are identified.

Purpose: Although lean popularity is rapidly growing, its implementation is far from problem-free and companies may experience difficulties in sustaining long-term success. On this premises, the purpose of this paper is to understand to what extent human factors, affected by the implementation of both hard (defined as technical and analytical tools) and soft (concerning people and relations) lean practices, play a key role in achieving long-term superior performance. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis of the relationships between lean practices implementation, human factors and operational performance is carried out in a single exploratory case study. A retrospective approach is adopted to trace the changes of human and operational performance before, during and after the introduction of lean management (LM) implementation. In particular, a mixed method concurrent design merging results of a qualitative analysis with data collected from a survey is selected to provide a more realistic benefit in the exploration of the proposed research questions. Findings: The results show a short-term direct relationship between the implementation of lean practices (hard and soft) and physical work environment and job characteristics, directly connected to operational outcome. In the long term, operational performance is influenced by employee behaviour outcome and conditioned by physical work environment and job characteristics with the mediating effect of individual characteristics. Practical implications: The proposed model supports the building of a roadmap for LM implementation, taking into account the role of the human factors to achieve superior operational performance. Moreover, it helps managers to implement a monitoring system to check how social and technical components of a LM system evolve over time. Finally, it supports the definition of specific training programs, tailored for specific workers’ types. Originality/value: This paper extends theory in LM, highlighting how hard and soft lean practices have to interact to enable a successful LM implementation.

Purpose: In this paper, the authors examine the impact of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies on the relationship between total productive maintenance (TPM) practices and maintenance performance.Design/methodology/approach: Data collection was carried out through a multinational survey with 318 respondents from different manufacturing companies located in 15 countries. Multivariate data techniques were applied to analyze the collected data. Diffusion of innovations theory (DIT) was the adopted theoretical lens for our research.Findings: The authors’ findings indicate that I4.0 technologies that aim to process information to support decision-making and action-taking directly affect maintenance performance. Technologies oriented to sensing and communicating data among machines, people, and products seem to moderate the relationship between TPM practices and maintenance performance. However, the extent of such moderation varies according to the practices involved, sometimes leading to negative effects.Originality/value: With the advances of I4.0, there is an expectation that several maintenance practices and performance may be affected. Our study provides empirical evidence of these relationships, unveiling the role of I4.0 for maintenance performance improvement.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse the effect of different forms of service supplier involvement on the service business dimensions necessary for servitisation and on the resulting servitisation performance.Design/methodology/approach: Three different configurations of service supplier involvement are considered in this study: black box (service design and execution driven by the service supplier), grey box (joint service design) and white box (service design driven by the product firm). The study analyses their contribution by means of a cross-sectional quantitative survey with 104 Brazilian and Italian firms using multivariate analysis of variance.Findings: Companies that adopted the grey box configuration presented the best results in servitisation. White and black box may offer different benefits depending on the service business dimension that the company chooses to emphasise.Originality/value: The results show which type of service supplier involvement is more effective for servitisation. The empirical data demonstrate that a joint service design (grey box involvement) is the best approach, but the paper discusses limitations for its implementation and alternatives regarding the two other types of service supplier involvement. The findings contribute to the discussion on the role of service suppliers in servitisation and provide empirical evidence to support operations managers in deciding on how to organise their service supply chain when aiming for servitisation.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology to support the Hoshin Kanri (HK) process taking into account the variance of senior managers’ perspective regarding the relationships among objectives, key performance indicators and continuous improvement (CI) projects. Design/methodology/approach: A four-step methodology incorporates the A3 report into the HK, whose deployment was weighted by the variability among managers’ perception about the importance of each decision. This methodology was applied in a market-leader Mexican auto parts manufacturing company that is undergoing a Lean Manufacturing (LM) implementation. Findings: The results indicate that the proposed methodology provides an easier approach to consolidate different perspectives and weight the importance of CI projects. Moreover, it minimizes the possibility of managerial conflicts or the influence of a determined senior manager on others’ opinions during the deployment and prioritization. Practical implications: This work may be of great interest to managers, consultants and professionals who deal with the implementation of LM and wish to prioritize the importance of CI projects within the perspective of HK. Originality/value: HK provides a systematic approach to integrate strategic management with daily routine management through an adequate deployment of organizational policies to all levels. However, companies usually struggle with several issues such as the style of senior managers and consensus establishment among different opinions, which emphasizes the relevance of the proposed methodology in this study.